Sam Kelly-Wallace was born in Portsmouth (England) and started playing bass at aged 14. He studied Performing Arts in Pembrokeshire (Wales) and switched from bass to guitar at aged 17.

Sam moved to London (UK) in 2000 and went on to form the death-groove metal band L Sol Tace. The L Sol Tace debut album The Carcass of Eternity was released globally on the front cover of Terrorizer Magazine in April 2013 and featured guest appearances from members of Abgott, Breed 77 and Pendulum. The band split later that year.

In the autumn of 2013 Vallenfyre (a project by Greg Mackintosh of Paradise Lost that also featured members of My Dying Bride, At The Gates and Doom) contacted Sam and asked him to play Damnation Festival (UK) with them because their bassist couldn’t attend. At the end of the year Sam was asked to join the band as their 2nd guitarist.

Sam was touring with Vallenfyre from 2014 – 2018 across Europe and the US with bands such as Bolt Thrower, At The Gates, Converge and Pallbearer as well as playing major festivals such as Hellfest (France), Graspop (Belgium), 70,000 tons of metal (US), Maryland Deathfest (US) and many more.

Sam was asked to join Strigoi as a live guitarist after Vallenfyre disbanded in 2018. Greg Mackintosh and Chris Casket (Vallenfyre bassist) formed the band and Strigoi made their live debut at In Flammen Festival (Germany) in the summer of 2022 and also played Brutal Assault (Czech) and Bloodstock Open Air (UK).

2023 will see Strigoi supporting their 2nd album Viscera (that was released via Season of Mist in September 2022) and they have so far confirmed appearances at Naestved Metalfest (Denmark), Hellfest (France) and Damnation (UK) with more to follow.

Sam is playing the PHŒNIX-SWA model and says this about the guitar: “It’s an absolute dream to play, the neck is fast and fluent, the weight and balance is perfect, it looks amazing and I cannot imagine playing shows without it. I’m very happy to be a part of the Siggi Braun family!”