I have long been a fan of both bands.

But I think people who dislike Slash are letting their preferences colour what they hear - Slash has long been capable of the occasional shred style run - yet every time he does one in a song - be it in Snakepit or here people rush to say it must be an overdub of someone else or maybe the rhythm guitarist stepping up or whatever.

The truth is while he's generally more 'aerosmith' style than a van halen style shredder, and while he doesn't have paul gilbert speeds like bucket, he DOES have sufficient speed to smash these licks as demonstrated by live versions of songs like Anastasia, Wicked Stone and others. He's shown on multiple occasions he can drop a modal scale run, or a harmonic minor in at blistering speed even if he isn't a 10 finger tapper and even if a lot of his famous riffs are varations on pentatonic forms.

My thoughts are:

1. The sound of the intro wah-riff over the verses is VERY slash style. The sort of dirty vibe he brings to songs.

2. The outro solo is also very Slash considering the repeatred phrases with Wah (this is a thing Slash does - like repeat a particular phase over and over with minor vatiations).

3. The speed might be off putting to 1990s era slash but is well within the types of solos he's been doing live since at least 2010 onwards.

3. The mood of the playing is very much like Slash does on 'Darker' songs - see 'Vengance is Mine' by Alice Cooper or 'The Unholy" on Slash's WOF album. Also consider how he plays on the Universal Monsters soundtrack he did for Halloween Horror Nights. Listen to those and it doesn't seem a stretch that he recorded these. Listen to Wicked Stone live circa 2014 and you can see he has the chops.

4. Other than doubting slash - there's not much to suggest it IS bucket - if it is bucket - where's his signature stuff? Why no tapping? Why No kill switch? Why no whammy pedal? Why none of his signature vibrato and tremmlo picking mix (like that beautiful passage in soothsayer etc) . Plus if it was bucket wouldn't the fast bit be even faster? wouldn't the scale run part be repeated more gilbert style like his nighttain solo? Its laid back for the likes of a bucket/bumble shred. Listen to TWAT or IRS and tell me it's the same guy. I dunno sounds closer to slash in style than those.

5. Likewise - what does Robin play that's similar to this style? There's a lick at the end of monsters that is similar to one of his runs on street of dreams i'll grant, but I'm not hearing much on general itself. All i hear are things that seem to be slash's general MO.

6. If it wasn't slash - why is his live version so accurate? It's not note perfect in the solo but then he doesn't cover himself that way normally either - but its got the general mood the same - unlike songs like TIL and TWAT where love or hate it he has replicated some phrases but tends to go his own way.

7. Not sure what you are saying about a super-strat? are you talking the pickup sound and tone? I don't hear notes at the 24th fret or whammy dives or anything non-gibsonish to me. But my ears could be missing something. Can you elaborate. But nevertheless as said by others - Slash has been known to mix it up in the studio of late.

For these reasons I think it seems logical to assume that the studio take that leaked is Slash - but maybe I will be proven wrong one day.