Goings to Extremes to Avoid ‘Hero’ Role

“This guitar hero stuff is way overblown,” griped Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt, one of heavy metal’s newest guitar heroes. “Guitar heroes aren’t gods. A lot of this guitar hero thing is just guys showing off. I wouldn’t call them heroes. I wouldn’t call me a hero. There’s many players better than me.”

Despite his protestations, Bettencourt is a guitar hero. Not only has he been featured on the cover of Guitar World magazine, but the aficionados in metal circles have also been buzzing about him. His dazzling playing is one of the big attractions of Extreme, a Boston quartet formed in 1985 that also includes singer Gary Cherone, drummer Paul Geary and bassist Pat Badger.

Noted for its funky metal style, Extreme, still in the acclaimed-new-band category, has made a much bigger splash in metal circles than it has on the pop charts. However, at least partly because of Bettencourt’s wizardry, the band’s second album, “Extreme II Pornograffitti” was one of the best metal collections of last year. Bettencourt has it all--dexterity, speed, dynamics, improvisational skills and a keen sense of drama.

Still, this slender, fast-talking, high-strung musician takes seriously being just one member of the band. “Some aspects of this guitar hero thing are flattering, but singling out the guitarist takes away from the band,” continued Bettencourt, 24, during a break from shooting a video in a Van Nuys studio. “Where would we be without Gary’s singing and writing? It takes more than one guy.”

His other gripe with guitar heroes: They largely bore him.

“It’s hard to watch them,” he said. “I can’t listen to a whole concert of a guy playing a guitar. I went to see Joe Satriani live and I wound up focusing on his bass player. Halfway through an album of guitar music, I’m likely to turn it off.”