# What's the most bone crushing riff?



## bostjan (Dec 20, 2021)

Hey everybody!

I think what my music is missing is a cool riff that makes people want to smash stuff. Maybe those riffs are cliche nowadays, but I want to try to see if I can write one.

I'm counting on you to give me some examples, preferably songs with time stamps, of the one riff that affect the strongest urge to start destroying things. If you want, we can also talk about what makes it work the way it works, at the risk of rubbing some of the magic off of it.


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## beerandbeards (Dec 20, 2021)

The main riffhttps://youtu.be/AkFqg5wAuFk


The breakdown


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## Masoo2 (Dec 20, 2021)

For being the first thing you hear when starting the album, I don't think it gets much better than this



Makes me want to crowd kill my living room


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## works0fheart (Dec 20, 2021)

This song has a lot of cool riffs but the one at 2:30 is the standout one for me. Also, I forgot Oleg from here covered it so I figured I may as well post that one instead.



And since dm is too easy, here's an oldy


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## Crash Dandicoot (Dec 20, 2021)

I'm sure there's a bunch but the first that came to mind:


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## budda (Dec 20, 2021)

Dunno about most but "master's apprentice" by Opeth still goes.


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## Zer01 (Dec 20, 2021)

The first riff. I don’t know about smashing stuff, but definitely stomping on things.


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## gunch (Dec 20, 2021)

Probably something with a simple chromatic pattern then a weird interval after that to subvert expectation. But mostly it's just being locked the fuck in with the bass and drums









BBTS builds their whole sound around "getting to the good part" as to quote Dave Witte I have to list them twice and because Rev 101 DOES have undoubtedly the most bludgeoning breakdowns ever conceived


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## Necky379 (Dec 20, 2021)

And Unearth breakdowns


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## Emperor Guillotine (Dec 20, 2021)

I'll be sorely disappointed if someone doesn't mention The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravagana, Frontierer, or Car Bomb in this thread. So, I guess I'll mention them because if their music doesn't get you wanting to break shit in a spastic, berserk sort of way, then something might be wrong with you.

And of course, let's not forget the wave of beatdown hardcore/metalcore bands like Knocked Loose, Code Orange, Kublai Khan, END, and similar who play nothing but endless "smash-something", "throw-something", "crowd-kill-someone", "fuck-shit-up" caveman-style mosh riffs and two-step sections. Their music is meant to get you moving.


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## John (Dec 20, 2021)




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## noise in my mind (Dec 20, 2021)

Slaughter to Prevail does a good job at this IMO.


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## Werecow (Dec 20, 2021)

From 4:00 onwards, but like any timing change, it's best listening to the whole song first.


This whole song


From 1:08


from 3:29


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## gunch (Dec 20, 2021)

Emperor Guillotine said:


> I'll be sorely disappointed if someone doesn't mention The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravagana, Frontierer, or Car Bomb in this thread. So, I guess I'll mention them because if their music doesn't get you wanting to break shit in a spastic, berserk sort of way, then something might be wrong with you.
> 
> And of course, let's not forget the wave of beatdown hardcore/metalcore bands like Knocked Loose, Code Orange, Kublai Khan, END, and similar who play nothing but endless "smash-something", "throw-something", "crowd-kill-someone", "fuck-shit-up" caveman-style mosh riffs and two-step sections. Their music is meant to get you moving.



Too be fair I was going to include the breakdown in I Hate to Impose but I am the Ocean from Danza or the first breakdown in Peices of You from Car Bomb but those are kind of easy/gimme

who all seen the leprechaun say yeeaaahh


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## budda (Dec 20, 2021)

Also older veil of maya had some rifffs.


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## gunch (Dec 20, 2021)

budda said:


> Also older veil of maya had some rifffs.



Oh yeah the tremolo pick beatdown in We Bow in it's Aura. That's another good example of production adding up to insane heaviness


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## Matt08642 (Dec 20, 2021)

First few seconds, then when the riff comes back at 29 seconds. Absolutely crushing.


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## gunch (Dec 20, 2021)

verse

 1:55

Also sorry for spam but like 

"This is a question about something I have an unhealthy obsession with"


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## Emperor Guillotine (Dec 20, 2021)

gunch said:


> Too be fair I was going to include the breakdown in "I Don't Mean to Impose but I am the Ocean" from Danza


Fixed.


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## FILTHnFEAR (Dec 20, 2021)

The intro section to Slipknot's Disasterpiece still to this day makes me wanna Godzilla a city.


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## Scordare (Dec 20, 2021)




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## Emperor Guillotine (Dec 20, 2021)

FILTHnFEAR said:


> The intro section to Slipknot's Disasterpiece still to this day makes me wanna Godzilla a city.


^ I felt this in my balls.

Whew...

