Cacophony
Cacophony was an American heavy metal band formed in 1986 by guitarists Marty Friedman and Jason Becker. They remained active until 1989, after which both guitarists would go on to forge their own solo careers and join other bands.
Metal
Marty Friedman
Marty Friedman began his career as a Shrapnel solo recording artist and later recruited a then 17 year old Jason Becker to form the yet unrivaled dual guitar unit, “Cacophony”, who have a strong influence on today’s top guitarists. Amassing worldwide acclaim as a guitar superstar, he came to the attention of Megadeth. Racking up sales of over 10 million records with Megadeth, Friedman continued to record solo records, often embarking on adventurous musical forays far removed from his work with Megadeth, including an album with Golden Globe winner Kitaro.
Vinnie Moore
Moore was born in New Castle, Delaware. He began his professional career at age of 12 and played clubs and bars until Shrapnel executive Mike Varney discovered him through a magazine article. His connection to Varney led to an opportunity to appear in a Pepsi commercial in 1985, (only Vinnie's hands appeared in the commercial as his guitar playing is heard. Following this, Moore recorded his first solo album, Mind's Eye, released on Shrapnel Records and featured Tony MacAlpine on keyboards. The album received several awards from guitar magazines and sold over 100,000 copies.
Jason Becker
Jason Becker began his career as a Shrapnel recording artist by joining forces with guitar virtuoso Marty Friedman to form seminal progressive metal pioneers,“Cacophony.” Amassing worldwide acclaim as a guitar virtuoso, Jason came to the attention of David Lee Roth who was looking for a guitarist to replace SteveVai and the rest is history.
Racer X
Racer X is an American heavy metal band formed in 1985 in Los Angeles, California. The group has gone through numerous lineup changes.
Artension
Artension was the brainchild of Shrapnel Records head Mike Varney. He received a demo from wunderkind keyboardist Vitalij Kuprij and progressive axeman Roger Staffelbach of a project they called "Atlantis Rising". Varney began to look for other musicians to round out the lineup. After a lot of consideration, Varney presented Vitalij and Roger with vocalist John West, Bassist Kevin Chown, and drummer Mike Terrana. The result was a band called Artension (named by the band for a combination of the words "art" and "tension") and a CD called "Into the Eye of the Storm".