Marty Friedman looks very metal.

He arrives in the plush lounge of the Tokyo Park Hyatt dressed in leather pants, his face framed by a mane of curly hair and with myriad silver "rock star" accessories draped around his neck.

Friedman is the ex-lead guitarist of Megadeth, the all-American thrash-metal band that has sold more than 20 million records. Metal cliches being what they are, you'd half expect him to say "Duuuuuuuuude" and throw up a "devil horns" hand sign as a greeting. Instead, his first words are an extremely polite "Hajimemashite, Marty desu." ("Nice to meet you, I'm Marty.")