Kris Norris is the former

lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured ...

for the heavy metal bands

Scar the Martyr Scar the Martyr was an American heavy metal band, consisting of Joey Jordison, Kris Norris, Jed Simon, Kyle Konkiel, and Matthew Tarach. History The band was announced in April 2013 by drummer Joey Jordison, who was still playing with Slipk ...

, Darkest Hour and the Canadian

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

band

Threat Signal Threat Signal is a Canadian heavy metal band from Hamilton, Ontario. The band has had numerous lineup changes, with only Jon Howard remaining from the original incarnation. Their music is often classified as metalcore, melodic death metal, groo ...

. He is also known for his stints as touring guitarist for

God Forbid God Forbid is an American heavy metal band formed in East Brunswick, New Jersey in 1996. History Early career (1999-2004) Building up a following in the late 1990s by touring with bands such as GWAR, Nile, Cradle of Filth and Candiria, God Fo ...

and

Straight Line Stitch Straight Line Stitch is an American metalcore band from Knoxville, Tennessee. History Straight Line Stitch initially was formed by Patrick Haynes and Seth Thacker in 1999 and issued an EP and a demo album before adding vocalist Alexis Brown ...

. Kris released a solo record "Icons of the Illogical" with The Kris Norris Projekt on

Magna Carta Records Magna Carta Records is an independent record label located in Rochester, New York. Magna Carta was formed in 1989 and is owned by Peter Morticelli and his partner Mike Varney. The label, named for the 1215 English document advancing democracy, '' ...

in early 2009.

History

In 1995, Kris had moved from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, VA with his family and quickly became friends with Cory Smoot (late-guitarist of

Gwar Gwar, often stylized as GWAR, is an American heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1984, composed of and operated by a frequently rotating line-up of musicians, artists and filmmakers collectively known as Slave Pit Inc. After th ...

). Through Cory, he met Ryan Parrish. Kris and Ryan would form a

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band called ''Gutted''. A couple of years later, Norris traveled to Norway which would help on his

Scandinavian death metal Swedish death metal is a death metal music scene developed in Sweden. Many Swedish death metal bands are associated with the melodic death metal movement, thus giving Swedish death metal a different sound from other variations of death metal. U ...

influence for a band called ''Disinterment'' That band's notable members included Ryan Parrish on drums and Norris' friend Tommy Gun (formerly in Immortal Avenger on guitar). Gun and Norris would later form a band called Narsilion. In 2001, Norris would help form ''Locus Factor''; but shortly would join Darkest Hour for their 3rd full-length record,

Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation ''Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation'' is the third full-length studio album by American melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowi ...

. He is currently living in

Palm Coast, Florida Palm Coast is a city in Flagler County, Florida. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 75,180, more than twice the 32,832 counted in 2000. The population was estimated to be 89,800 in 2019. It is the most populous city in Flagler ...

, married, and has a child. He has left Darkest Hour to pursue career options in metal production. Kris released his first solo album with the Kris Norris Projekt. The album " Icons of the Illogical" was released in January 2009 on Magna Carta Records. Kris' recently provided production and guest lead guitar to an album by the

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

band Fierce Allegiance as well as a guest guitar solo on the

track "Earthsblood", from the album of the same name. Norris is now reported to be the temporary replacement guitarist for God Forbid on the upcoming tour with

Lamb of God Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God wh ...

for which Dallas Coyle left the band. He started

The Kris Norris Projekt Kris Norris is the former lead guitarist for the heavy metal bands Scar the Martyr, Darkest Hour and the Canadian metalcore band Threat Signal. He is also known for his stints as touring guitarist for God Forbid and Straight Line Stitch. Kris ...

in 2008. In 2009, Kris formed The Godless Symphony with vocalist Dan Malloy. In the summer of 2010, Kris started recording Condemn the Infection's first full-length album, under Running with Scissors Productions. The album will be released in October 2010. He acted as a temporary touring guitarist with

after their previous guitarist, Adam Weber, quit in July 2010. In November 2010, he filled in on guitar for

after guitarist Pat Pattison temporarily left during their recent tour with

Soulfly Soulfly is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1997, and later based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera, who formed the band after he left the Brazilian group in 199 ...

