Line #33 Music/ChristianMuenzner


1	Christian Muenzner is a German metal guitarist. Known for his highly distinctive style that blends the approach of the Shrapnel greats with elements of whatever genre he happens to be playing in, he has become a widely-celebrated figure in modern guitar and is also a renowned teacher with many students to his name.
2
3	Christian Muenzner first picked up a guitar at the age of eleven, and by the age of twelve, he was already playing shows. It was sometime around this age that he was also introduced to shred guitar; inspired by Paul Gilbert, he began to practice for 6-8 hours a day. At the age of fifteen, he began teaching guitar; by the age of eighteen, he was a member of the power metal act Marchenwald and the brutal death metal act Music/DefeatedSanity and released promos with both. He was out of both acts by 2002, however, and had moved on to something bigger: Music/{{Necrophagist}}. ''Epitaph'' was released in 2004 and managed to put both him and drummer Hannes Grossmann on the map as promising new talents. Personality conflicts with Muhammed Suicmez led to both him and Grossmann departing in 2006, and after a two-year stint in the power metal act Majesty, Muenzner joined Music/{{Obscura}} about a year after Grossmann and went on to finally become known as a talented musician in his own right rather than "the other dude from Necrophagist". A year after joining Obscura, Muenzner also joined Music/SpawnOfPossession; it was also around this time that he started writing material for a solo album. Two years later, ''Timewarp'' was released, as was ''Omnivium'' with Obscura.
4
5	Unfortunately, Muenzner had also developed a nerve condition known as focal dystonia due to the stress of heavy practice with extremely demanding material, and it ''very'' nearly ended his career. He persevered; a mixture of therapy and adjusting his technique allowed him to continue playing. 2012 brought ''Incurso'', the long-awaited third Spawn of Possession album, and Muenzner also joined the long-running German power/thrash act Paradox and released ''Tales of the Weird'' that same year. 2013 went uneventfully, while the first half of 2014 brought ''Beyond the Wall of Sleep'', his second solo album. The second half of the year was far more eventful, however, as he left both Obscura (due to his being physically unable to meet the intensive touring demands that come with a new album, as well as issues with Steffen Kummerer) and Paradox (due to serious personality clashes with Charly Steinhauer) and formed Alkaloid with Grossmann, Linus Klausenitzer, Florian "Morean" Maier (Dark Fortress, Noneuclid, etc.), and [[Music/{{Aborted}} Danny Tunker]]. ''The Malkuth Grimoire'', Alkaloid's debut, was released in March of 2015 after a very successful crowdfunding campaign. Eternity's End, a power metal project with Ian Parry, is also on the way, as is a second Alkaloid album. Beyond that, it's unknown what he has in store, but it is almost certain that he will be keeping busy.
6	----
7	!!Band History:
8	* Marchenwald (1998-unknown)
9	* Defeated Sanity (1999-2002)
10	* Hatred (2001-2002)
11	* Necrophagist (2002-2006)
12	* Majesty (2006-2008)
13	* Civilization One (2007-2008)
14	* Obscura (2008-2014, 2020-present)
15	* Metalforce (2008-2009)
16	* Daemon's Gate (2009-unknown)
17	* Spawn of Possession (2009-2017)
18	* Solo (2010-present)
19	* Paradox (2012-2014, 2020-present)
20	* Alkaloid (2014-present)
21	* Eternity's End (2015-present)
22	----
23	!!Solo Discography:
24	* ''Timewarp'' (2011)
25	* ''Beyond the Wall of Sleep'' (2014)
26	* ''Path of the Hero'' (2020)
27	----
28	!!This artist contains examples of the following tropes:
29	* ChildProdigy: Started playing guitar at eleven and was already playing shows by the age of twelve.
30	* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Beyond the Wall of Sleep'' was intended to be heavier and darker than ''Timewarp'', while the same is apparently true for ''Unyielding'' in comparison to ''The Fire Within'', the debut for Eternity's End.
31	* DisabilitySuperpower: He has come to view his focal dystonia as something of this, as it forced him to develop new techniques to get around the limitations, which he credits for making him a more creative guitarist and giving him a more unique and distinctive playstyle.
32	* IAmTheBand: Should go without saying with his solo material. Averted everywhere else, as he usually leaves most of the songwriting to other people (especially Hannes when they're in a band together). Zigzagged with Eternity's End; while he did indeed write everything on the first album (save for the lyrics and vocal melodies on "White Lies", which Ian Parry handled), the second album started out as this before Phil Tougas joined and it became a joint effort.
33	* {{Instrumentals}}: His two solo albums and the one song that he did with Terrestrial Exiled (a supergroup consisting of him, Grossmann, Ron Jarzombek, and Pete Perez). He's also had a few scattered throughout the various bands he's been in.
34	* PowerMetal: Heavily influenced by this and has been in quite a few bands in the genre, and he eventually formed Eternity's End to take a crack at doing it himself.
35	* SignatureStyle: His lead style makes heavy use of neoclassical scales and involves lots of quick legato runs and (due in part to his need to not strain his fretting hand, which is afflicted with focal dystonia) large amounts of tapping. He also has a very distinctive, almost flute-like vibrato that tends to make his solos particularly easy to recognize.
36	* SpecialGuest: His solo material has included guest spots from Derek Taylor, [[Music/TheBlackDahliaMurder Ryan Knight]], [[Music/ScarSymmetry Per Nilsson]], Alex Guth, Danny Tunker, and Terry Syrek, in addition to keyboard work from Daniel Galmarini and Bob Katsionis and bass work from [[Music/{{Death}} Steve DiGiorgio]] and Jacob Schmidt. Muenzner is also this on a very, very frequent basis with other bands; furthermore, this was essentially his role in Spawn of Possession and Paradox, as he was not included in the writing process and tracked nothing but his leads (and also did not play any shows with Spawn of Possession), which wound up also becoming the case on the second Alkaloid full-length.
37	* TrueCompanions: With Hannes Grossmann, Linus Klausenitzer, and Jimmy Pitts. He's also best buds with Danny Tunker.
38	* WolverinePublicity: He's been in a ton of bands, does lots and lots of guest solos, and is a teacher with quite a few students to his name. Part of the reason why he's become such a big name is because it's hard to escape him.

Context Music / ChristianMuenzner