While we're on this topic of bone-crushing riffs, let's talk about Wage War. They've got some really solid, "time-to-break-shit" riffs sprinkled amidst their catalog of work.

Anyway, I heard that some of you guys like breakdowns.



Andrew Wade's production, engineering, and mixing really add an element of heaviness to that song's sections. But if you'd prefer to see/hear the song in a live context...



And while we're on the topic of Andrew Wade, A Day to Remember is another band he has worked with; and in fact, his best work has probably been with ADTR since they are the band that put him on the map as a producer and engineer.

I totally slept on the 2013 _Common Courtesy_ album until this past week, but man, there are so many heavy sections interspersed throughout the songs that really get you wanting to get violent.



Produced by Andrew Wade and mixed by Ken Andrews of Failure. (It was a bit crazy for me to learn that Ken Andrews mixed this song because the last thing I listened to that he mixed was either Paramore's self-titled album or Underoath's _Erase Me_ album. And both definitely do not sound similar to this song in terms of mixing styles.)


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## odibrom (Dec 20, 2021)

The most bone crushing riff is the one not yet written... by anyone. It's the one that keeps eluding our senses and skipping our thoughts and is the one responsible for our eternal search for it...

There are, however, a few hints that may get us close to it:

It must GROOVE with high octanes...
It must be an up tempo kind of thing, _prestíssimo_ I would say
It must have a galloping rhythm, but not be only that, one need to let things breath for a bit.
It must have contrast, in rhythm and harmony/melody, so it can shake the listener. No contrast, no shaking...
Low bass notes as a base reference, but keep them tight and also get some mid to high notes as well.
Question is not what is the most bone crushing riff around, but what will we do when we find it? What happens then? do we keep searching (then it really wasn't the most bone crushing riff after all)? do we start a jazz band (then why were we searching for it?)?...

... fact is, _there is no spoon_...


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## aceshigh92 (Dec 20, 2021)




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## TheBolivianSniper (Dec 20, 2021)

I blew my ears out with these 2 multiple times this week and it has me wanting to literally buy another guitar just for drop tuned beatdown shit. 








and ofc in flames bc who tf doesn't wanna mosh out when that main riff hits


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## Marv Attaxx (Dec 20, 2021)

Any riff from those heavier Crystal Lake songs. When they go heavy they reaaaly go for it


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## oracles (Dec 20, 2021)

The entirety of this record


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## Crungy (Dec 20, 2021)

Say what you will about In Flames but Only for the Weak fucks.

The breakdown after the second chorus of this song is a beast the way it builds into it. If this doesn't make you want to smash shit I don't know what will. Best song they've ever written in my opinion.


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## Crungy (Dec 20, 2021)

@Marv Attaxx fuck yeah dude. I feel like they picked up where Parkway Drive left off and got even heavier.


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## Emperor Guillotine (Dec 20, 2021)

TheBolivianSniper said:


>


I still remember the first time that I heard that riff at 0:28. It was game over right then and there at the gym.

I'll one-up you on that one though.



And on a similar note, one of the cuts off the new Every Time I Die album just comes in with nonstop, fun, violent, caveman riffs. And man, Keith's lyrics come in like a _whip _at times too.



_"Fear is a fetish and I am a masochist. I'm not ashamed of my shame, now that I gave it a name."_

Continuing the thread here...

2:56 onwards to the end of the song here. It works. It just works. Everything just works.



The whole _Ø (Disambiguation)_ album has been a daily jam for me recently. So many bone-crushing riffs and "slam-your-fists-into-something" moments.

And here is some classic Underoath with kind of a similar but still hard-hitting idea/riff/section at 1:15.



Actually, this whole song ("Returning Empty Handed") is pretty much just one big, continuous progression of cool riff after cool riff that make up the sections.



Marv Attaxx said:


> Any riff from those heavier Crystal Lake songs. When they go heavy they reaaaly go for it


God...damn...

_damn..._


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## KailM (Dec 20, 2021)




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## budda (Dec 20, 2021)

Not my dumb ass forgetting "malice" by through the eyes of the dead. That whole album, really.


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## zappatton2 (Dec 20, 2021)

beerandbeards said:


> The main riff
> 
> 
> The breakdown


It's funny, I know it's the thing now to hate on Pantera, but I saw the thread title and immediately thought of 4:01 of this lil' ditty;


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## Giest (Dec 20, 2021)

The last riff in this song is probably one of their heavier passages.


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## Choop (Dec 20, 2021)




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## Chris Bowsman (Dec 20, 2021)

Anybody remember that first Staind album? I'm not claiming it's the heaviest stuff ever, but there are some bangers with some stupid heavy tone on there.


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## MFB (Dec 20, 2021)

aceshigh92 said:


>




'Bout fuckin' time someone posted this.

