In the wake of the recent news that Alexi Laiho passed away at the end of 2020, there has been an outpouring of tributes for the metal virtuoso from the guitar community.
Among those who have paid their respects to the guitar icon is Nita Strauss, who took to Facebook to share a touching tribute to the man who was one of her biggest inspirations and, to this day, still influences her own songwriting.
"Such devastating news to hear of Alexi Laiho's passing. Alexi was one of my BIGGEST inspirations when I got serious about playing guitar," writes Strauss. "I was so into Vai, Satriani, and the masters... but I LOVED heavy music."
Strauss describes Alexi Laiho's playing as a "bridge between the two for this young, metal starved guitar player".
"Alexi's songs... always sounded FUN. Heavy, brutal... fun," she continued. "I always try to emulate that exact mix, but no one did it better than him."
The Alice Cooper guitarist also shared that, despite having soft spots for Hatecrew Deathroll, Follow the Reaper and Are You Dead Yet, "if I had to pick one song that really stood out to me it would be Hate Me."
Alongside her words, Strauss shared a picture of her younger self with two of her prized possessions – her Alexi Laiho signature ESP AL-200 and 600.
Strauss joins a host of guitarists who have paid tribute to Alexi Laiho this week following the news of his death.
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