So, what songs out there do you think are the hardest to play and why?

As everyone knows, I think that technical metal, progressive metal bands compose songs that are extremely difficult to emmulate..I actually don't know of many bands that cover progressive metal, at least not here where I live...even if they did, they only ever wind up covering one..I'm not talking about well-known bands here...I'm talking about bands that you guys are in...so yea, what songs do you think are the hardest to play? Also, a lot of death metal/black metal riffs seem pretty difficult...and speed metal...I dunno...

As You said, almost any progressive metal (since most prog metal is based on progressive rhythms and less progressive harmonies). Meshuggah, for example, anything by them, is extremely hard to play.

yes, progressive metal is way difficult, "The Sound of Perseverance" of Death is increadibly difficult to play in drums, almost impossible, also Angra's last album "Temple of Shadows" is just too hard in every instrument.

Any Necrophagist song on guitar or bass, if you have the time to learn it, i would like to see someone try, its so technical and so hard, its unbelieveable.

Written by Silhouette on 17.05.2006 at 20:11

As You said, almost any progressive metal (since most prog metal is based on progressive rhythms and less progressive harmonies). Meshuggah, for example, anything by them, is extremely hard to play.

Is extremly very hard to play any song of meshugga, but i think is more difficult the songs of neoclassical bands, for examle At Vance with solfeggieto or something of Joe Stump.

Written by Immortal Plague on 20.05.2006 at 04:34

Any Necrophagist song on guitar or bass, if you have the time to learn it, i would like to see someone try, its so technical and so hard, its unbelieveable.

Definetly, someone give Mutiliate The Stillborn on guitar a shot and fail miserably

for me Joe Satriani - Satch Boodie
and the solos for damage inc and dyers eve by metallica
Hanger 18 - megadeth

At Vance and neoclassic metal might be hard to play individually, but when You reach that technical level, then it's nothing really. In the rhythm based progressive songs, even if You do learn the song by Yourself, it's almost impossible to play it in a group and manage to play it tight.

And I saw Angra was mentioned earlier, that's also a good example of really difficult music to play, not only You have to play some complex riffs and rhythms, You have to play 'em at really high speed as well.

I'd recommend a couple of Evergrey songs as well, like 'The great deceiver' for guitarists, 'The encounter' for bass players and 'Watching the skies' for keyboard players.

I figure Dragonforce solos are pretty hard as well.

Lets see aside from progressive a lot of Power Metal is hard:
Kalmah - Principle Hero, The Blind Leader
almost anything by Children Of Bodom especially Kissing The Shadows

Hangar 18 have very difficult riffs to play in the entire song, hail dave mustaine

Written by [user id=8232] on 22.05.2006 at 05:20

Written by Immortal Plague on 20.05.2006 at 04:34

Any Necrophagist song on guitar or bass, if you have the time to learn it, i would like to see someone try, its so technical and so hard, its unbelieveable.

Definetly, someone give Mutiliate The Stillborn on guitar a shot and fail miserably

Or, try the solo to Fermented Offal Discharge.....

Since Im a bassist, the hard stuff would have to be stuff from death, morbid angel, and then necrophagist.
Stratovarious, the song speed of light has the most insane bass lines during the solo breaks, which follow the guitar, still trying to learn it, shit. its hard.

necrophagist is just pure insanity.

I would say anything by Between the Buried and Me. A fine example of a multi-technique layden song would be 'Selkies'. Check it out.

Angra's last album is really something for the drum parts. Aquiles Priester is really one hell of a great drummer. Listen to his stuff on The Temple of Shadows, it's fast, technical and also creative plus it sounds really good. Great grooves !

Anything that involves drums for me is hard... I don't play drums... lol... For guitar, there are a few, but ever since I picked up sweeping, things seem so much easier... You know... Everyone says you feel like a jackass after you learn sweeping. And it's true... But yeah... Nothing is too hard anymore, just have to break it down, and go from there. If you have a good ear which I was trained for, then you have things a shitload easier. But there are still some hard things to play.