If not that, then I'll not soon forget the first time I heard this and thought, "This is what Hell sounds like."


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## mphsc (Dec 21, 2021)




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## Choop (Dec 21, 2021)

A couple good ones from the top of my head. May put some more up when I have more time to think on it!

45 Seconds in


18 Seconds in


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## mastapimp (Dec 21, 2021)

Alice in Chains - A Looking in View (intro), Stone (intro/verse)
Anthrax - The Devil You Know (intro/verse)
Carcass - Dance of Ixtab (intro)
Children of Bodom - We're Not Gonna Fall (intro)
Mastodon - Spectrelight (intro/verse), Blasteroid (chorus)
Megadeth - The Right to Go Insane (verse)
Moon Tooth - Trust (intro)
Power Trip - Executioner's Tax (chorus)
Revocation - A Visitation (intro)
Revocation - The Outer Ones (outro)
Spiritworld - Pagan Rhythms (intro)
Static-X - Bled for Days (intro)


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## vilk (Dec 21, 2021)

ok I've edited this post like 4 times now this is my final answer 

the riff is used multiple times but at the end when the drums switch up a little before 2:40 gives it a little extra bone crushiness.


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## iamaom (Dec 21, 2021)

Intro riffs of all these:


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## Alex79 (Dec 21, 2021)

Proof that a bone-crushing riff (starts aroung 1:10) comes from songwriting and not gain and downtuning.


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## Alex79 (Dec 21, 2021)

Lots of death metal posts here... but some of the heaviest stuff is found in thrash metal.


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## Pat (Dec 21, 2021)




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## Sammy J (Dec 21, 2021)

Some pretty great riffs in this thread. I'll add a few of my favs:

1:17 in Liege of Inveracity. Pure savagery.


This one gets me stomping. 1:44 to 2:04


I could post a million Decapitated riffs:

Start through to the first 40 seconds...but really, the whole song.


4:20 through to the end of the song is just some of the best death metal you will ever hear


1:35 through to 2:25...one of their best deep cuts IMO


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## Sammy J (Dec 21, 2021)

This one also, huge breakdown riff

4:12 to 4:36


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## Viginez (Dec 21, 2021)

most of the far beyond driven album


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## Pietjepieter (Dec 21, 2021)

have a buildup on the snare that sets the mood for something fast, than a little silence, then snare and a china in halftime, kick blasting straight 16th notes. Guitar riff with lots of dotted eight notes and high very dissonant stuff DJUKDJUKDJUK MEHHHHH djukdjuk MEHHHH MEHHH best in some strange sort of polyrithmic way (to be agressive but also very techie). Let is go for a some bars, then double up snare and move from china to a chrash in double time. Than to make the mess complete put a snare and chrash on every dotted eight note, move tempo so the dotted eight note will become quarter notes, and fill them up with 16th kicks.
Then change the guitar riff to something bleedisch like trrtrrtrr trrtrr trrtrrtrrtrrr (add additional piews) trrtrrtrr. Best is to random make a pattern of lets say 19 16the notes and repeat that pattern. (for obvious techie reasons) 

Oh and do not forget: you need someone to scream stuff about society on top of it

Oh and other important thing, start with using powercords on the dotted eight notes, but if you are a few bars in, lower the 5th a semitone, to sets the scene for total destruction


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## ikarus (Dec 21, 2021)

Pietjepieter said:


> have a buildup on the snare that sets the mood for something fast, than a little silence, then snare and a china in halftime, kick blasting straight 16th notes. Guitar riff with lots of dotted eight notes and high very dissonant stuff DJUKDJUKDJUK MEHHHHH djukdjuk MEHHHH MEHHH best in some strange sort of polyrithmic way (to be agressive but also very techie). Let is go for a some bars, then double up snare and move from china to a chrash in double time. Than to make the mess complete put a snare and chrash on every dotted eight note, move tempo so the dotted eight note will become quarter notes, and fill them up with 16th kicks.
> Then change the guitar riff to something bleedisch like trrtrrtrr trrtrr trrtrrtrrtrrr (add additional piews) trrtrrtrr. Best is to random make a pattern of lets say 19 16the notes and repeat that pattern. (for obvious techie reasons)
> 
> Oh and do not forget: you need someone to scream stuff about society on top of it
> ...



Can someone please record exactly this and post it?


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## Riffer (Dec 21, 2021)

I could list tons but I always go back to this...


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## Pietjepieter (Dec 21, 2021)

ikarus said:


> Can someone please record exactly this and post it?



Next week I hope to have some time and see if I can record it


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## Lorcan Ward (Dec 21, 2021)

ikarus said:


> Can someone please record exactly this and post it?





Not exactly what he described but what came to mind from the description


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## CanserDYI (Dec 21, 2021)

I just started playing around with the Somatic Defilement by Whitechapel, and my lord the gurgle going into the slowed down slam chug at the beginning, man it gets my goosebumps going the same way it did in like 2010 when I first heard it.


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## ikarus (Dec 21, 2021)

Pietjepieter said:


> Next week I hope to have some time and see if I can record it



that would be super cool!


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## wheresthefbomb (Dec 21, 2021)

This thread needs more heavy, low, and slow:



No discussion of big riffs is complete without Cave In. I saw them live a few years ago at psycho CA, and before they played this they asked the audience if we like big riffs.  They were top notch live. RIP Caleb.


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## BenjaminW (Dec 21, 2021)

Pretty much all of this song's riffs.


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## TheBolivianSniper (Dec 21, 2021)

from a band that normally doesn't make me wanna mosh out, the main riff in this song is the fucking heaviest shit I've heard in a long time and certainly the only time I've liked listening to an 8 string outside of Meshuggah

idk about Steph in general and I literally just got into Deftones but Holy FUCK is this guitar tone glorious, insanely saturated, super punchy, and it makes drop E sound like it should: massive, insanely low, super aggressive with none of that weak djenty sound or single coil twang





if anyone has a spare SC608B they'd sell me, the one with the fishmans, I would buy it just about instantly based off of this album alone and if no one here will oblige I will be making the 2 hour trip to Jersey to pick up the red sparkle one a dude is selling


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## MrBouleDeBowling (Dec 21, 2021)

I think the riff at 1:34 qualifies. I don't care what people are saying about the second Visceral Disgorge album. I love it and this riff is easily one of my favorite of all times


2:25, classic Dying Fetus groove


The whole instrumental.


1:31. The greatest thing Arsis ever made IMO

Those are pretty much the firsts that pop into my head when I think of crushing riffs

Honorable mention:


I don't like deathcore, I don't like Suicide Silence, but I'll be damned if the riff at 1:11 with George Fisher grunting over it isn't one of the most satisfying thing ever


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## Flappydoodle (Dec 21, 2021)

FILTHnFEAR said:


> The intro section to Slipknot's Disasterpiece still to this day makes me wanna Godzilla a city.



I saw the title and came to post this song

Slipknot is so good at those buildups. And when the whole band just locks in on something the end result is incredibly heavy.


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## budda (Dec 21, 2021)

The Safety Fire - Sections. That intro riff .

Unearth - Trail of fire.

Whores. - Of course you do. When that pre-chorus kicks in...

The black dahlia murder - on stirring seas of salted blood

Every time I die - Exometrium, outro to El Dorado, Just as real but not as brightly lit

And I'm still very proud of this one https://sparrows613.bandcamp.com/track/worship-song


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## mongey (Dec 21, 2021)

first thing i thought to

Meshuggah elastic red- the bit from 2:55 onwards , where the riff starts really small and then really crushes from 3:30. have always loved that bit,


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## gunch (Dec 22, 2021)

God damn Celebration of Guilt rules


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## p0ke (Dec 22, 2021)

aceshigh92 said:


>




This is what I think of when hearing the words "bone crushing". Saw them live on the tour for that album and goddamn, the song was even heavier live.


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## spudmunkey (Dec 22, 2021)

In the late 90s, whenever I was putting together a drive mix CD, this was pretty much always the first song.


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## Supernaut (Dec 22, 2021)

It's gotta be Rational Gaze and Demiurge, crushing from start to finish.


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## Musiscience (Dec 22, 2021)

Not original, but the whole of Scourge of Iron by Cannibal Corpse is crushing. Also bone crushing live.



Edit: to add Swarm by Meshuggah, because the riff starting at 4:00 is an absolute crushing masterpiece.


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## works0fheart (Dec 22, 2021)

gunch said:


> God damn Celebration of Guilt rules



Arsis was my favorite band for a while and my gateway to tech death. That album in particular is so good from start to finish. I got to see them play it in it's entirety years ago and it was awesome.

Standout tracks to me are The Face of My Innocence, Seven Whispers Silent, Maddening Disdain, Elegant and Perverse, Sadistic Motives, and Wholly Night. If there were a contender for the death metal equivalent of Master of Puppets, this would be my nomination.

United in Regret with Ryan is super good too and very overlooked.


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## KailM (Dec 22, 2021)

How could I forget Cannibal?
@ 1:26

And a new one @2:07 when Paul switches to a blast beat and Corpsegrinder bellows “Is this the end of all that we know?…”

I nearly broke my neck the first time I heard that cranked in my car. On the subject of crushing riffs, it’s not always about chugs and breakdowns on low chords. The drums are critical. The latter song I posted just pulls it together at that moment when the drum beat shifts and the guitars harmonize in a grim tonality. And as someone else eluded earlier— it doesn’t hurt to have someone like Corpsegrinder belching out filth as well…


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## MrBouleDeBowling (Dec 22, 2021)

gunch said:


> God damn Celebration of Guilt rules



100%. I gave up listening to melodeath but that album is still in my top 5


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## Manurack (Dec 22, 2021)

The opening riff of 'Demiurge' by Meshuggah came to mind - imagine every bone being bludgeoned to death with that intro riff! 

