John Cooke

John Cooke — British guitarist — works in the European melodic and power metal circuit, with spells in bands across the field. The United Kingdom holds a curious position in this genre. Heavy metal was born there, and from there came Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, whose twin-guitar harmonies became the basic vocabulary of European melodic metal. But power metal as a subgenre developed mainly in Germany, Scandinavia and Italy — not on the island that originated it. That means British musicians in the genre often work in continental circuits, with bands and projects based outside the country. It is an inversion of the usual flow: instead of the UK exporting the format, it began receiving back a version developed elsewhere. The guitar in this repertoire nonetheless keeps the original British inheritance: harmonies in thirds, solos built as melody and riffs that hold up the song's structure. It is the lineage that runs across four decades and remains recognisable.