Created by graphic artist and musician Llexi Leon, Eternal Descent is an epic comic series that features characters of several of ESP Guitars’ most popular artists, including Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel of Atreyu, Doc Coyle of God Forbid, Wayne Static, and others.
Here at the ESP Eternal Descent portal, you’ll find the most up-to-date information on Eternal Descent’s issues that feature ESP artists, as well as sweepstakes, interviews, videos, links to the latest issues, and more.
Chaos descends upon the stage, as the city crumbles into a ravaged wasteland. God Forbid are caught at the epicenter of destruction, as Doc Coyle and Sirian tackle the oncoming hordes. The curtains lift, the sounds surge and Loki may have grabbed hold of more than he bargained for.
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In the latest issue of Eternal Descent, you saw Gus G. using his random star-shaped Signature Series guitar to battle the hordes. How would you like to inflict some sonic damage with a real Gus G. guitar of your own?
Between now and August 31 2010, you can enter for a chance to win your very own LTD GUS-600NT from ESP and Eternal Descent! In real life, youʼve seen Gus playing his signature ESP in the latest Ozzy videos and onstage at Ozzfest. Now, you can have your own WMD... weapon of metal destruction! One lucky winner will get this amazing guitar, with a set-thru construction at 25.5” scale, a light alder body with flamed maple top, a maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, Sperzel locking tuners, Tonepros bridge/ tailpiece, and Seymour Duncan Distortion (bridge) and ʼ59 (neck) pickups.
The odds of winning depend on the number of entries received. Will the chosen one be you? Best of luck from ESP and Eternal Descent!
Itʼs a busy time for Llexi Leon, the creator of “Eternal Descent”. Not only is he getting ready for the worldwide launch of the comic series, but heʼs also hard at work creating an orchestral metal album (working with none other than legendary producer/engineer Eddie Kramer), and having guys from ESP calling to bother him in the middle of all this. But Llexi was kind enough to fill us in on some of the exciting history and current news of “Eternal Descent”, which features a number of ESP artists as characters in the comicʼs story line.
ESP: Tell us about the very beginning of the Eternal Descent concept. What drew you toward the idea?
LL: The whole project evolved over a few years. It started out with my own music, recording and playing guitar – I wasnʼt really writing traditional song structures or trying to be a leading instrumental guitarist, but instead creating themes that inspired a mood or atmosphere; it was all quite theatrical and cinematic. After messing around with sound effects and orchestration to complement the guitar parts, everything became very progressive – it had this ʻmusical narrativeʼ going on that really felt like it was telling a story. Being someone thatʼs been reading comic books most of my life, I realized that I should combine my two passions and write the full narrative to compliment my musical ideas, giving them depth and context.
How did you go about initially approaching the artists you wanted to feature?
There were a few guys I had in mind right from the start, just from an image and creative output point of view. I always thought Wayne Static was an excellent comic book villain waiting to be drawn and brought to life in that medium. It didnʼt take long to get him in issue 4 with lightning shooting out his guitar!
Iʼve been lucky enough to meet a bunch of fantastic guitar players, and in most cases it was just a matter of showing a bit of the artwork and explaining the concept. Iʼd say “Iʼm writing a comic book featuring real musicians in a supernatural world – it looks something like this,” and most the guys were very keen on the idea and loved the visuals.
A lot of guitarists have their trademark licks and sound, but thatʼs also reinforced by an image and personality. If you start to take some of those traits literally, it can really inspire the imagination for creating characters and abilities.
Why did you choose to focus on so many ESP artists, as opposed to another brand of guitar?
Iʼve been playing ESP guitars since I was about 13 years old, so theyʼve been a staple part of my style for a decade now – and with the custom shop gear, nothing else really comes close. When I was writing the comic and wanting to place guitar-wielding heroes in there, I automatically used ESP instruments as my point of reference. Theyʼre so well designed with such drastic contours and unique body styles, that some of them really look like supernatural or fictional creations.