Also the riff at 2:27 is heavy as fuck!


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## Emperor Guillotine (Dec 22, 2021)

gunch said:


> Too be fair I was going to include the breakdown in I Don't Mean to Impose but I am the Ocean from Danza





Emperor Guillotine said:


> Fixed.


Back on this bullshit. 



Seems like the original music video got removed from YouTube. But someone re-uploaded it two years ago in all of its 240p glory.


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## gunch (Dec 22, 2021)

7 string Danza and Ion Dissonance hit different


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## p0ke (Dec 23, 2021)

Damn, hadn't realized these guys also released a new album last year.


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## Kovah (Dec 23, 2021)

1:39


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## p0ke (Dec 23, 2021)

Kovah said:


> 1:39




That entire EP is absolutely crushing though.


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## Louis Cypher (Dec 23, 2021)

Breakdown at 2:08 is goosebump inducing


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## ZXIIIT (Dec 23, 2021)

0-3-5


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## wheresthefbomb (Dec 23, 2021)

budda said:


> And I'm still very proud of this one https://sparrows613.bandcamp.com/track/worship-song



This fucking rules. Are you in this band, or just on this release?


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## SamSam (Dec 23, 2021)

Cannibal Corpse - Evisceration Plague

Loads of Soreption tracks.


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## CanserDYI (Dec 23, 2021)

budda said:


> And I'm still very proud of this one https://sparrows613.bandcamp.com/track/worship-song



Damn man, that was fire.


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## wheresthefbomb (Dec 23, 2021)

The disparity between what I and 98% of this forum considers a "bone-crushing riff" is highly amusing to me.

In that spirit, I have another submission. The Big Riff hits at 5:35 but it really doesn't hit the same if you don't earn it. This song makes me feel like I'm being pulverized into the dust of dust by an unimaginably massive, totally uncaring machine.


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## akinari (Dec 23, 2021)

Every riff on Samo's "S1" record IMO. Hard to find but some of the heaviest groove riffs ever put to tape or protools.
Glass Cloud's "Perfect War Forever" is a damager
Admiral Angry - The Illusion of Strength is pretty much legendary in my circle of friends


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## Musiscience (Dec 23, 2021)

wheresthefbomb said:


> The disparity between what I and 98% of this forum considers a "bone-crushing riff" is highly amusing to me.
> 
> In that spirit, I have another submission. The Big Riff hits at 5:35 but it really doesn't hit the same if you don't earn it. This song makes me feel like I'm being pulverized into the dust of dust by an unimaginably massive, totally uncaring machine.




That whole double album was something very special. Even they can't recreate that magic.


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## CanserDYI (Dec 23, 2021)

wheresthefbomb said:


> The disparity between what I and 98% of this forum considers a "bone-crushing riff" is highly amusing to me.
> 
> In that spirit, I have another submission. The Big Riff hits at 5:35 but it really doesn't hit the same if you don't earn it. This song makes me feel like I'm being pulverized into the dust of dust by an unimaginably massive, totally uncaring machine.



Super dug this song.


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## wheresthefbomb (Dec 23, 2021)

Musiscience said:


> That whole double album was something very special. Even they can't recreate that magic.



Agreed, I snatched up one of the re-presses as soon as they were up. I'm glad they went a different direction with the latest album. Definitely a live bucket list group.


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## spudmunkey (Dec 23, 2021)

Musiscience said:


> That whole double album was something very special. Even they can't recreate that magic.



It reminds me a lot of the heavier parts of NIN's "The Day The Whole World Went Away" (0:24 - 1:23, then 2:53 to the end)


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## Triple-J (Dec 23, 2021)

Soundgarden (and AiC) have quite a few grindy/doomy riffs that I think folk have slept on but this is my all time favourite of theirs as it sets up the song very well and I'm compelled to throw the horns & headbang in slow motion everytime I hear it.


The Two minutes to late night crew pulled off an awesome cover of it last year & managed to throw in a cool AiC tribute too.


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## gunch (Dec 23, 2021)

Emotionally bone crushing, anyone?

 8:05 and 11:47

 4:35

 2:26


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## MFB (Dec 23, 2021)

wheresthefbomb said:


> In that spirit, I have another submission. The Big Riff hits at 5:35 but it really doesn't hit the same if you don't earn it. This song makes me feel like I'm being pulverized into the dust of dust by an unimaginably massive, totally uncaring machine.



