Almost everyone in the metal world is familiar with guitarist Mike Spreitzer due to his longtime work with DevilDriver. He has branched out on his own and created the project Verona on Venus, which debuted its first album in 2024. The album, Popular Delusions, takes on a completely different style and approach, with Spreitzer now on vocals and continuing the art of guitar playing. Verona on Venus made it to my number two album of last year, which was well deserved. If you haven’t heard it yet, you really need to jump on that.
Mike was kind enough to do a top five list for Metal Nation, which is continuing from Kyle Shutt from The Sword doing the first. Here are his answers to the questions this writer sent his way.
Top five guitar riffs (it can be one’s your wrote or not, it a mix, whichever you prefer).
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Alice in Chains – “Damn That River” chorus
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Nine Inch Nails – “Last” The guitar solo after the first chorus
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Megadeth – “This Was My Life” chorus
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Led Zeppelin – “Dazed and Confused”
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Black Sabbath – “Electric Funeral”
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Top five places to visit
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Amsterdam
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Tilburg
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Barcelona
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Sydney
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El Salvador
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Top five new bands you think people should check out
I can’t think of a single band that I’d put on this list. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard anything I like that can be considered new.
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Top five people you would like to collab with.
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Danny Elfman
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Shooter Jennings
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Trent Reznor
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Mick Gordon
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Deadmau5
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Top five movies
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Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
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The Lost Boys
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Interstellar
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Sword in the Stone
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Casino
Bonus Question, from the mind of Hendrix Reyes: If you could ride an animal into battle against a bigger army, what would you choose? Can be real or fictional.
I’d go to battle with a Dragon if I could find one. They seem to be very efficient killers.