THE POWER OF THREE

In Code Orange, one of the heaviest bands on Earth, Reba Meyers is one of three guitarists. With an experimental new album released this month, she discusses the origins of her “unique, self-taught style”, the influence of hip-hop and music theory in her writing, and the “perfect” design of her first signature guitar. Plus: Reba’s studio gear breakdown.

- Amit Sharma

There’s a well of unimaginable darkness and intensity driving Code Orange’s latest album Underneath. So much so, that it feels almost more soundtrack than metal – adding digital squelches and heavily-effected samples to the nightmarish onslaught of chainsaw guitars and crushing beatdowns.

The Pittsburgh noise merchants, who won a Grammy nomination on their last album, 2017’s Forever, now stand as one of the most important extreme bands of the last decade. Speaking to TG in the cafeteria of a London hotel, guitarist Reba Meyers explains the secrets to their devastating sound, and how employing hip-hop sampling techniques helped them make heavy metal even heavier...

Since your last TG interview, you released the LTD RM-600 with ESP. What were you looking for in your very first signature guitar?

“Honestly, I was surprised when they first asked me! I really didn’t expect it. I’ve always been an ESP player... That’s just been me my whole life, ever since I started playing metal guitar. Tony [Rauser], who is the Artist Rep, came to some of our shows and we became friends, then ended up asking me. I had not planned for it, so on a whim I started messing around with designs, getting the right headstock on the right body. I’ve always wanted to play a reverse headstock guitar, but I love the Viper, so we thought we’d see what it looked like on Photoshop. I thought it looked sick, so then we started messing around with finishes. There was no masterplan per se, but sometimes that’s better. A lot of times, if you take too long and sulk and sit on things – even songs and riffs – it starts getting too convoluted. An idea that pops into your head out of nowhere can be so much better.”

And there’s only one pickup – an EMG 81 in the bridge…