His name is Matias Kupiainen, a 25 year old Finnish guitarist who just joined Stratovarius, and he is godly on guitar.

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So, you're saying he can 5-star Green Grass & High Tides on Expert?

Pffft...no one can do that.

= J

Impressive.

Most impressive.

He's good (an obvious clone), but Stratovarius is a mess and has been for years. I suspect he's joined a sinking ship.

On a related note, I wish Vai would make a decent record. The last good one was Fire Garden, (first half, not the part with his vocals).

Strato is a mess because Tolkki is a bigger mental case than Britney. With him gone, so is the insanity.

Whether they can pick up the slack on song writing is another issue.