In a similar vein, not outright heavy metal and therefore not an obvious choice - SWANS are heavier than half the bands that try to be the most brutal there is.

Kicks in at the 40-second mark


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## Metaldestroyerdennis (Dec 23, 2021)

AlexCorriveau said:


> I gave up listening to melodeath









Back on topic, here's your friendly neighborhood Gojira apologist's vote



or, conversely, the WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALES


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## HoneyNut (Dec 24, 2021)

The Final Absolution - Anaal Nathrakh


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## Bdtunn (Dec 24, 2021)

5 minutes alone 
Bleed


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## SamSam (Dec 24, 2021)

He opening of this song is pretty hard hitting.


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## wheresthefbomb (Dec 24, 2021)

MFB said:


> In a similar vein, not outright heavy metal and therefore not an obvious choice - SWANS are heavier than half the bands that try to be the most brutal there is.
> 
> Kicks in at the 40-second mark




SWANS is brilliant, and legitimately terrifying. Their music has never not made me uncomfortable.


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## Triple7 (Dec 24, 2021)

The riff that hits at 1:47. Nuff said.


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## Frostbite (Dec 24, 2021)

Really been vibing Fit For an Autopsy lately and oh boy does the riff at 2:33 make me happy

and fuck the intro rif for Sea of Tragic Beast is SO good


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## slavboi_delight (Dec 25, 2021)

4:48 just goes places. 

But the buildup to it starting at 3:38 just really makes it shine. 

The whole song is ridiculous. 
The whole album is to be exact.


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## X1X (Dec 25, 2021)

Tuu duu dudu du duu!


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## MaxOfMetal (Dec 25, 2021)

Pretty much anything off of Rain in Endless Fall, but this track in particular is just so nasty:



Just classic pissed off, balls out EMGs into a Dual Rec 2 Channel and big cabs. Augmented by some solid drumming and just-distored-enough bass. 

I've listened to this record for over 20 years now, and it's still in my gym playlist.


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## Akkush (Dec 26, 2021)

I could listen the first riff all day...
It's my "Smoke on the water", It's simple, but catchy.
I have no idea how to play anything similar


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## vibrantgermancities (Dec 26, 2021)

I'm absolutely in the 'slower = heavier' camp.

_However...
_
This thread needs more Scott Hull:





Also, I'm by no means a bit Architects fan, but Early Grave is always a good one for those moments when you need to headbang your face off.



Which reminds me, Sylosis _must_ have some candidates, but I'll be damned if I can remember any of them so I'm just going to chuck Paradox in because it just does not let up.



Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to listen to some crushing doom and wonder why I didn't list any of it here.


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## jaxadam (Mar 3, 2022)

I've been slowly introducing my kids to bangers, and I completely forgot about this one but the riff at 0:48 is a good start:


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## Kyle Jordan (Mar 3, 2022)

bostjan said:


> …of the one riff that affect the strongest urge to start destroying things…



Nothing, NOTHING, triggers that urge for me more than the opening/main riff of this song:



Some others:

1:34


Whole song, but 2:22 especially:


Whole song again, but 1:51 specifically:


And the entirety of this:


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## chinnybob (Mar 4, 2022)

Gojira have been mentioned a few times but nobody has said Vacuity?? That riff punches me in the face every time.


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## Marked Man (Mar 4, 2022)

Thing That Should Not Be

Basically anything by T Warrior in Monotheist and with Tryptykon. I like dark, heavy, music, but he really goes down into the deepest levels of Hell on Monotheist! I can't listen to music that morbid too often......

Pantera - I'll Cast Shadow. The overall production and songs didn't have the same impact as the old days, but this particular song is pure sledgehammer....


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## wheresthefbomb (Mar 4, 2022)

contender


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## CTID (Mar 5, 2022)

vibrantgermancities said:


> Also, I'm by no means a bit Architects fan, but Early Grave is always a good one for those moments when you need to headbang your face off.



fwiw i'd like to put it out there that Ruin and Hollow Crown are 2 among the best "actual" metalcore albums - ie a band actually combining elements of hardcore and metal, not metal with a pop twist - and that they've been steadily going downhill since then.

also, my contribution to this thread is 3:11 onward here:


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## Marked Man (Mar 5, 2022)

Correction to one of mine, I meant Pantera - It Makes Them Disappear. Haven't heard that album in a while and got it mixed up. That is downtuned for Pantera for sure, and I don't think more heaviness is really gained going any lower than that. It CRUSHES!


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## syzygy (Mar 5, 2022)

Pretty much anything from Meshuggah's catalog or any breakdown in a song by a band Josh Travis was in. I'd say New Millennium Cyanide Christ probably has one of the gnarliest breakdowns I've ever experienced. Just puts a pit in your stomach and goes even heavier from there.