If you didnʼt know better, and you saw an ESP F-Series being wielded by a Succubus in a comic book, youʼd think that was a made up guitar, just for that character. But no, itʼs really like that... you can get one in your local store! Iʼve seen them building those things by hand in Japan, and itʼs absolutely remarkable craftsmanship. All the curves contrasting with sharp edges, extremely cool!
So after being inspired by the designs and drawing them into the books, I actually contacted ESP and explained what I was trying to do. Thatʼs when I got permission to use the exact likeness and logos of the guitars. A little further down the line, I thought we should reach out to some of the musicians that play these guitars, and see if theyʼd like to get involved.
I found that most of the ESP artists are as original and inspiring as the guitars themselves, its great fun working with such an iconic group of musicians.
Iʼm sure our readers would like to hear about some anecdotes with each of the ESP artists involved. What was their reaction was when they were told about the project? How did you choose to incorporate specific elements about them into the story line?
Well Dan Jacobs from Atreyu, he wanted to be a Ninja. I mean, I asked, “What kind of powers would you have” and he was like, “I want to be a Ninja.” Iʼm not sure if that constitutes as a super power, but Ninjaʼs are pretty bad ass, so why the hell not? Travis Miguel wasnʼt really sure about having a power at all, so he just beats the hell out of people with his guitar. Sometimes itʼs best to keep things simple!
Gus G. is all about the fire and fury. Figures! He even created a catch phrase ʻIGNITE!ʼ for his powers to take effect – Although he doesnʼt actually say it in the comic, his guitar does burst into flames and purge lost souls from a horde of demons, he was pretty pleased with that result. We also did a very special cover for Gus, itʼs going to be a rare variant and hard to find, but I think the collectors will really dig the ʻArmy of Darknessʼ reference there.
Doc Coyle is a real action hero, I told him that there was a shot where he decapitated a zombie with his V. He said, “Just like me in real life!” He looks like he could do some serious damage with a guitar!
Wayne wanted to be more of a villain, which was perfect because I wanted to do the Star Wars ʻemperorʼ thing and have lightning shooting from his fingers. There is a killer action sequence in his issue of the comic, which we set to the Lyrics of the Static-X song ʻElectric Pulseʼ.
What are the short- and long-term plans with the Eternal Descent series?
Right now weʼre working on getting the comic book out there on all platforms, so you can get it in your local stores, but also online for your iPod or PSP console. Iʼm recording an orchestral heavy metal record with Eddie Kramer which really brings the whole story to life, and thatʼs going to be our next big release. In the long term thereʼs always scope for crazy things like a feature film, and weʼve actually had interest about that already which is wild. I have a few things in store already when it comes to games and animation, but weʼre keeping that under wraps for now!
As a musician, are you concerned about being more well-known as a comic creator than a guitar player?
Well... not really. I think Iʼm more concerned about becoming well known! I never set out to be a rock star or anything like that; I just love playing guitar. Making music and creating these characters and worlds is a huge creative outlet for me. Iʼll keep doing my thing and if people remember me as Comic Book Guy, Guitar Guy, or not at all, thatʼs fine by me. Iʼm not one to plaster my name all over something, Eternal Descent doesnʼt need to be ʻLlexi Leonʼs Eternal Descentʼ... it just kills the vibe! Youʼll find me lurking in the credits, with everyone whoʼs helped to make this thing a reality.
What have been your personal favorite parts of the Eternal Descent series so far?
There are a few moments in each issue which really stand out for me – Lyraʼs transformation early on is a great sequence, and there is a real development of her character in issue 4, where the realities of her situation start to hit home. It has a lot of impact, and the artist team did an incredible job there to get the emotion across.
Of course, the bit where Doc Coyle decapitates a possessed member of the crowd, the scene where Wayne Static wreaks havoc with an electrical storm, and the page where Firewind incinerates a host of demons are all pretty sweet too!
Is this project ongoing? Will you continue to feature more ESP artists as the series develops?
This is definitely a long term project - Weʼre already signed up with IDW to do a 24 issue series, so Iʼm looking forward to working with many more ESP guitarists as things progress!
