Metal Hammer dudes made a list asking a lot Metal icons about their favorite Metal riffs. They also ruled out:
1. It has to be an actual riff – defined by Collins dictionary as ‘a short repeated tune.
2. One song per band. No repeats!
3. It has to be heavy.
Here’s the result. Needless to say that a list is a list and that I don’t at least a half of the bands they’re talking about. But…
50. Artificial Brain – ‘Estranged From Orbit’ (chosen by Ash Gray of Venom Prison)
49. Savatage – ‘Hall of the Mountain King’ (chosen by Michael Amott of Arch Enemy)
48. Steve Vai – ‘the Attitude Song’ (chosen by Clint Lowery of Sevendust)
47. Mötley Crüe – ‘Too Young to Fall in Love’ (chosen by Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom)
46. Nirvana – ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ (chosen by John Baizley of Baroness)
45. Soilwork – ‘Bastard Chain’ (chosen by Michael Weikath of Helloween)
44. Whitesnake – ‘Still of the Night’ (chosen by Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage)
43. Parkway Drive – ‘Romance Is Dead’ (chosen by Sam Kubrick of Shields)
42. Dødheimsgard – ‘Traces of Reality’ (chosen by Mat McNerney of Grave Pleasures)
41. Suffocation – ‘Infecting the Crypts’ (chosen by Jason Mendonca of Akercocke)
40. Nevermore – ‘My Acid Words’ (chosen by Richard Shaw of Cradle of Filth)
39. Van Halen – ‘Mean Street’ (chosen by Alex Skolnick of Testament)
38. Extreme – ‘Money (In God We Trust)’ (chosen by Dan Weller of SikTh)
37. Keep of Kalessin – ‘Armada’ (chosen by Serena Cherry of Svalbard)
36. SikTh – ‘Way Beyond the Fond Old River’ (chosen by Keshav Dhar of Skyharbor)
35. Celtic Frost – ‘Procreation (Of the Wicked)’ (chosen by Gregor Mackintosh of Paradise Lost)
34. Periphery – ‘Pale Aura’ (chosen by Midori of Lovebites)
33. Annihilator – ‘Phantasmagoria’ (chosen by Frederic Leclercq of DragonForce/Sinsaenum)
32. High on Fire – ‘Baghdad’ (chosen by Isaiah Mitchell of Earthless)
31. Ozzy Osbourne – ‘Bark at the Moon’ (chosen by Stefan Helleblad of Within Temptation)
30. Dissection – ‘Beyond the Horizon’ (chosen by Erik Danielsson of Watain)
29. Fu Manchu – ‘Ojo Rojo’ (chosen by Tim Sult of Clutch)
28. Deftones – ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’ (chosen by Chelsea Wolfe)
27. Judas Priest – ‘Victim of Changes’ (chosen by Brian Tatler of Diamond Head)
26. Forbidden – ‘March Into Fire’ (chosen by Frederica Gialanze of Black Moth)
25. Opeth – ‘Master’s Apprentice’ (chosen by Paul Waggoner of Between the Buried and Me)
24. Converge – ‘Heartless’ (chosen by Brady Deeprose of Conjurer)
23. Manowar – ‘Gloves of Metal’ (chosen by JB of Grand Magus)
22. Veil of Maya – ‘Punisher’ (chosen by Stephen Carpenter of Deftones)
21. Gojira – ‘Toxic Garbage Island’ (chosen by Plini)
20. King Diamond – ‘Welcome Home’ (chosen by Chris Broderick of Act of Defiance)
19. Meshuggah – ‘Sickening’ (chosen by Acle Kahney of TesseracT)
18. Rammstein – ‘Du Hast’ (chosen by Sean Long of While She Sleeps)
17. Type O Negative – ‘Everyone I Love Is Dead’ (chosen by Reba Meyers of Code Orange)
16. Lamb of God – ’11th Hour’ (chosen by Doc Coyle of Bad Wolves)
15. Alice In Chains – ‘Check My Brain’ (chosen by Arjen Lucassen of Ayreon)
14. Rage Against the Machine – ‘Bombtrack’ (chosen by Luke Kilpatrick of Parkway Drive)
13. Slipknot – ‘Three Nil’ (chosen by Kristan Dawson of Bury Tomorrow)
12. Scorpions – ‘The Sails of Charon’ (chosen by Ice Dale of Enslaved)
11. Carcass – ‘Black Star’ (chosen by Jock Norton of Puppy)
10. Marilyn Manson – ‘The Beautiful People’ (chosen by Jørgen Munkeby of Shining)
9. At the Gates – ‘Slaughter of the Soul’ (chosen by Sarah Longfield)
8. Slayer – ‘Angel of Death’ (chosen by Corey Beaulieu of Trivium)
7. Pantera – ‘A New Level’ (chosen by Satchel of Steel Panther)
6. Dio – ‘Holy Diver’ (chosen by Padge of Bullet For My Valentine)
5. Machine Head – ‘Davidian’ (chosen by Scott Middleton of Cancer Bats)
4. Iron Maiden – ‘Run to the Hills’ (chosen by Joel O’Keefe of Airbourne)
3. Metallica – ‘Creeping Death’ (chosen by Pepper Keenan of Corrosion of Conformity)
2. Megadeth – ‘Holy Wars… the Punishment Due’ (chosen by James Barnett of Cane Hill)
1. Black Sabbath – ‘Symptom of the Universe’ (chosen by Manuel Gagneux of Zeal & Ardor)
