Per Nilsson is a Swedish guitarist and producer. He is best known as one of the founding members of the melodic death metal band Scar Symmetry and for being the touring lead guitarist for Meshuggah during Fredrik Thordendal's 2017-2021 hiatus. He is also the guitarist for Swedish progressive rock group Kaipa, since 2017 he is the lead guitarist for Swedish power metal band Nocturnal Rites, and he recorded an album with Zierler.

In January 2013, Guitar Messenger released a guitar instructional DVD with Nilsson called Scar Guitar.

Per is now endorsed by Strandberg Guitars, who in collaboration with him has created the Strandberg Singularity, his first signature (headless) guitar. The first version of the Singularity - a seven string guitar with a red and black swirl finish - was released in 2014. In 2021, a new updated Singularity was released in both seven and eight string versions, with the swirl finish abandoned in favor of a sandblasted ash top with a red and black (seven string version) or blue and black (eight string version) color scheme.

Nilsson primarily plays extended range guitars, though he has often used an Ibanez JEM 6 string to record his solos in the past.

A nice fact: Nilsson is a member of the high IQ society Mensa International, his IQ being "135 or higher" on the Wechsler scale (which translates to 156 or higher on the Cattell scale).

The first time I saw Per was when I coincidentally passed the Randall booth at the Musikmesse in Frankfurt in 2014. I just could not believe my eyes and was totally flabbergasted by what I saw. The good thing about clinics at the Musikmesse is that your face is literally on the musicians hands, which makes their skill even more impressive. And Per had unbelievable skills. Speed, tightness and a phenomenal feel for melody that really did something with me.

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In 2015 I had similar feeling when Per played on the Zierler album. An absolute classic album, yet very undiscovered and underestimated. If you like exciting progressive rock you should definitely check this album.

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When I was considering a solo guitarist for '90 Shades of Hell' I immediately thought of Per. The song has a staccato hammering beat and required tight guitar soloing, playing along with the pounding drumbeat and drum fills. And some great melodic hooks would benefit this metal tune greatly. All of these skills are bundled in Per, so I decided to reach out to him. He liked the song, did his parts and I was again the lucky guy in the candy store. It's always an exciting moment when the guest guitarists send in their solos, and when it becomes clear what it does to the song. Per's soloing is lifting '90 Shades of Hell' beyond maximum level. Incredible stuff!

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Here's a video of Per at the 2014 Musikmesse, where I first got to know him: