Fredrik Thordendal (born 11 February 1970) is a Swedish musician, best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the extreme metal band Meshuggah, of which he is a founding member. Along with Meshuggah's rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, Thordendal was rated No. 35 by Guitar World in the top 100 greatest heavy metal guitarists of all-time. Career Meshuggah Thordendal began his career when he formed "Metallien", a heavily Metallica-influenced band, in his hometown Umeå in 1985. The band later changed their name to Meshuggah and released their first LP Psykisk Testbild in 1989. Beginning as a thrash metal band, Meshuggah's music gradually evolved into a more progressive sound. This sound has become influential on other bands, such as Periphery, whose core member Misha Mansoor was instrumental in coining the term "Djent" in reference to the commonly-utilised technique of playing heavily muted, extended powerchords found within Meshuggah's music. Thordendal has been widely recognized in the metal community for his work with Meshuggah. Some time in the 90s, before the release of Destroy Erase Improve, he was involved in a carpentering accident at work where he cut off the tip of his left middle finger; the fingertip was sewn back on, and after a fair degree of re-learning and practicing, he regained full proficiency on guitar within a year or so. Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects: Sol Niger Within Under the name Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects, Thordendal released a solo album in 1997 titled Sol Niger Within with Ultimate Audio Entertainment. The album was remixed and re-released by Ultimate Audio Entertainment and Relapse Records in 1999 under the title Sol Niger Within version 3.33. The re-release contains two bonus tracks but omits several parts of the original version. SNW's newly mastered version was also released for the first time on vinyl in 2016 by Husaria Records, an American label specializing in audiophile releases; the album's original material was pressed as both lacquer cut variant (500 units) and Direct Metal Mastering variant (500 units). Thordendal also featured on several tracks for drummer Morgan Ågren's Mats/Morgan Band. With regards to a second Special Defects album Fredrik states "It's actually been messing with my head for years now. I haven't really found the time to get the project going. This is a project that I will work on for a longer time, with no rush whatsoever, to make it the best I possibly can. I'm