“I don’t know what that is – but it is an awesome guitar and I love it to bits”: Bleed From Within’s Craig ‘Goonzi’ Gowans and Steven Jones on the high-performance shred machines behind their heavyweight metalcore sound

Craig 'Goonzi' Gowans and Steven Jones from Scottish metalcore heavyweights Bleed From Within pose with their weapons of choice: Goonzi [left] has an ESP LTD M1000, while Jones has a Caparison TAT Special.

Everyone has their own idea of what makes the ultimate metal guitar. Some like them old-school, the Gibson Flying V, the Gibson Explorer, or maybe the medieval shapes that came out off the BC Rich factory floor in the early ‘80s, sick builds such as the OG Warlock or the Ironbird.

In the early ‘90s, seeing Max Cavalera playing a white Warlock with Sepultura or Morbid Angel’s Trey Azagthoth playing that red Ironbird was an experience that lived long in the memory – it was life-changing.