Written by Silhouette on 17.05.2006 at 20:11

As You said, almost any progressive metal (since most prog metal is based on progressive rhythms and less progressive harmonies). Meshuggah, for example, anything by them, is extremely hard to play.

Im sorry to say this but you either mistaked Meshuggah for another band or your just really band at guitar cause Meshuggah is like two notes 0 and 12 and thats it, and its the truth.

Me? Well, I can really play any kind of metal, at least the basics of it, because when it comes to basics, it's pretty simple. What I would have the most trouble with is probably More adcanced prog stuff, Like certain DT Songs, But hey, they're the masters.

Written by Immortal Plague on 23.11.2006 at 07:08

Written by Silhouette on 17.05.2006 at 20:11

As You said, almost any progressive metal (since most prog metal is based on progressive rhythms and less progressive harmonies). Meshuggah, for example, anything by them, is extremely hard to play.

Im sorry to say this but you either mistaked Meshuggah for another band or your just really band at guitar cause Meshuggah is like two notes 0 and 12 and thats it, and its the truth.

Playing Meshuggah is a lot more than just knowing the notes of their riffs.
Have You ever tried to understand their time signatures, complex rhythms and all that stuff.
Like, for example, the song Future breed machine. The vers riff is simple. I'm not even a guitarist, and I can play that.
But when it comes to playing it right in the song, in rhythm, now, that's harder. And that's still one of Meshuggah's most simple riffs.
Besides, we're not only talking guitars here. Meshuggah on drums... -.-

Dude Meshuggah, is pretty Meshuggah ( crazy in yiddish ), I dont think their stuff is easy to play, yes it is riffing, but their structure and chord proggression is awesome.

I found out about this one band called Aghora, its a gothic metal band, but dude the bass is all over the place, I couldve of sworn he can cover arpeggios in ascending and descending two octaves in two bars.

I pretty much suck at playing instruments so all songs are hard for me. But Nightwishs "Stargazers" can't be an easy song to play, or what?

Written by Silhouette on 23.11.2006 at 10:38

Written by Immortal Plague on 23.11.2006 at 07:08

Written by Silhouette on 17.05.2006 at 20:11

As You said, almost any progressive metal (since most prog metal is based on progressive rhythms and less progressive harmonies). Meshuggah, for example, anything by them, is extremely hard to play.

Im sorry to say this but you either mistaked Meshuggah for another band or your just really band at guitar cause Meshuggah is like two notes 0 and 12 and thats it, and its the truth.

Playing Meshuggah is a lot more than just knowing the notes of their riffs.
Have You ever tried to understand their time signatures, complex rhythms and all that stuff.
Like, for example, the song Future breed machine. The vers riff is simple. I'm not even a guitarist, and I can play that.
But when it comes to playing it right in the song, in rhythm, now, that's harder. And that's still one of Meshuggah's most simple riffs.
Besides, we're not only talking guitars here. Meshuggah on drums... -.-

Okay i listened to that Meshuggah song, and im sorry to say why would it be hard, this would not be hard at all, if you listen to the song enough to know and memerise the timing it will be no problem, but im not a drummer so i dont know alot, but from the sounds of it the drums sound sorta hard with all the diffrent fills and stuff.

Meshuggah isn't too complex. Necrophagist, Death, some of Skonick's solos are hard to play and also some of the stuff by The Faceless is pretty damn technical.

Written by Immortal Plague on 24.11.2006 at 01:58

Okay i listened to that Meshuggah song, and im sorry to say why would it be hard, this would not be hard at all, if you listen to the song enough to know and memerise the timing it will be no problem, but im not a drummer so i dont know alot, but from the sounds of it the drums sound sorta hard with all the diffrent fills and stuff.

Of course You can memorize the rhythms. But what if You're supposed to not play it to the CD, and with a band, all struggling to get the rhythms right, if You're supposed to play it for real. What would You do in that situation?

