Charlie Griffiths is best known for his work with acclaimed progressive metal juggernaut Haken. Since 2010 the band has released 7 full-length albums, and their catalog includes the celebrated albums The Mountain, Affinity, Vector, and Virus. In 2019, Haken was awarded the title of “UK Band of the Year” at the prestigious Prog Awards. Their latest masterwork, Fauna, released in 2023 is a sprawling progressive, experimental, eclectic journey, and was quickly received as a fan favorite. Haken is currently busy touring and bringing their twin .strandberg* 8-string wizardry to audiences the world over.
In 2022, Charlie released his debut solo album entitled Tiktaalika via Sony/InsideOut. The album features incredible guest musicians, including Tommy Rogers (Between The Buried and Me), Daniel De Jongh (Textures), Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), and Darby Todd (Devin Townsend). The album was mixed by esteemed mix engineer and musician Adam Nolly Getgood.
Upon the release of Tiktaalika, Charlie was voted 2nd place in Musicradar’s “Best Prog Guitarist in the World” 2022 poll, who described his playing as “A sprawling display of metal guitar invention, the likes of which positions Griffiths on a similar astral plane to Devin Townsend, administering big musical ideas with the lightest touch, not afraid to have a little fun, not afraid to mix pounding riffs with life-affirming melodic excursions.”
As well as all this, Charlie has enjoyed a long career in music education, having been a regular contributor to Guitar Techniques, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines for nigh on 20 years. He has also worked as a syllabus writer for Rockschool and has been a guitar instructor at London’s prestigious ICMP music school since 2001.
Website“Griffiths is one of modern metal’s finest orchestrators. In both beauty and in chaos, Tiktaalika thrives; the grand vision of a pioneer at the very first step of his potential. Griffiths‘ heavy lifting was complete years-long gone with Haken in proving his worth but here, letting his own name take the limelight, he has blossomed to something even greater.”
Alex Mace, Distorted Sound Magazine
Photos by Anthony Dubois, Foto Pixey, and Z Live
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