Here is the topic to share songs, whose keyboard melodies or guitar riffs sounds best to thee...for me some strong melody is the thing that usually makes the song my favorite...so i wonder about such a songs to widen my horizons

mine pics so far:

Edguy - Vain Glory Opera
Avantasia - Farewell
Dio - Rainbow In The Dark
Black Sabbath - Iron Man
Iron Maiden - Fear Of The Dark
Judas Priest - Breaking The Law
Amon Amarth - Cry Of The Black Birds
DragonForce - Heart Of The Dragon
Hammerfall - Hero's Return
Turisas - Battle Metal

Sure, here's some, from top of my head:

Rainbow - Ariel (has a distinct oriental feel to it)
Blind Guardian - Mordred's Song (I prefer the acoustic version, the melody sticks out more than it the 'normal' version)
Eluveitie (Yeah you're gonna hate this one ) - Omnos (an "Eurovision material" song , but with a nice folk melody to it)

Iron maiden - Fear of the dark
Agalloch - Fire Above, Ice Below
Amon Amarth - embrace of the endless ocean
In Flames - The Jester's Dance
Iron Maiden - Infinite dreams
Midnattsol - Tapt Ao H-p
Novembre - Cold Blue Steel
Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King

Cyclone Temple - Why
Quo Vadis - Dead Man's Diary (the bass lead)
Protest The Hero - basically anything from "Kezia" or "Fortress" (for example Sequoia Throne)
Scorpions - The Sails of Charon (this one has one of the coolest riffs and solos EVER)
Gorod - Blackout
Toxik - 47 Seconds Of Sanity/Count Your Blessings
To-Mera - Blood (the intro riff is pretty cool)
Pain of Salvation - Rope Ends
Obscura - Orbital Elements
Kalmah - The Dance of the Water
Deep Purple - Mistreated
Death Angel - Thrown to the Wolves (pretty primitive riff, but it's cool)
Coroner - Pale Sister
Control Denied - Consumed
Metal Church - Metal Church (the vocal line is so classic)
Believer - Shut out the Sun (again rather primitive but cool)
Agent Steel - Insurrection
Necrodeath - Extreme Emotional Shock
Adagio - Next Profundis


I tried using some less obvious choices, but some are rather famous, but at least I tried, right?

Dethklok - Thunderhorse (the riffs to the whole song are just amazing)
Quo Vadis - On the Shores of Ithaka (just the whole damn song)
Kreator - Servant in Heaven (King in Hell) - the bassline at the beginning is kickass
Death - Spirit Crusher (chorus)

Omg seriously? Ok let me think....this is what's coming to me at the top of my head...

Metallica - for whom the bell tolls
Bolt Thrower - Entrenched
Death Angel - The Ultra Violence
Metallica - Orion
Kreator - Violent Revolution
Necrophagist - Seven (cool bassline)
Anaal Nathrakh - Submission is for the Weak

Written by MetallicA on 28.09.2009 at 00:16

Bolt Thrower - Entrenched

when i see Bolt Thrower, i must include "Powder Burns" into list thats some bonecrushing riff

I am suprised Obituary havn't entered too many lists.
Obituary - Slowly We Rot (One review I read some years ago said "It is like being hit by a Rhino on Speed!")
Iced Earth - Dante's Inferno (This is one of my favorite riffs certainly)
Nile - Execration Text (This is one of those short sharp songs that you can't help but bang your head too.)

Amazing melodical riffs

Silverwing - Arch Enemy
Jotun - In Flames (catchy song in pure guthenberg style , very nice harmonic riffs)
Twilight - Edge of Sanity (speaks for itself uh? this song is a melodical journey)

Fun thrash songs with maybe "primitive" but extremely effective riffs

Enslaver of Souls - Legion of the Damned
Into the Eye of the Storm - Legion of the Damned
Legion - Slaughterlord (At the gates covered this one)
Killing Machine - One Man Army and the Undead Quartet

Sorry to name a non-metal song, but Foo Fighter's Everlong is just one of the coolest ones ever.

Written by ToMegaTherion on 28.09.2009 at 02:51

I am suprised Obituary havn't entered too many lists.
Obituary - Slowly We Rot (One review I read some years ago said "It is like being hit by a Rhino on Speed!")
Iced Earth - Dante's Inferno (This is one of my favorite riffs certainly)
Nile - Execration Text (This is one of those short sharp songs that you can't help but bang your head too.)

Yeah, a lot of nice riffs in "Turned Inside Out" too

Hmmm, not very easy to chose some, but at first those came to my mind:

Amon Amarth - Guardians Of Asgaard
Dark Tranquillity - Lethe
Hollenthon - Y Draig Goch
Kampfar - Lyktemenn
Satyricon - K.I.N.G.
Skyclad - Another Fine Mess
Summoning - Long Lost To Where No Pathway Goes
Tool - Schism
Vampiria - Legacy In Blood

King Diamond - Arrival

Aight... I love this kind of topic man

here are my pics

- Kill the King (Rainbow)
- Wasted Years (Iron Maiden)
- Swamphell (Kalmah)
- Hunter/Killer (Quo Vadis)
- On The Shores Of Ithaka (Quo Vadis)
- Whiplash (Metallica)
- Speed of Light (Stratovarius)
- Eagle Fly Free (Helloween)

there ... I could give some more but I guess its enought lol

Written by Peuranpuolikas on 28.09.2009 at 16:07

King Diamond - Arrival

I love the riff too this song, Andy La Roque (Don't crucify the spelling i don't know how it is spelt.) dose a fantastic job on the lead, its almost a middle eastern feel to the riff.

