Pat O'Brien (guitarist)

Pat O'Brien (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician best known as the former lead guitarist for death metal band Cannibal Corpse.

He is also a former member of heavy metal band Nevermore, a former live guitarist for Slayer, and is currently the lead guitarist for Exhorder.

O'Brien was born in Northern Kentucky.

His father also bought him a 1974 Gibson Flying V.

His influences include AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Mercyful Fate and Metallica.

As a guitarist, O'Brien is formally trained, having studied classical guitar.

He gave lessons at Buddy Rogers Music, a music store in Florence, Kentucky, and Maschinots Music in Southgate, KY,

where he encouraged his students to listen to jazz, classical, fusion, country and blues and not focus solely on metal.

He recalls that his interest in classical guitar probably came from a concert of Andrés Segovia he attended with his father.

Segovia remains O'Brien's favourite guitarist and his main inspiration.

O'Brien started playing in a series of bands, sometimes as a touring musician and sometimes as a full-time member.

Throughout the 1980s he played in heavy metal bands such as Chastain and Prizoner.

He graduated from Conner High School in Hebron, Kentucky, in 1983 and currently resides in Tampa, Florida.

His hobbies involve music and hunting.

O'Brien got his first guitar when he was 11.

His mother bought him an acoustic guitar for Christmas.

Later, when he started to practice more he received his first electric guitar, a Gibson SG copy.

In the 1990s O'Brien evolved from heavy metal to death metal.

Between 1990 and 1992 he played in the Cincinnati-based death/thrash metal band Ceremony alongside Steve Tucker, Greg Reed and Shannon Purdon.

They released a demo in 1992 entitled Ceremony, and an EP called The Days before the Death that did not come out before 2000 and for which O'Brien did the mastering with Mark Prator.

After the band's breakup, O'Brien decided to move out of Cincinnati.

He relocated to Los Angeles and searched for a new band.

Through tape trading he eventually got hired by Nevermore, who at the time were looking for a second guitarist.

O'Brien stayed in the band for two years during which they recorded the EP In Memory and the full-length The Politics of Ecstasy which both came out in 1996.

He also toured with the band and took part in a video shoot for the song "What Tomorrow Knows" from Nevermore's eponymous debut album.

However, he felt unsatisfied with the band, preferring to be involved in death metal.

Following his departure from Nevermore, O'Brien went through a transitional period where he briefly joined Monstrosity as a touring member but remained somewhat inactive for the rest of the time.

When asked about Nevermore years later he replied "I got kicked out of Nevermore because I wasn’t queer."

In 1997 he was approached by Cannibal Corpse through several relations.

After auditioning for the band, O'Brien ultimately became a permanent member replacing Rob Barrett.

He has been featured on every Cannibal Corpse album since Gallery of Suicide up until Red Before Black when he officially parted ways with the band.

Since his involvement in Cannibal Corpse, O'Brien has been credited on some of the band's more technically complicated songs.

One song which has been cited by other band members, both past and current, as the most difficult Cannibal Corpse song is "Frantic Disembowelment" from the album The Wretched Spawn.

To this day the band has performed this song live only once.

O'Brien has often been complimented by his co-members and other musicians in the death metal scene for his proficiency.

In the documentary DVD Centuries of Torment: The First 20 Years bassist Alex Webster stated that "Some of his rhythm parts are as difficult as a solo might be in another band."

Drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz commended his contribution to the band's music, stating "He really is a vital part of the Cannibal [Corpse] sound. His songs are awesome and we definitely need his songs on our CDs."

O'Brien himself admitted that he tends to write more technical songs but often regards it as a by-product of the songwriting process rather than an aim in itself.

However unlike Webster and Mazurkiewicz, O'Brien does not take part in the composition of lyrics and instead focuses on the music.

In April 2011 O'Brien filled in for Exodus' Gary Holt when Holt left the Slayer European tour to play with his own band.