20 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Guitar Riffs Of 2016

2. Vektor - "Pillars Of Sand"

"Pillars of Sand"'s parent album, Terminal Redux, is a progressive thrash masterpiece so expansive and so complete that the fact I forgot to put it on my best albums of 2016 list it will haunt me forever.

The third record by American speeders Vektor, its highlights come in the form of its unabashed experimentation, its breakneck pace and the technical mastery of all who perform upon it. "Pillars of Sand" is a perfect example of all of these features, delivering five minutes (a pretty short run-time compared to the rest of the record) of intricacy in a package that is fairly accessible to newcomers to the group that may be put off by their 13-minute-plus compositions.

The guitars of David DiSanto and Erik nelson recreate the tone of the NWOBHM, but accelerate to such a degree that it threatens to melt brains. It's impossible not to be impressed by Vektor's riffs, with the band's sheer skill making them instantly alluring to all.