Written by Diabolos on 28.09.2009 at 12:37


Satyricon - K.I.N.G.

that's a great one! I didn't even realize it until last night when I saw Satyricon live (again for the third time lol) They have some killer riffage in their songs and it translate very well into a live performence.

@Ellrohir - definitely! Powder Burns is a great tune!

here's some more - someone mentioned Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings (I agree, great song!)
Hell-Born - Empire Deep Down Under
Behemoth - At the Left Hand ov God
Behemoth - Chant for Ezxhaton 2000
Ancient - Horroble

Running Wild - Ballad of William Kidd



0:37 - 1:20

Written by Ellrohir on 22.06.2010 at 09:34

Running Wild - Ballad of William Kidd

0:37 - 1:20

sounds generic to me.

I really dont have problems with "generic" riffs, as long as i like them

Enter Sandman and Paranoid are legendary riffs.

Written by [user id=107019] on 06.08.2010 at 16:09

Enter Sandman

Haha, no, definitely not.

Written by vezzy on 06.08.2010 at 16:35

Written by [user id=107019] on 06.08.2010 at 16:09

Enter Sandman

Haha, no, definitely not.

Come on, most people consider it atleast a good riff, and it is amazing, even though it's simple.

Written by [user id=107019] on 07.08.2010 at 14:05

Written by vezzy on 06.08.2010 at 16:35

Written by [user id=107019] on 06.08.2010 at 16:09

Enter Sandman

Haha, no, definitely not.

Come on, most people consider it atleast a good riff, and it is amazing, even though it's simple.

Nothing amazing about it. Enter Sandman has always been a boring song for me.

Paradise Lost - Pity The Sadness - this song is fucking awesome.
In Flames - Dialogue With The Stars - I'm not a big fan of that band, but I like that instrumental very much.
Metallica - Orion - lots of great sounding melodies.
Slayer - Raining Blood - riff after the intro where the gallop starts is one of my favorites.
Annihilator - The Fun Palace - very good song.
Anthrax - Medusa
Anthrax - Among The Living

Damn, I could write more.

Written by Sangre Sani on 07.08.2010 at 15:31

Paradise Lost - Pity The Sadness - this song is fucking awesome.

Yep! The melodies in that song are ridiculously good.

Just a teensy selection of my fave riffs:

Exodus - Piranha
Arch Enemy - The Immortal
Black Sabbath - Symptom Of The Universe
Overkill - Rotten To The Core
Helloween - Ride The Sky
W.A.S.P. - Mean Man
Sex Machineguns - Tekken II
Bruce Dickinson - Freak
Obituary - Im In Pain
Nightmare - Battleground For Suicide
Carcass - Incarnated Solvent Abuse
In Flames - Pinball Map
The Almighty - Possession
Ozzy Osbourne - Bark At The Moon
Mercyful Fate - Curse Of The Pharaohs
Kreator - Riot Of Violence
Megadeth - My Last Words
Primal Fear - Chainbreaker
Rage - Great Old Ones
Pantera - Cowboys From Hell
Suicidal Tendencies - You Can't Bring Me Down
Sepultura - Arise
Metallica - Creeping Death
Entombed - Sinners Bleed
Morbid Angel - Day Of Suffering
Sodom - Lords Of Depravity
Motorhead - Killed By Death
Slayer - South Of Heaven
6 Feet Under - Shadow Of The Reaper
Pestilence - Land Of Tears

I love all the riffs of the song Blackwater Park by Opeth. That is why it is one of my favorite songs, it's a majestic collection of death metal riffing.

Other lovely riffs that I remember:
Metallica - Dyers Eve
Aesma Daeva - Since The Machine
Basically the whole Gojira's "From Mars To Sirius" album
Rainbow - Man On The Silver Mountain
Death - The Flesh And The Power It Holds

;__;
There's sooo many.

My all time fav, is the intro riff to Just One Fix by Ministry. It's an orgasm by way of the ear.

Shadows Fall- A Fire In Babylon - some tasty squealies in there.
Woods Of Ypres - Dirty Window Of Opportunity - the riff that blast my mind just after the spoken word ends.
Despised Icon - Le Chene Et Le Roseau - The first riff of the breakdown is sexy.
Forest Of Shadows - Eternal Autumn - right after the flute intro /orgasm

I like grind riffs a lot, I just think they groove so hard.

Anything Napalm Death, Wormrot, Repulsion.

I also like Satanic Warmaster and Dodsferd for black metal. They really have good direction in their writing.

I'd give more specific examples, but I am tired, hung over, and being lazy right now haha.

Written by Irritable Ted on 06.08.2010 at 16:30

Marcel will disagree, but I have loved the opening riff from Black Sabbath Heaven And Hell since the first time I heard it. I've had it as my ring tone for years.

I love that riff, too, especially the version on Live Evil.

Written by Sangre Sani on 07.08.2010 at 15:31

In Flames - Dialogue With The Stars

Such a great song, was one of my favourite songs for a while ^^

Here's mine:

Death - Scavenger Of Human Sorrow
Bolt Thrower - When Cannons Fade
Dying Fetus - Your Treachery Will Die With You
Scale The Summit - Glacial Planet
Dark Tranquility - Punish My Heaven
Carcass - Corporal Jigsore Quandary
Keep Of Kalessin - Dragon Iconography

Just to name a few.
All amazing songs with fantastic riffs/melodies.