Frédéric Leclercq

Frédéric Alexandre "Fred" Leclercq (born 23 June 1978) is a French musician and producer, best known as the former longtime bassist for British power metal band DragonForce.[1] He is currently the guitarist and main songwriter in the death metal supergroup Sinsaenum, the guitarist and vocalist in Maladaptive, the bassist and a guitarist in Amahiru, and the bassist of German thrash metal group Kreator and French death metal band Loudblast.[2] He is a session musician for various other bands, including George Lynch's Souls of We.[3][4] He is also a former member of power metal band Heavenly and played several shows with Carnival in Coal and Sabaton.

Frédéric Leclercq
Birth nameFrédéric Alexandre Leclercq
Born (1978-06-23) 23 June 1978
OriginCharleville-Mézières, Grand Est, France
GenresHeavy metal, extreme metal
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)
Years active1992–present
Labels
Member of
Formerly of

Playing influences

Leclercq is influenced by various guitarists such as Uli Jon Roth, Adrian Smith, Trey Azagthoth, and Marty Friedman.

Career

In 2005 Leclercq joined Dragonforce as a replacement to Adrian Lambert on the Sonic Firestorm tour. He released 7 albums with the band. He later parted with the band due to wanting to pursue other types of music on his own. Guitarist Herman Li once said," I didn't want to get Fred because he is such a phenomenal guitarist."

On 16 September 2019, Kreator announced that Leclercq would replace Christian Giesler on Bass after having spent 25 years with the band.[5]

In 2020, Leclercq formed the musical project Amahiru with Japanese guitarist Saki. Saki performs lead guitar, while Leclercq plays lead, rhythm and bass guitar. The two first met in 2015 when Saki's band, Mary's Blood, opened for DragonForce in Hong Kong. Amahiru's self-titled debut album was released on 27 November 2020, and features British vocalist Archie Wilson, Dutch keyboardist Coen Janssen, and American drummer Mike Heller. It also features shakuhachi player Kifu Mitsuhashi, and guest performances by Elize Ryd and Sean Reinert.[6]

Equipment

Leclercq uses ESP bass guitars and has a signature model, the LTD FL-600, with five other bassists (the others being Gabe Crisp, Frank Bello, Pancho Tomaselli, Tom Araya and Henkka Seppälä). He uses ESP ARROW FL SIN-6B and ANTELOPE custom baritone scale models for Sinsaenum. Whilst performing in Sabaton, he used an ESP horizon electric guitar. For amplification, he uses Peavey Tour 700 bass amps and 8x10 bass cabinets, along with a Samson UHF Wireless System.[7]

Notable bands and projects
  • Hors Normes (fusion) 1994–1996; 2000
  • Memoria (black metal) 1997–1999; 2000–2001
  • Heavenly (power metal) 2000–2004
  • DragonForce (power metal) 2005–2019
  • Sinsaenum (blackened death metal) 2016–present
  • Kreator (thrash metal) 2019–present
  • Amahiru (heavy metal/hard rock) 2020–present

References
  1. Johnson, Kevin (23 August 2019). "Frédéric Leclercq Leaves DragonForce". No Treble. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  2. "LOUDBLAST: Unleash New Album, "Manifesto", In September". Metal Temple. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  3. "SOULS OF WE Featuring GEORGE LYNCH, LONDON LEGRAND: Audio Samples Available". Blabbermouth. 9 May 2008. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012.
  4. "Let the Truth Be Known by George Lynch @ ARTISTdirect.com". ARTISTdirect. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  5. Kreator (16 September 2019). "HORDES! Please raise your horns in honour of our new bass player - Frédéric Leclercq of legendary decent from power metallers Dragonforce". Retrieved 27 November 2019 – via Twitter.
  6. "KREATOR/Ex-DRAGONFORCE Bassist FRÉDÉRIC LECLERCQ Releases 'Hours' Music Video From AMAHIRU Project". Blabbermouth. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  7. "Frédéric Leclercq - DragonForce". Retrieved 25 June 2010.
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