  | Blog author: Alex Stojanovic All of last week was Shredders Week! During their new show called "Shredders Of Metal", the folks at BangerTV went on a quest to find the ultimate shredder. The show featured seven guitarists from across Canada that were given a chance in the spotlight to show off their abilities to the world, and their performances were being judged by the show's esteemed panel of judges, which included Banger Films founder and all-around metal expert Sam Dunn, guitarist of Diemonds and many other bands, Daniel Dekay, and to make things more special, and maybe even a little intimidating, the final judge was the one and only Alex Skolnick of Testament. To become the ultimate shredder, the seven contestants were put to the test of mastering six shredding challenges over the course of six episodes. At the end of each episode, the contestant with the weakest performance in that challenge would receive elimination, or as they say in the show: "be shredded" from the competition, as the piece of paper with their name is put through the paper shredder. Check out the series recap down below. |
EPISODE 1 - SHREDDER'S CHOICE (PREMIERE EPISODE)
In the first episode, we are introduced to the judges: Sam, Daniel and Alex, host Blayne Smith and all the shredder contestants. The seven competitors of the challenge were: Tim Brown from Edmonton, AB, who is part of the band Striker, Derryl Vi from North York, ON, who is a solo artist and records under the name VI, Frankie Caracci from Toronto, ON, a member of Vesperia (2015 International Wacken Metal Battle Champions), Sim Diamond from Levis, QC, a solo artist who has his own band Universal Minds where he plays all the instruments, Bri Lue-Kim from London, ON, who plays in a bunch of different bands like Necrosaurus Rex, Specks and The Alcohollys, Alex Zubair from Toronto, ON, a solo artist who records under the name AZP (Alex Zubair Project), and he is also one of Sam's former bandmates when they played in the band Burn To Black, and finally Ric Galvez from Toronto, ON, who currently plays in Astaroth Incarnate.
To kick things off, contestants had 1 minute each to showcase who they are as a player with a solo. In the end, Tim was the first contestant to be shredded from the competition, leaving Bri, Ric, Sim, Derryl, Alex and Frankie left.
To kick things off, contestants had 1 minute each to showcase who they are as a player with a solo. In the end, Tim was the first contestant to be shredded from the competition, leaving Bri, Ric, Sim, Derryl, Alex and Frankie left.
EPISODE 2 - SPEED KILLS
As we enter the second episode, things are kicked up a notch and the judges felt the need for speed. The challenge in this episode was that the contestants were given a lick from a solo that they must execute at four different increasing tempos. The lick that the shredders had to attempt to execute was the five-note pattern that repeats at the start of the solo to Testament's "Practice What You Preach". Before the contestants were given the green light to start shredding away, Alex Skolnick demonstrated the whole solo and selected the lick for the players to execute. The five contestants with the best performances would move on to the next round, while the other person would be eliminated.
At the end of the episode, Bri was shredded from the contest. After seeing her performance, I could tell immediately that she would be the one to go because she did struggle at the increasing tempos with a lot of flubs and missed notes. This left us with Ric, Alex, Frankie, Sim and Derryl.
At the end of the episode, Bri was shredded from the contest. After seeing her performance, I could tell immediately that she would be the one to go because she did struggle at the increasing tempos with a lot of flubs and missed notes. This left us with Ric, Alex, Frankie, Sim and Derryl.
EPISODE 3 - METALIZE THIS
In episode 3, the five remaining contestants take a trip down memory lane to their childhoods as they are each given their own children's song that they have to "metalize" in the metal style of their choice. Alex Z. was given "Three Blind Mice", Sim played "Skip To My Lou", Frankie got "The Bear Went Over The Mountain", Ric was given "Yankee Doodle" and Derryl played "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep", making this a pretty cool episode. It was pretty awesome to hear these kids' songs given the heavy treatment with distortion and fast licks.
At the end, it came down to Derryl and Ric to see who would be eliminated next, and that call unfortunately went to Derryl. Ric turned out to be safe along with Alex, Frankie and Sim, who all moved on to the next round.
At the end, it came down to Derryl and Ric to see who would be eliminated next, and that call unfortunately went to Derryl. Ric turned out to be safe along with Alex, Frankie and Sim, who all moved on to the next round.
