| Metal Mike Chlasciak | |
| Birth Name: | Michał Chlaściak |
| Alias: | "Metal Mike" |
| Birth Place: | Warsaw, Poland |
| Occupation: | Guitarist |
| Genre: | Heavy metal |
| Years Active: | 1988–present[1] |
| Associated Acts: | Halford, Sebastian Bach, Testament, Jim Breuer, Painmuseum |
"Metal" Mike Chlasciak (born December 24, 1971) is a Polish-American musician, best known as the guitarist for heavy metal band Halford, led by Rob Halford.
Chlasciak and Halford have toured the world several times over with the likes of Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne and Mötley Crüe. Chlasciak has additionally toured with Bay Area thrash metal band Testament, Saturday Night Live
As a solo artist, Chlasciak supported Steve Morse, Yngwie Malmsteen, Ronnie Montrose, Savatage, Primal Fear, and Eric Martin of Mr. Big. Chlasciak's solo band PainmuseuM has toured with Halford, Testament, Amon Amarth and others. Chlasciak's has contributed songs to the Songs from the Garage album from Saturday Night Live alumnus Jim Breuer and has provided lead guitar duties for his band, Jim Breuer and The Loud & Rowdy.
In 2017, Chlasciak put together a new solo band with musicians Marc Lopes (Metal Church, Ross the Boss, Let Us Prey), Mike LePond (Symphony X, Silent Assassins) and Ronnie Lipnicki (Overkill). In 2021 Mike LePond was replaced with bassist Mike Davis (Halford, Dramarama). The group continues to headline its own shows, small festivals and has supported melodic rockers Dokken at 2019 US East Coast dates.
In 2018, Chlasciak was inducted into the Heavy Metal Hall of Fame alongside Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), Billy Sheehan (Talas, Mr. Big, Sons of Apollo) and Bill Ward of Black Sabbath.
Chlasciak is a scholarship graduate of Berklee College of Music. He also writes his own monthly "Metal for Life" column in Guitar World and often contributes career and music related blogs for guitarworld.com and other publications. Chlasciak released several metal guitar instructional books and DVDs. Chlasciak also owns and oversees Metal Heroes Music Academy. The annual Metal Heroes Summer Collective and Metal Mike's Ultimate Metal Guitar Retreat, which take place in upstate New York's Catskill Mountains, are Metal Heroes' crown jewels. Chlasciak continues to lead workshops and clinics across the US spotlighting heavy metal guitar playing.
