TESTAMENT Guitarist Sings RODRIGO Y GABRIELA's Praises

TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick has issued the following update:

"Last Monday [April 16], the amazing guitar duo RODRIGO Y GABRIELA invited me to be their special guest at their sold-out show at Webster Hall in New York City. It was an honor and a real treat for me. Anytime someone is influenced by your guitar playing, it is touching, but when I see what they have done with it, I am blown away. They sound like several musicians at once and have the power of a full rock band. Rodrigo's playing is on a level of my favorite work by Al Di Meola, who was a big early influence of mine that opened me up to jazz and world music. Gabriela has developed a rhythm style that is one of the most unique I've heard, at times sounding like an Afro-Cuban conga player, Middle Eastern frame drummer or Indian tabla player while playing chords at the same time. Together they have created a whole new sound that combines the energy of metal with the grace of Spanish guitar. It is exciting to see it connecting to so many people worldwide, via sold-out tours and appearances on 'David Letterman', 'Jay Leno', 'Jimmy Kimmel' etc...They are warm, special people. We hung out for a lot of time before the show, and it feels as if I've known them for a long time. I look forward to hanging/playing with them again."

A cover of METALLICA's "Orion" by RODRIGO & GABRIELA has been posted online at their MySpace page. The song is included on RODRIGO & GABRIELA's latest self-titled album, which came out in March 2006 via Rubyworks Records.

"Rodrigo y Gabriela" was produced by John Leckie (MUSE, RADIOHEAD, MY MORNING JACKET) and the artistes themselves. It was recorded in the U.K. in the late summer of 2005, and features nine new tracks — seven RODRIGO & GABRIELA originals and two covers: METALLICA's "Orion" and LED ZEPPELIN's "Stairway to Heaven". All the instrumentation on the album comes from RODRIGO Y GABRIELA's guitars, with the exception of guest gypsy violinist Roby Lakatos, who contributes a blistering solo to "Ixtapa".

Natives of Mexico City, Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero began their careers as members of TIERRA ACIDA, a heavy metal band which played on the city's underground gig circuit for seven years.

"Like a lot of Mexican youth, we were heavily influenced by American metal bands — METALLICA, MEGADETH, PANTERA, and also SEPULTURA," Gabriela explained. "It was a full band, very loud, and for vocals, Rodrigo would just scream. We played this way for seven years."

Since Rodrigo and Gabriela moved to Ireland from Mexico, they have released several albums, contributed to film soundtracks and sold out shows across Ireland and the U.K.

The group's "Live Manchester and Dublin" CD was recorded in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral and the Manchester Academy and was issued in 2004. The album combines live performances from both cities and features their distinctive cover of METALLICA's "One" interwoven with the DAVE BRUBEK jazz classic "Take 5".