Metallica: 10 Hardest James Hetfield Riffs You Can't Play

10. My Apocalypse

For starters, let's go into the not too distant past of 2008, when Metallica wowed their audience with a striking return to form on Death Magnetic. After years of slogging it out in the world of hard rock and even nu metal on St. Anger, the band were back to the thrashy goodness we always loved them for.

What made this record even more amazing was the speediness of it, which showed that Hetfield's tenacity for writing blistering riffs had not dulled over time. The record is pretty standard procedure for a Metallica release, but most guitarists shake in their boots when it comes to "My Apocalypse." From the start, the song is incredibly fast, with a BPM that verges on the side of punk rock as James Hetfield employs fast triplets without batting an eye.

You may think you're out of the woods once the chorus hits with long slides, but you're in for a rude awakening when the offbeat accents start and the riff begins once again. Even Kirk Hammett's riff in this song is incredibly difficult to master, with your fingers begging for mercy by the end of the track's 5 minutes.

Metallica may have had a break from thrash, but that didn't mean they had skimped out on leaving your fretting hand in shambles.