EPISODE 4 - THE BIG SCORE
As we arrive to episode 4, the competition continues to get tougher. This time around, the four remaining contestants are each shown a video clip and the challenge is to create a score and a mood that fits with the clip. The three contestants with the best sounding scores that take the clip to a new level, would move on to the next round and be that much closer to being crowned as the ultimate shredder.
In the end, Frankie and Sim were safe, while it came down to Alex Z. and Ric to see who would be eliminated. As Blayne opened the envelope, there was no paper. Alex and Ric both tied up with their performances, so in order to break the tie, they had to "shred for their lives" with a 60-second solo that will prove whether they advance or be shredded. Afterwards, Ric was shredded from the contest, and we were now down to three shredders: Frankie, Alex and Sim.
In the end, Frankie and Sim were safe, while it came down to Alex Z. and Ric to see who would be eliminated. As Blayne opened the envelope, there was no paper. Alex and Ric both tied up with their performances, so in order to break the tie, they had to "shred for their lives" with a 60-second solo that will prove whether they advance or be shredded. Afterwards, Ric was shredded from the contest, and we were now down to three shredders: Frankie, Alex and Sim.
EPISODE 5 - FIGURE SHREDDING
The quest to find the ultimate shredder comes another step closer to the end. In episode 5, the three remaining shredders must compose a solo using as much from their arsenals as they can, to a 3-minute backing track, with each judge giving their critique on their performances and rating them on a scale from 1-10. All three contestants pulled off some pretty incredible sounding solos, but there can only be two advancing to the finals, while the other person goes home.
When the elimination round came, the scores were added up and unfortunately, Sim received the lowest score, which counted for automatic elimination. This left us with Alex Z. and Frankie heading into the finals to determine who would be the ultimate shredder.
When the elimination round came, the scores were added up and unfortunately, Sim received the lowest score, which counted for automatic elimination. This left us with Alex Z. and Frankie heading into the finals to determine who would be the ultimate shredder.
EPISODE 6 - SHRED OR DIE (FINALE EPISODE)
The competition has now arrived at the end. Alex Z. and Frankie became the two finalists in the last episode after pulling off some incredible performances to the backing track. The final challenge required the two players to play together to a backing track, and they must trade-off solos with each other. The shredder with the best performance would be crowned the ultimate shredder. This challenge lasts for over 20 minutes, with a chunk of the performance being cut from the actual video (not sure whether they were serious about that). However, from what we got to see, Frankie and Alex laid down some tasty solos, and there was no competitive attitude displayed between the two of them. You can see the two of them smiling and laughing together, and the judges were all smiling and laughing in amazement at what they were witnessing. The two of them sounded great together. Maybe they should start a band, hint hint.
It was incredibly close, but in the end, the shredder to be sent home.....was Alex, making Frankie the ultimate shredder.
It was incredibly close, but in the end, the shredder to be sent home.....was Alex, making Frankie the ultimate shredder.
So, in the end, Frankie was crowned as the ultimate shredder. I've seen Frankie on stage play with Vesperia and he is an incredible player. His performances in episodes 1 and 2 were really solid and he always had a fantastic tone. Even when his distortion was on, he managed to keep his solos clean and smooth. He did have that moment in episode 3 where the judges thought he went a little overboard on his rendition of "The Bear Went Over The Mountain", but for the remaining episodes, he pulled it back to where he had more control. In the finale episode, even though it was really close between him and Alex, I had a strong feeling that Frankie would be the winner. I was rooting for him. I have nothing bad to say about Alex. He's a brilliant player as well, but I felt that Frankie was more consistent. With that said, congratulations to Frankie on his victory. Very well deserved.
That wraps up the "Shredders Of Metal" series. Do you think BangerTV might have another show like this for drummers, bassists and vocalists in the future? You never know. Watch the entire "Shredders Of Metal" series down below.
That wraps up the "Shredders Of Metal" series. Do you think BangerTV might have another show like this for drummers, bassists and vocalists in the future? You never know. Watch the entire "Shredders Of Metal" series down below.
| EPISODE 1 - SHREDDER'S CHOICE (PREMIERE) | EPISODE 2 - SPEED KILLS |
| EPISODE 3 - METALIZE THIS | EPISODE 4 - THE BIG SCORE |
| EPISODE 5 - FIGURE SHREDDING | EPISODE 6 - SHRED OR DIE (FINALE) |
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