As of March 2011, Kris has officially joined Straight Line Stitch. "Former DARKEST HOUR guitarist Kris Norris has officially joined metalcore band

after two fill in tours. Norris has issued the following statement "I'm excited. It's a new avenue for me. Even though they have a new record coming out soon, I can't wait to start writing and put some solos to the catchy tunes these guys write. It'll be a challenge to accent her voice but Kanky's mind-blowing drum skills will also be the perfect mix to add some nice but faster melodic work." As of December 2011, Kris had left Straight line Stitch stating on his Facebook account "I feel that this would be appropriate to announce my departure from Straight Line Stitch" just a couple days after Seth Thacker and Kanky Lora left the band. Kris has also teamed up yet again with Ryan Parrish, as well as Kristen Randall (ex-Winds of Plague, keyboards), Dave Sheldon (ex-Annihilator, vocals), and Pat Kavanagh (Threat Signal/Arkaea, bass) in a group called A Cancerous Affair. As of April 2012, he is currently filling in on guitar with his previous band Straight Line Stitch on their current tour with their returning original drummer and new guitarist. In 2013, Kris announced a new band with Darkest Hour's drummer Ryan Parrish. The band is called Blisskill. A song demo has been posted on his

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

. Recently, an IndieGoGo campaign was started to fund the recording of their debut album.

Guitars and equipment

ESP M-II Standard W/EMG 81-X/85-X

Schecter Guitar Research Schecter Guitar Research, commonly known simply as Schecter, is an American manufacturing company founded in 1976 by David Schecter, which originally produced only replacement parts for existing guitars from manufacturers such as Fender and Gibs ...

Hellraiser Extreme C-1(Scar the Martyr)

Hellraiser C-8 (White)(Scar the Martyr - Blood Host Video)

ESP ESP most commonly refers to: * Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability ESP may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Music * ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars * E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...

Ltd. H-1000 (1 Black, 1 Sunburst)
ESP Alexi Laiho Standard
ESP Ltd. Alexi-600
ESP Ltd. EC-300P
ESP Ltd. EX-50 (Modified)
ESP Ltd. H-400
ESP Ltd. MH-250
ESP Ltd. MH-400NT
ESP Ltd. H-1001
ESP Ltd. MHB-400

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...

S7320
Peavey JSX

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...

Signature Guitar Head
Peavey 6505 Guitar Head
Peavey XXX Guitar Head
Peavey 5150 Guitar Head

Mesa/Boogie Mesa/Boogie (also known as Mesa Engineering) is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969. Mesa was started by Randall Smith as a sm ...

4x12 Rectifier Standard Guitar Cabinet
Emperor Custom 4x12 Guitar Cabinet

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

1960AC 4x12 Guitar Cabinet

Discography

As band member

Locus Factor *''What Drives 1?'' (2001) *'' The EMMQ (1.5) (EP)'' (2001) *'' Locus Factor (Demo)'' (2002) *'' Between Saviors and Thieves'' (2003) Darkest Hour * ''

'' (2003) * ''

Undoing Ruin ''Undoing Ruin'' is the fourth full-length studio album by melodic death metal/ metalcore band Darkest Hour, released on June 28, 2005. It was the band's first album to enter the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart, debuting at #138. "Convalescence ...

'' (2005) * '' Deliver Us'' (2007) The Kris Norris Projekt * ''Icons of the Illogical'' (2009) Scar the Martyr * ''

'' (2013)

As guest musician

* Mensrea – ''Mensrea'' (2005) *

– ''

Earthsblood ''Earthsblood'' is the fifth studio album by the American heavy metal band God Forbid. It was released in 2009, on February 16 in Europe and February 24 in North America, through Century Media Records. The album was produced by Eric Rachel with ...

'' (2009) * Austrian Death Machine – ''

Double Brutal ''Double Brutal'' is the second full-length album by As I Lay Dying vocalist Tim Lambesis' parody project Austrian Death Machine. Unlike the previous album, ''Total Brutal'', ''Double Brutal'' is a two disc effort; the first disc composed of or ...

'' (2009)

References

External links

The Godless Symphony on Myspace

Kris Norris Projekt MySpace

Record Label: Magna Carta
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, Kris 1978 births 21st-century American guitarists American heavy metal guitarists Lead guitarists Living people Magna Carta Records artists Roadrunner Records artists Victory Records artists