Godsmack

Tony Rombola was originally a jazz and blues guitarist before joining Godsmack, which explains his melodic approach to soloing and his emphasis on feel over shred, his phrasing often has a bluesy bend-and-release quality underneath all that heavy distortion.

The self-titled debut album was originally recorded independently for just $2,500 before Republic Records picked it up. The raw guitar tones on that record were captured with minimal studio processing, proving that Rombola's sound comes more from his hands and amp settings than expensive production.

Godsmack's name was inspired by an Alice in Chains song, and the influence runs deep in the guitar work, Rombola's use of dissonant intervals, minor second clashes, and sludgy drop-tuned riffs directly parallels Jerry Cantrell's approach on albums like "Dirt."

Rombola has been known to use surprisingly moderate gain settings on his amps, letting the power tubes and speaker breakup provide the saturation rather than cranking the preamp. This preserves pick dynamics and keeps palm mutes punchy rather than mushy.

For the recording of "Faceless" (2003), Rombola experimented with layering baritone guitar tracks underneath standard drop-D parts, adding a sub-low heaviness that's difficult to replicate live but gives those album tracks an enormous wall-of-sound quality.

Sully Erna actually plays rhythm guitar on several Godsmack tracks, both in the studio and occasionally live during acoustic sets. Some of the band's signature riffs were co-written on acoustic guitar before being translated to heavy electric arrangements.

Tony Rombola is largely self-taught and has stated in interviews that he never formally studied music theory, he relies heavily on his ear, which is evident in his intuitive note choices during solos that don't always follow textbook scale patterns.