Although some of my personal favorite "heavy songs" are by bands that don't do the "heavy" thing all the time. I think Hell Below By Periphery is also a really good example of something gut-wrenchingly heavy and nasty, especially compared to their more technical catalog. Deftones and Loathe are also great because of how they balance heavy with other sounds. Just my


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## SCJR (Mar 5, 2022)

0:23 is about as good an example of this that I can think of.


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## Crungy (Mar 5, 2022)

Marked Man said:


> Correction to one of mine, I meant Pantera - It Makes Them Disappear. Haven't heard that album in a while and got it mixed up. That is downtuned for Pantera for sure, and I don't think more heaviness is really gained going any lower than that. It CRUSHES!



I think that's definitely one of their heaviest. The weird clean too many effects section is kinda weak but the rest of the song makes up for it.


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## Emperoff (Mar 6, 2022)

As soon as this song starts I'm instantly triggered. The main riff feels like someone punching you in the face.


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## Kaura (Mar 6, 2022)

Emperoff said:


> As soon as this song starts I'm instantly triggered. The main riff feels like someone punching you in the face.




For me it's the breakdown in Numb Sick Eyes at 2:18.


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## Athor (Mar 8, 2022)

From the top of my head


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## AMOS (Mar 8, 2022)

Opeth-Sorceress


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## Flappydoodle (Mar 8, 2022)

Disasterpiece 

If that song doesn’t get you pumped up, you should check in case you are dead


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## mongey (Mar 8, 2022)

Opeth - Deliverance. the main riff after the, da-da -da , intro part 

not sure if its the most bone crushing, but every time I hear it I think its a fucking amazing riff


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## mikelikesmetal (Mar 8, 2022)

the intro riff to Spoils of War by Severed Savior makes me want to punch myself in the fucking balls \m/


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## mikelikesmetal (Mar 9, 2022)

also, cytotoxin never fails to crush bones


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## TheBolivianSniper (Jun 13, 2022)

reviving this thread because this intro and bass drop is the most filthy thing, followed up only by the groove riff in Second Death by Black Tongue


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## youngthrasher9 (Jun 13, 2022)

Speaking of Black Tongue,


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## Mboogie7 (Jun 13, 2022)

This immediately comes to mind.


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## coreysMonster (Jun 13, 2022)

These are probably not the most bone-crushing ever, but I've been obsessed with these recently.

Humanity's Last Breath - Earthless​

DECAPITATED - Homo Sum​


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## Sermo Lupi (Jun 13, 2022)

I change my mind on this all the time but it has to be Meshuggah. 

It isn't just the riffs but the atmospherics. Meshuggah are miles ahead of so many other bands in that department. It's hard to pick just one song or even one album...if I had to choose, I'll go with Catch 33. 

Part of what makes that album so heavy is that it's effectively a 47-minute-long composition with all that atmospheric imagery and rhythmic force building toward several key sections. The transition from "Mind's Mirrors" to "In Death - Is Life" (starting 11:47 and transitioning at 16:17) is notable. Then there's a bunch of crushing riffs in "In Death - Is Death" followed by a long instrumental section at the end of the song that builds into that incredible crescendo that introduces "Shed". 

The heaviest part of that album begins in "Personae non Gratae" around 37:30 and building to that legendary breakdown around 39:00, finishing with the meat of "Sum" around 41:00. 

I'd also list like half a dozen Symphony X songs, but using Michael Romeo in a riff contest just feels like cheating  The end to "Set the World on Fire" would be an example of one his crushing riffs with some good buildup to it.


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## wheresthefbomb (Jun 13, 2022)

I don't think I've posted this Bongripper song in this thread yet


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## mmr007 (Jun 14, 2022)

There are soooo many bone crushing riffs and surprisingly they are all packed into one song called "disposable heroes" by Metallica.


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## ArtDecade (Jun 14, 2022)

Kings of Brutality


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## Lan (Jun 14, 2022)

Blink 182 will forever remind me of summers as an awkward teenager, there's nothing more bone crushing than that.

For heavy riffs, I'll put forward some DOWN



What I really like about the opening riff, is that it is really accessible. You can pretty much start headbanging as soon as it starts. The drums kick in at 0:07 to reinforce the structure around it.

The beginning of the second bar of the intro riff always feels slightly rushed, which keeps it from feeling too formulaic. After the intro you get just great, straightforward palm muted riffing which keeps it heavy, but taking a backseat to the (awesome) vocals.

