Toby Knapp

A technically dazzling American guitarist whose lightning-fast, neoclassical approach echoed the precision of Yngwie Malmsteen and Uli John Roth, Toby Knapp surfaced in the early 1990s with a ferocious hybrid drawing equally from thrash and death metal alongside the melodic frameworks of power and progressive metal. At eighteen he was signed to Mike Varney’s Shrapnel Records, where he would demonstrate remarkable range across decades through a string of solo releases—Guitar Distortion in 1992, Polarizing Lines in 2006, Blizzard Archer in 2019—while unleashing high-velocity power-metal firepower with Onward, black-metal ferocity with Waxen, and death-metal intensity with Darken.

Born in Wyoming, Knapp first took up the guitar at thirteen after absorbing the sounds of Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Ritchie Blackmore; progressive rock and extreme metal also shaped his development, with Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Mercyful Fate, and Slayer informing his formative listening. Largely self-taught yet determined to mirror the arpeggio-driven Shrapnel aesthetic, he recorded independently and appeared in Guitar World’s “Hometown Heroes” column, an exposure that prompted Mike Varney to offer him a contract. His debut, Guitar Distortion, arrived in 1993 and saw overseas distribution through Roadrunner, yet despite favorable notices inside the guitar community the record found little traction once grunge and alternative rock displaced hard rock and heavy metal.

During the subsequent fallow period Knapp supported himself through teaching and local performances while continuing to refine his technique. Departing Shrapnel in 1995, he issued instrumental works on smaller imprints such as Wild Rags and Defiled Records and launched the black-metal outfit Darken, whose self-titled album appeared in 1997. In 2000 he formed the melodic power-metal band Onward with vocalist Michael Grant, bassist Randy LaFrance, and drummer Jon Pereau, securing a deal with Century Media; the group’s first album, Evermoving, emerged in 2001, followed by Reawaken the next year. Internal tensions and label disputes ended Onward before a third record could be completed, leading Knapp to step away from the industry.

He resurfaced in 2006 with the instrumental solo album Polarizing Lines on Metabolic Records. The following year brought The Neverending Sun—containing demo recordings intended for Onward’s unreleased third album—alongside Fumaroth, the first release from his new black-metal project Waxen. Additional solo efforts Misanthropy Divine and The Campaign appeared in 2009 and 2010, with Static Warfare following in 2013 after another brief hiatus.

Knapp returned forcefully in 2014 via Waxen’s Agios Holokauston on Moribund Records and a series of fresh and archival solo and collaborative projects. That same year saw New Fathoms Down, an Onward album constructed around twelve-year-old cassette vocal tracks by frontman Michael Grant, who had died in 2012. In 2015 he initiated the speed-metal endeavor Where Evil Follows and issued Portable Darkness. Waxen delivered its third full-length, Weihung Auf Satan, in 2016; later that year Knapp released the solo album The Architect of Paradox, while his newest black-metal/thrash vehicle Affliktor debuted in 2017. Also in 2017 he joined English power metallers Necrytis, composing and recording all guitar parts for their Pure Steel Records debut Countersighns. The year 2018 proved equally prolific, yielding Waxen’s Terror Decree, Necrytis’s Dread En Ruin, and a fresh solo agreement with Moribund Records that produced the instrumental Blizzard Archer in early 2019.