Pat O'Brien (guitarist)

Cannibal Corpse expressed their respects for O'Brien, but would not release any further information regarding the incident, and that he "is getting the help he needs and appreciates the love and support from Cannibal Corpse fans around the world." They then said that O'Brien is looking forward to a future return to the band and that their tours and shows would continue as planned. In 2021 Erik Rutan from Hate Eternal officially became the new guitar player for Cannibal Corpse.

On March 16, 2021, O'Brien was sentenced to 150 hours of community service, $23,793.45 restitution, a 5-year probation with alcohol and drug evaluation and treatment, and time served.

On December 10, 2018, O'Brien was arrested in Tampa for burglary of a house in the 4700 block of Windflower Circle near the Northdale Golf and Country and for assault on a responding deputy. Reports showed that around 6:57 p.m., he entered a home without permission from its two unidentified occupants. After one occupant told him to leave, O'Brien pushed a woman to the ground, left the house and hid in the property's backyard until police arrived. A responding deputy gave him orders; instead of complying, O'Brien charged at the deputy with a knife. The deputy then tased him, taking him into custody afterward. He was booked into the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office on charges of burglary with assault or battery and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, and was being held without bail. The burglarized home is in the same area of a golf course as where a house fire broke out about the same time at 16311 Norwood Dr., the house O'Brien was renting. It was not immediately clear if the fire was connected to his arrest.

O'Brien was released from jail on December 14, 2018, after posting bond. The day after the fire subsided, fire marshals found a massive amount of weapons, locked safes and potential explosive devices in O'Brien's possession. The list of weapons found included 50 shotguns, ten semi-automatic rifles (including several variants of AK-47s), two Uzi-style rifles and 20 handguns. Other materials found were a number of locked safes, two flamethrowers, thousands of rounds of ammunition that were stored in boxes, several other weapons with their parts and three skulls. One of the weapons was illegal to possess, a sawed-off shotgun. The search warrant that was issued did not state if O'Brien had paperwork for his cache.

O'Brien plays mostly Jackson Custom Shop V's (as of 2017) which are equipped with a Fishman Fluence Modern pickup in the bridge position and a Floyd Rose bridge. When on tour, he takes four guitars, one for the different tunings and a spare. In Cannibal Corpse O'Brien currently uses two tunings: A# standard and G# standard. Both companies have released their respective Pat O'Brien signature model. Throughout his career O'Brien has always preferred to use V shaped guitars. Other guitars included in his collection are:

In April 2011 O'Brien filled in for Exodus' Gary Holt when Holt left the Slayer European tour to play with his own band. Holt himself had been filling in for the now deceased Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman since February 26, 2011, subsequently joining the band.

In 1997 he was approached by Cannibal Corpse through several relations. After auditioning for the band, O'Brien ultimately became a permanent member replacing Rob Barrett. He has been featured on every Cannibal Corpse album since Gallery of Suicide up until Red Before Black when he officially parted ways of the band.

O'Brien stayed in the band for two years during which they recorded the EP In Memory and the full-length The Politics of Ecstasy which both came out in 1996. He also toured with the band and took part in a video shoot for the song "What Tomorrow Knows" from Nevermore's eponymous debut album. However, he felt unsatisfied with the band, preferring to be involved in death metal. Following his departure from Nevermore, O'Brien went through a transitional period where he briefly joined Monstrosity as a touring member but remained somewhat inactive for the rest of the time. When asked about Nevermore years later he replied "I got kicked out of Nevermore because I wasn’t queer."

O'Brien made several guest appearances as lead guitarist. He collaborated on Leather's solo debut album Shock Waves which came out in 1989. He played lead on the track "Balancing Act" which came out as a bonus track for the 1997 re-issue of Lethal's "Your Favorite God" EP. In 2006 he played lead guitar on "Render My Prey" on Spawn of Possession's album Noctambulant. In 2008 O'Brien played guitar on the song "Race Against Disaster" on Jeff Loomis's debut solo album Zero Order Phase. In the same year he made a guest solo appearance on Kataklysm's album Prevail.

O'Brien was born in Northern Kentucky. He graduated from Conner High School in Hebron, Kentucky, in 1983 and currently resides in Tampa, Florida. His hobbies involve music and hunting.

O'Brien started playing in a series of bands, sometimes as a touring musician and sometimes as a full-time member. Throughout the 1980s he played in heavy metal bands such as Chastain and Prizoner. In the 1990s O'Brien evolved from heavy metal to death metal. Between 1990 and 1992 he played in the Cincinnati-based death/thrash metal band Ceremony alongside Steve Tucker, Greg Reed and Shannon Purdon. They released a demo in 1992 entitled Ceremony, and an EP called The Days before the Death that did not come out before 2000 and for which O'Brien did the mastering with Mark Prator. After the band's breakup, O'Brien decided to move out of Cincinnati. He relocated to Los Angeles and searched for a new band. Through tape trading he eventually got hired by Nevermore, who at the time were looking for a second guitarist.

O'Brien got his first guitar when he was 11. His mother bought him an acoustic guitar for Christmas. Later, when he started to practice more he received his first electric guitar, a Gibson SG copy. His father also bought him a 1974 Gibson Flying V. His influences include AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Mercyful Fate and Metallica.

Pat O'Brien (born May 17, 1965) is an American guitarist best known as the former lead guitarist for death metal band Cannibal Corpse, a former member of heavy metal band Nevermore, and as a live guitarist a few times with Slayer and now Exhorder.