I've found the most effective riffs in a live setting are the ones that just cut through everything with their simplicity, and allow you to lock into the song right away, while still throwing in elements that make it feel slightly unpredictable. 2c


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## MFB (Jun 14, 2022)

wheresthefbomb said:


> I don't think I've posted this Bongripper song in this thread yet




I've always been partial to Hate Ashbury III as their definitive "did something just collide with the god damn Earth" riff when it kicks in


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## wheresthefbomb (Jun 14, 2022)

MFB said:


> I've always been partial to Hate Ashbury III as their definitive "did something just collide with the god damn Earth" riff when it kicks in




I really need to dig deeper into their back catalog. All the albums before Hippie Killer I tend to listen to as long single tracks, hard to find the "gems" amidst so much plodding drone. Not that I'm complaining. Bongripper rules mightily, they can do no wrong and SWD is the perfect stoner metal album. 

I do really like the Sex Tape/Snuff Film EP. Never have I heard a more literal interpretation of "chainsaw guitars."


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## BornToLooze (Jun 14, 2022)




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## youngthrasher9 (Jun 14, 2022)

BornToLooze said:


>



If Sabbath can even be counted fairly, 

Literally the whole Masters of Reality album. Sweet Leaf, Into The Void, Lord of this World. Absolutely devastating riffs especially for the time period.


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## littlebadboy (Jun 14, 2022)

Smoke on the water intro is epic!


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## MAJ Meadows SF (Jun 16, 2022)

Definitely some bangers in here, pretty much everything. I get the differences in interpretation for “bone crushing”. It’s usually brutal death metal for me, but even stuff like Mastadon’s “March of the Fire Ants” is heavy as all get out (that whole record is still their pinnacle for me). But some additions I didn’t see:

3:07 in... this riff will kill you if seen live:


We all know the drums are too loud but still at 0:30:


Like Meshuggah, TAS has too many to count. 0:42:


And speaking of Meshuggah and “bone crushing”, one of my favs:


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## Crash Dandicoot (Jun 16, 2022)

bone-crushing​[ bohn-kruhsh-ing ]


_*adjective*_

1 powerful or constricting enough to crush one's bones:
_a bone-crushing handshake._

2 extremely painful, troublesome, costly, etc.:
_a bone-crushing mortgage._

3 *BOLT THROWER*


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## Tree (Jun 16, 2022)

The intro riff to this fucking destroys:



When my old band played with them around the release of this album Huber was legitimately smashing his fist into the ground on the snare downbeats. It was so loud you could still make it out over the rest of the band. That's literally bone crushing


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## Tree (Jun 16, 2022)

budda said:


> Not my dumb ass forgetting "malice" by through the eyes of the dead. That whole album, really.


Piggybacking off of this^

The breakdown at 2:00



It's so simple, but fuck me if that doesn't get me wanting to act like a caveman buffoon.


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## Kosthrash (Jun 16, 2022)




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## youngthrasher9 (Jun 16, 2022)

Also this. I heard this was metalzones into Marshall power amps. Whatever it was, it WORKS. Crushing.


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## gunch (Jun 16, 2022)

last 20 seconds = Rob Marton becomes completely unhinged 

 14 seconds and 43 seconds 

 this whole damn song 

 this whole damn song too, 3:57 is when the intro is over though. Also evil pinches


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## Kosthrash (Jun 17, 2022)




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## slavboi_delight (Jun 21, 2022)

Outro riff from Mastodons - seabeast still boggles my mind


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## Riffer (Jun 21, 2022)

The riff at 0:24 always gets me. So good.



Also this classic is what got me into Decapitated back in the day.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jun 21, 2022)

Battery by Metallica is pretty bone crushing.


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## Spaced Out Ace (Jun 21, 2022)

I don't know if anyone mentioned them, but Shadow's Fall had some crunchy as fuck bone crushers.


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## Kosthrash (Jun 21, 2022)

In Flames - The Hive


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## Tree (Jun 22, 2022)

Spaced Out Ace said:


> I don't know if anyone mentioned them, but Shadow's Fall had some crunchy as fuck bone crushers.


The intro riff goes pretty hard:



This album is definitely a bit overshadowed, no pun intended, by the output from their peers of this era and deserves more recognition. It’s not the best or most original thing in the world, but it’s solid as hell from front to back.


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## Spaced Out Ace (Jun 22, 2022)

Tree said:


> The intro riff goes pretty hard:
> 
> 
> 
> This album is definitely a bit overshadowed, no pun intended, by the output from their peers of this era and deserves more recognition. It’s not the best or most original thing in the world, but it’s solid as hell from front to back.



I listened to a lot of Shadow's Fall, COB, and Trivium at the time. KSE I didn't really get into until a little later, despite them being one of the bigger/more popular bands. I mostly prefer the Jones era. 

I can't remember what song it was in (it was on that album, I believe), but Matt and Jon went over it in Guitar World. They referred to it as a Megadeth style riff, I believe.


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## 4Eyes (Jun 23, 2022)

I just happed to see Metallica live on last minute decision yesterday... and I have to say Sad but true main riff...it's one of "those" riffs with R


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