Lets put it like this: The drums in Meshuggah songs are supposed to play not one, but at least two rhythmic patterns at the same time. Now that's hard.

Quote:
Meshuggah isn't too complex. Necrophagist, Death, some of Skonick's solos are hard to play and also some of the stuff by The Faceless is pretty damn technical.

I'm sorry if this question sounds a little rude to You, but do You know the meaning of the word 'complex'?
Death and Necrophagist have done some moderately complex stuff, but they don't play several rhythm patterns over one passage, for example, and now, that's complex.
...and solos? Those might be difficult the play, sure, and pretty technical too (or sometimes just fast?), but that's not the same as complex either, and actually a lot easier to play than really complex stuff.

Quote:
Dude Meshuggah, is pretty Meshuggah ( crazy in yiddish ), I dont think their stuff is easy to play, yes it is riffing, but their structure and chord proggression is awesome.

This guy have really listened to Meshuggah enough to tell whether they're complex or not, and apparently, he think's so too.

Silhouette.

I mean Meshuggah are complex. I am going to have to agre with you since I gave them a few listens. They are after classified as technical post thrash. Complex wasn't the word that I was meaning to use. The word that I was meaning to use is technical. Compared to Necrophagist, and later Death, they aren't as technical. They are fairly good guitarists and most people here could probably play a few of the songs, but most have some technicallity. I must say though, that I don't really like the jazzy solos. They don't fit with the music.

Written by Silhouette on 24.11.2006 at 10:05

Written by Immortal Plague on 24.11.2006 at 01:58

Okay i listened to that Meshuggah song, and im sorry to say why would it be hard, this would not be hard at all, if you listen to the song enough to know and memerise the timing it will be no problem, but im not a drummer so i dont know alot, but from the sounds of it the drums sound sorta hard with all the diffrent fills and stuff.

Of course You can memorize the rhythms. But what if You're supposed to not play it to the CD, and with a band, all struggling to get the rhythms right, if You're supposed to play it for real. What would You do in that situation?

Lets put it like this: The drums in Meshuggah songs are supposed to play not one, but at least two rhythmic patterns at the same time. Now that's hard.

Well yes i will agree with you try to play by yourself or with some buddys Meshuggah would be hard because of the timing patterns, i never commented on the timing i commented on they wernt technical as they dont play alot or variety, like alot of diffrent stuff like Atheist, Necrophagist. But yes Meshuggah have odd timings, and that could mean technical, i meant it as they dont play their songs in alot of diffrent places on the fretboard and dont use alot of diffrent variety and notes. I personally think Meshuggah are boaring and they suck but thats my opinion so do say "YOUR AN IDIOT" or anything along those likes but ever song i hear by them seems to sound the same the same riffing.

E |---0--0-0--0---12---0--0-0-0---12---0--0-0--0---12---|

It honestly sounds the same and dosent change, and i think the off timing stuff it is unique and original but it sounds really stupid and really bad.

Written by Stigmatized on 26.06.2006 at 20:47

Written by [user id=8232] on 22.05.2006 at 05:20

Written by Immortal Plague on 20.05.2006 at 04:34

Any Necrophagist song on guitar or bass, if you have the time to learn it, i would like to see someone try, its so technical and so hard, its unbelieveable.

Definetly, someone give Mutiliate The Stillborn on guitar a shot and fail miserably

Or, try the solo to Fermented Offal Discharge.....

Try Foul Body Autopsy, jesus its so fucking hard, like i can play it, but its hard to play it smoothly and everything and just fuck, it took me like 3 days to learn it not including the solo, it might be me becuase im not a guitar player im a bass player but fuck its hard, i wonder why they would bother writing stuff like that.

O also i would like to see someone ANYONE pick up a guitar bass or play drums to any Atheist or Psycroptic, its so hard and so serious it takes real dedication to play.

Written by Immortal Plague on 24.11.2006 at 01:58


It honestly sounds the same and dosent change, and i think the off timing stuff it is unique and original but it sounds really stupid and really bad.

