10 Best Hard Rock Guitar Riffs From The 2010s
6. Let It Burn - Goat (2018)
If you thought the current music scene needed some viking-esque, pagan influences injected into it, then Goat is what you've been looking for.
Their 2018 single Let I Burn, was a heavily fuzzed out, riff driven number that seemed to harken back to the early days of experimental metal music. But these guys are no metal band. The group of Swedish musicians have made a name for themselves, prancing around on stage in shamanistic headdresses, incorporating all manor of world-music influences into their unique brand of Nordic psychedelic-rock.
Despite the significant impact the guitar riff has in this song, it acts as more of a platform for the afro-beat style drumming, and the smattering of wind instruments that pepper the chorus.
It was a unique way of structuring a rock track, rather than having the beefy guitar riff as the centre focus, the band used it as the engine to drive everything else. The riff dictated the mood but then settled in, to let other instruments create the melodies that shaped the trajectory. The guitar creates the atmosphere perfectly in this song. Take note, budding guitar players, sometimes less is more...
Their 2014 single Gathering of the Ancient Tribes was equally as primal and hard to pin down genre wise, deserving it an honourable mention.