Lars Eric Mattsson

A Finnish multi-instrumentalist equally at home as guitarist, producer, and songwriter, Lars Eric Mattsson helped shape the neoclassical metal style in its formative years. Drawing from a broad spectrum of inspirations that encompassed Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, Johnny Winter, and Al DiMeola, he first took up the bass before turning to guitar in his early twenties. After Mike Varney of Guitar Player Magazine and Shrapnel Records discovered him in 1985—by which point regional recognition had already been secured—Mattsson issued a four-track EP shortly before signing with the French independent imprint Black Dragon Records, a partnership that yielded Eternity in 1988, No Surrender in 1989, and the instrumental Electric Voodoo in 1991.

In 1992 he assembled Swedish singer Conny Lind, drummer Tony Mattsson, and bassist Michael Ahlskog into the band Lars Eric Mattsson's Vision, whose self-titled debut was followed by further releases that included Till the End of Time in 1997, On the Edge in 2004, II:1993 in 2017, and Live+ also in 2017. A 1995 collaboration with Swedish vocalist Björn Lodin produced the one-off blues-oriented project Astral Groove and its self-titled album that same year; Lodin would later supply vocals for Mattsson’s fourth solo album, Obsession, released in 1998.

Forming the progressive-rock ensemble Condition Red in 2000 with keyboardist Derek Sherinian and guitarist Alex Masi led to an eponymous debut, followed by Condition Red 2 in 2004 and Illusion of Truth in 2016. The Book of Reflections project surfaced in 2004 with a self-titled LP, then continued with Chapter II: Unfold the Future in 2006 and Relentless Fighter in 2012.

Mattsson maintained a steady solo output, occasionally appearing under the mononym Mattson on Another Dimension in 2000, Power Games in 2003, War in 2005, Dream Child in 2008, and Tango in 2010, while additional virtuosic releases under his full name encompassed Earthbound in 2005, Aurora Borealis: Concerto for Orchestra & Electric Guitar in 2011, Epicentre in 2013, Songs from a Different Room in 2015, and Sand and Blood in 2017.