THE BEAST

Songs With the Coolest Metal Riffs

By Shawn Leonhardt for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer

Heavy metal comes in many forms and genres, from its days of hard rock and early distortion to the modern subsets of doom and death. To find the best riffs we need to search through many decades, fashions, and musical styles. If you are taking guitar lessons , this is a great list to save for later practice! Here are the coolest metal riffs played in the last 60 years! 

Raining Blood - Slayer

A thrash metal classic from 1986, the riff over the dropped tuning is not overly complicated but it still invokes a demonic type of vibe with the chromatic movement. Besides being so memorable it has also influenced many bands of the heaviest of metals. 

Black Sabbath - Iron Man

Iommi’s simple yet heavy riff here is perhaps the most well-known metal riff ever. Another iconic riff from Ozzy’s solo years was “Crazy Train,” and that one is so cool it still makes the rounds on social media. 

Circe - Ghost

This doom and progressive metal hit won a Grammy in 2015 but this riff feels like it could have come from an earlier era. It has all the vibes of a song right from an 80s horror film!

You Really Got Me - The Kinks

This may be a tune you hear on oldies radio but it is one of the precursors to all modern metal and punk. The Kinks were a teenage band with an amp that had a sliced speaker cone for distortion. They played a simple but rocking blues riff through it and it changed the world. This is a great riff for anyone taking beginner guitar lessons .

Breaking the Law - Judas Priest

Judas Priest is another 80’s metal band that helped pave the way for many modern bands. This riff here is a driving aspect of the genre and the lyrical content is fitting for the style since part of the cool aspect of metal is fighting the powers that be!

Bleed - Meshugga 

Modern heavy metal is all about hard chugging, palm muting, and irregular rhythms which can be known as djent. Meshugga is one of the bands who helped popularize this very hardcore style of metal. For those fans who don’t care for blues or rhythmic riffs this may be more your cup of tea.   

Walk This Way - Aerosmith

This song started out as a hard blues rock and power pop hit in the 70’s and when it was released again in the 80’s it was a little grittier and accompanied by Run DMC. It’s certainly not the heaviest riff ever, but the hard rock and HipHop mix led to a whole generation of genres like nu metal that used both of those styles! If you are learning how to play guitar , this is a great song to start with.

Master of Puppets - Metallica

Metallica is another band that has so many cool metal riffs to choose from and most are beloved by many. Their earlier songs were more thrash and later tunes like this have a more pop and hard rock friendly vibe, which is why they are so popular. 

  Blood and Thunder - Mastodon 

Mastodon is a modern metal band that uses both old school hard rock riffs with added modern elements of harder vocals and more grit. This song is a nice mix of heavy but still with a driving rhythm, you get the best of both worlds with this band.

Heir Apparent - Opeth

This modern progressive metal band has more than just cool riffs, they mix various genres throughout some of their longer songs. Tunes like this one are not only heavy but also a rollercoaster ride of emotions as they play various styles. 

Down with the Sickness - Disturbed

Besides having a heavy guitar chug, this song also has its vocal signature opening, which alone gives it a memorable riff. Considered nu metal at the time this came out in 1999 and inspired many future bands to bring crazier vocals into metal music. 

In Waves - Trivium

Modern metalcore doesn’t worry as much about bluesy or rhythmic riffs, like this Trivium song here it is halting and aggressive. And after the initial intense guitar riff we are met with some great progressive lead guitar lines. 

Power Slave - Iron Maiden 

There are so many cool riffs to choose from with Iron Maiden, one of the most popular was this song. It has a driving guitar and all the elements of heavy metal in its rhythm and vocals. Despite its topic the song can really get you moving and head banging. 

Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

While they were not the founders of grunge they are the most prominent band that plays it. Their riffs are not overly complicated and in many cases they are even pretty and melodic, which makes for a unique vibe when you add the depressed and angry vocals. 

Stream of Consciousness - Dream Theatre 

This band is a progressive metal group with very skilled musicians so all their riffs will often excel at being complicated. This song starts out quite simple in its riff, but soon all the other instruments join in and it progressively gets harder and more rocking.

Metalocalypse Theme - Dethklok

It may have been a humorous cartoon, but the melodic death metal in this theme is quite memorable. Even though it was satire, the opening music and various songs throughout the series were some high-quality metal riffs and solos. 

Strange Brew - Cream 

Bands like Cream, Led Zeppelin, and even Hendrix were hard blues rock that paved the way for many future heavy metal bands. While many of their songs have some cool riffs, Strange Brew has an extra bit of wailing to it, and it feels a little like the future songs that would emulate it. 

Walk - Pantera

This riff clearly shows it came out during the head banging grunge era of the 90s, it hits a little harder than Nirvana. Of course Pantera has many other cool riffs but this one here may be one of the most popular of that decade.

Holy Diver - Dio 

Dio was a pioneer in mixing hard rock with classical music, they incorporated both fantasy and theater in their lyrics and stage shows. Not only is the riff memorable but it is where the genres of hard rock started to be referred to as heavy metal. 

Ace of Spades - Motörhead

This song was a mix of hard rock and punk, the riff here is one of the coolest and most popular metal licks ever. It has a driving force that pushes the listener all the way through the song whether they like it or not. “The pleasure is to play!” 

So there you have some of the coolest hard rocking and heavy metal riffs ever! As time has gone by our definition of genres and styles may change, but these guitar licks are still powerful regardless of how we classify them. If you pay close attention you will find many more distorted power chords that cut through the mix and demand that your ears plead for mercy and your head has no choice but to bang!

Photo by Diego Ornelas-Tapia on Unsplash