Speak for yourself. The way that the music proggresses may not be to your liking, doesnt mean its a shit band.

Hey, now this isn't the time to argue about whether Meshuggah is a good band or not. I like them, Hellraizer likes them, Immortal Plague doesn't, that's established.

But I still disagree with Meshuggah being less technical, since Fredrik Thordendal and his boys are apparently really underrated around here.

Complex time signatures, rhythm patterns and stuff like that, is technical. It's technical both theoretically and practically. I'm not saying Necrophagist, Death, Atheist, etc. ain't technical, but they're mainly about fast riffs, right? Now fast riffs are hard, until You reach their speed in Your fingers. After that, they're piece of cake, then You have them.

Now, a really hard song to play would be one that is very hard to perform in a band, even when everyone has reached the individual technical level of what their instruments play in that song.
A good example for this is the Symphony X song Death of balance/Lacrymosa:
The hardest part of this song is individually easy to play. The guitars are just playing power chords, the bass playing the same as the guitars, the keyboard playing some loop and some layers...
But then, You add it all together, with it's complex rhythm section, You've suddenly got a real nightmare to play.

Now, this song is not really technical for the individual instruments, except the drums. Same goes for some of Meshuggah's songs, like the one Immortal Plague mentioned before.
Now, when the riffs are getting more individually advanced and technical as well...
Some good examples:
Symphony X: Inferno (The Odyssey), Fallen (V: The New Mythology Suite)
Andromeda: Morphing into nothing (II=I)
Angra: Angels and demons (Temple of Shadows)
Biomechanical: Truth denied (The Empires of the Worlds)
Pain of Salvation: Nihil morari (BE)

These are complex, technical and difficult songs for a band to play (yes, I managed not to mention Dream Theater!).

By the way, for You still doubting me about the skill of the guitarists of Meshuggah, check out Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects and the album Sol Niger Within version 3.33.

Silhouette.

Written by Silhouette on 28.11.2006 at 00:20

Hey, now this isn't the time to argue about whether Meshuggah is a good band or not. I like them, Hellraizer likes them, Immortal Plague doesn't, that's established.

But I still disagree with Meshuggah being less technical, since Fredrik Thordendal and his boys are apparently really underrated around here.

Complex time signatures, rhythm patterns and stuff like that, is technical. It's technical both theoretically and practically. I'm not saying Necrophagist, Death, Atheist, etc. ain't technical, but they're mainly about fast riffs, right? Now fast riffs are hard, until You reach their speed in Your fingers. After that, they're piece of cake, then You have them.

Now, a really hard song to play would be one that is very hard to perform in a band, even when everyone has reached the individual technical level of what their instruments play in that song.
A good example for this is the Symphony X song Death of balance/Lacrymosa:
The hardest part of this song is individually easy to play. The guitars are just playing power chords, the bass playing the same as the guitars, the keyboard playing some loop and some layers...
But then, You add it all together, with it's complex rhythm section, You've suddenly got a real nightmare to play.

Now, this song is not really technical for the individual instruments, except the drums. Same goes for some of Meshuggah's songs, like the one Immortal Plague mentioned before.
Now, when the riffs are getting more individually advanced and technical as well...
Some good examples:
Symphony X: Inferno (The Odyssey), Fallen (V: The New Mythology Suite)
Andromeda: Morphing into nothing (II=I)
Angra: Angels and demons (Temple of Shadows)
Biomechanical: Truth denied (The Empires of the Worlds)
Pain of Salvation: Nihil morari (BE)

These are complex, technical and difficult songs for a band to play (yes, I managed not to mention Dream Theater!).

By the way, for You still doubting me about the skill of the guitarists of Meshuggah, check out Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects and the album Sol Niger Within version 3.33.

Silhouette.

im not here to argue i will give them my respect they are better then most of the new stuff out now a days, ill admit that, i didint mean to say they were shit, it just dosent apply to me, im not here to bash anyones likings or make problems, it was just my opinion on something there not shit dont worry im not saying that, so dont worry.