Your all time favorite metal riff?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Van Halen's cover of 'You Really Got Me'. And pretty much anything else Edward has come up with over the last 30 years.

Agreed.

I'll also say

Under The Sun - Sabbath
Hole In The Sky - Sabbath
Sweet Leaf - Sabbath
The Writ - Sabbath
Low - Testament
Black Dog - Zeppelin
The Thing That Should Not Be - Metallica

Three way tie;

Faith No More-Surprise! You're Dead
Diamond Head-Am I Evil
UFO-Rock Botton

Maybe because it was my intro to metal but I'll always say Randy Rhoads riff on Flying High Again.

Fat Freddy wrote:

There are so many but the first one that comes to mind are "Take Control" by Raven or "Punk and Belligerent" by Warrior Soul. Both of those songs have opening riffs that just make me wanna punch something (I mean that in a good way).

Could call with Punk and Belligerent. Personally, Love Destruction off that album has the same effect on me.

Slayer - Mandatory Suicide, Spirit in Black
Metallica - Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning
Pantera - Cemetery Gates, Psycho Holiday
Overkill - Elimination
Testament - Into the Pit
Sabbath - Sweet Leaf, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Trouble - End of my Daze
Sacred Reich - The American Way

Some fav Metal/Rock riffs (Don't have a definite fav... far too many):

Judas Priest: Victim Of Changes
Iron Maiden: Die With Your Boots On
Corrosion Of Conformity: Man Or Ash
Metallica: Blackened
Megadeth: Take No Prisoners
Pantera: The Art Of Shredding
Crowbar: I Feel The Burning Sun
Down: Bury Me In Smoke
ZZ Top: La Grange
Black Sabbath: The Wizard
Thin Lizzy: Emerald
Death: Scavenger Of Human Sorrow
High On Fire: Fury Whip
Five Horse Johnson: Mississippi King
Queen: The Prophet Song
Acid King: Heavy Load
The Cursed: Serpentine Slither
Losing All: Give 'Em Hell
Exhorder: Death in Vain
Overkill: Crystal Clear
Pride & Glory: A Horse Called War
Slayer: War Ensemble
Testament: Into The Pit
Exodus: Piranha
Alabama Thunderpussy: Such As Life

more with the tasty:

Immortal - Solarfall
Immortal - Triumph
Andromeda - The Words Unspoken
Paradise Lost - Shades of God
Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King
Rage - Soundchaser
Rage - Suicide


and then, here's some killer riffs from bands that people don't really associate with riffs because of genre placement....but still pack a lot of great ones...

Falconer - The Clarion Call
Falconer - Wings of Serenity

Weinerhall's main riffs and call-and-response to the vocal lines here are ridiculous...


Freedom Call - Graceland.... the beginning, huge and ominous, though such a simple riff..

creeping death and mop are probably some of my favourite metal riffs

i might get flamed for this but my all time favourite riff is Dire Straits - money for nothing. i know its not metal but its still awesome

TheGooch wrote:

i might get flamed for this but my all time favourite riff is Dire Straits - money for nothing. i know its not metal but its still awesome

That's a great riff. I pretty much hate Dire Straits, but that's an awesome song.

Metallic Blaze wrote:

Tell me this aint the most badass riff you ever heard:

That one is good, but I find this one more to my likin (especially at 0:26)

Too many to remember now, but here are the ones that first got my attention and formed my tastes:

Kinks- You Really Got Me
Hendrix- Purple Haze
Cream- Sunshine of Your Love
Iron Butterfly- In-A-Gadda-Da Vida
Led Zeppelin- Black Dog
Black Sabbath-N.I.B.
Humble Pie- Stone Cold Fever
Mountain- Mississippi Queen
Deep Purple- Smoke On The Water
Edgar Winter Group- Frankenstein

also:
Focus- Hocus Pocus
Fleetwood Mac- Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)
Budgie- Homicidal Suicidal
Pink Fairies- The Snake

There must be a Time-Life collection somewhere with most of those on it; if not; any insomniac of a certain age would be pretty much helpless against the late-night commercial.

There are so many, too many to pick a favorite really, but Megadeth - Symphony of Destruction comes to mind.

Some less obvious ones:

Paul Chain - Three Water
Solstice - The Sleeping Tyrant
Witchfinder General - Friends of Hell (every single riff in that song)
Pagan Altar - The Black Mass
AC/DC - Riff Raff
Candlemass - Black Stone Wielder
Candlemass - Well of Souls
Judas Priest - Killing Machine
Fates Warning - Valley of the Dolls

Also, Alice Cooper - Schools Out

SlaytanicPOWER wrote:

Metallic Blaze wrote:

Tell me this aint the most badass riff you ever heard:

That one is good, but I find this one more to my likin (especially at 0:26)

That's a good one too!

Metallic Blaze wrote:

SlaytanicPOWER wrote:

Metallic Blaze wrote:

Tell me this aint the most badass riff you ever heard:

That one is good, but I find this one more to my likin (especially at 0:26)

That's a good one too!

Too many too list

Don't really know, but I'm sure it was written in the 80's.

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

holydiver97595 wrote:

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Cool keyboard riff.

Troublezone wrote:

holydiver97595 wrote:

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Cool keyboard riff.

One of my favorites.

Metallic Blaze wrote:

Tell me this aint the most badass riff you ever heard:

Gary Holt rules! I wish he would do a side project band with Gene Hoglan.

AC/DC -Back In Black.... two brilliant riffs in one song

Scorps - Rock You Like a Hurrican

Ultimatum - Mortal Stomp

Accept - Balls to The Wall

Maiden - 2 Minutes to Midnight

J Priest - Hell Bent for Leather

It doesn't get much heavier than this. Iommi couldn't have done it better!

Troublezone wrote:

Metallic Blaze wrote:

Tell me this aint the most badass riff you ever heard:

Gary Holt rules! I wish he would do a side project band with Gene Hoglan.

Yeah, Gary is one of my favorite guitarists. He writes some wicked cool riffs!

This constantly changes but:

Grim Reaper - See you in Hell
Black Sabbath - Electric Funeral