Lee Altus is a Ukrainian-American heavy metal guitarist currently playing in

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

and Heathen.

Career

Altus first came to public attention in the mid-1980s with his original band, Heathen. He served as the principal songwriter and a founding member of Heathen playing on all four of their LPs, '' Breaking the Silence'', '' Victims of Deception'', '' The Evolution of Chaos'' and ''

Empire of the Blind ''Empire of the Blind'' is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Heathen, released on September 18, 2020. It is the band's first album in 11 years, following '' The Evolution of Chaos'' (2009), the first to feature Jason Mirza and ...

''. In 1990, Altus was considered for the position in

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

vacated by

Jeff Young Jeffrey "Jeff" Young (born March 31, 1962) is an American guitarist. He graduated from Musicians Institute in 1985, and is best known for his time with the thrash metal band Megadeth, appearing on the 1988 album '' So Far, So Good... So What! ...

, but declined, and the job was given instead to

Marty Friedman Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until ...

. He later became a permanent member of the band

. After Heathen broke up in 1992, Altus moved to Germany along with his fellow ex-Heathen members

Doug Piercy ''Doug Piercy'' is an American heavy metal guitarist. He played in the San Francisco heavy metal band Anvil Chorus in the early 1980s. Playing in Control briefly, he eventually moved on to his best-known project, Heathen, in 1985. Piercy share ...

and Darren Minter. Altus and Minter played in the

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...

group

Die Krupps Die Krupps () ("The Krupps") is a German industrial metal/ EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler and Bernward Malaka in Düsseldorf. The band has had a diverse range of musical influences over time, including the percussive industrial '' ...

for much of the remainder of the 1990s. He also participated in a reunited version of

Angel Witch Angel Witch are a British heavy metal band which formed in London in 1976 as part of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) movement. Biography Formation The band formed, originally under the name of Lucifer, of guitarist and vocalist ...

. In 2001, Altus reunited Heathen along with Minter, vocalist Dave White, bassist Mike Jastremski and guitarist

Ira Black Ira Barrie Black (March 18, 1941 – January 10, 2006) was an American physician and neuroscientist who was an advocate of stem cell research and was the first director of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey at Robert Wood Johnson Medical ...

. The band put out an EP entitled ''Recovered'', made up of rare material and, with a new second guitarist and bassist, in 2010 released '' The Evolution of Chaos'', followed a decade later by ''

'' (2020). Altus has been a member of the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

thrash metal band

since 2005, replacing longtime guitarist Rick Hunolt. To date, Altus has performed on six studio albums with Exodus: ''

Shovel Headed Kill Machine ''Shovel Headed Kill Machine'' is the seventh studio album by the American thrash metal band Exodus (American band), Exodus, released on October 4, 2005 through Nuclear Blast. It's the first album to feature new vocalist Rob Dukes, after the dep ...

'' (2005), ''

The Atrocity Exhibition ''The Atrocity Exhibition'' is an experimental novel of linked stories or "condensed novels" by British writer J. G. Ballard. The book was originally published in the UK in 1970 by Jonathan Cape. After a 1970 edition by Doubleday & Company ...

'' (2007), ''

Let There Be Blood ''Let There Be Blood'' is a studio album with re-recorded songs of Exodus's 1985 ''Bonded by Blood'', featuring their lineup at the time. The only band members who play on both ''Bonded by Blood'' and ''Let There Be Blood'' are guitarist Gary Ho ...

'' (2008), '' Exhibit B: The Human Condition'' (2010), '' Blood In, Blood Out'' (2014) and ''

Persona Non Grata In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of the ...

'' (2021).

Personal life

Lee is a longtime fan of the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

NHL franchise, including wearing Flyers shirts while headlining the 2020 70,000 Tons of Metal festival.

Equipment

Altus currently endorses

ESP Guitars is a Japanese guitar manufacturer, primarily focused on the production of electric guitars and Bass guitar, basses. They are based in both Tokyo and Los Angeles, with distinct product lines for each market. ESP Company manufactures instruments ...

, though he used to play

Jackson King V The King V is an electric guitar made by Jackson Guitars. Origin and history The Jackson King V was originally named after Robbin Crosby of Ratt, his nickname being "King". Crosby popularized the guitar throughout the 1980s, however the guitar ...

guitars. Altus was a long time user of

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 ...

Amplifiers as well, but is currently an ENGL endorsee.

References

External links

*
Interview with Lee Altus and his mother
from

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...

, 1987 1966 births 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American heavy metal guitarists American people of Russian-Jewish descent Angel Witch members California Republicans Die Krupps members Exodus (American band) members Heathen (band) members Jewish heavy metal musicians Lead guitarists Living people Musicians from Odesa Ukrainian emigrants to the United States {{US-metal-guitarist-stub