10 Greatest Metallica Riffs EVER

It's no secret that James Hetfield is the beating heart behind Metallica. Even with Cliff Burton's bass playing in the early days or the wah-wah accentuations by Kirk Hammett, the riffs that come from Mr. Hetfield's right hand have been the foundation for the band since Day One. While many expected him to pull off a great performance on Master of Puppets, no one was anticipating something superhuman just yet.

As far as your average thrash metal song goes, the main riff for Battery was seriously ahead of its time, incorporating different dyads into the mix where any normal metal act would have been fine with power chords. In addition to working out your normal chord vocabulary, Hetfield goes the extra mile by adding in a warped gallop feel, almost as if he heard the straight ahead rhythm of an Iron Maiden and was convinced he could make it even weirder.

Though most guitarists work up to play this at the right speed, it gets even more challenging when the verses come in, as most of the riff that you've been playing up to this point goes off rhythm at just the right times to mess with your head.

You can usually chalk this up to Lars' shoddy drumming, and yet the whole thing feels meticulously done for maximum confusion. In lieu of your average metal lick, the whirlwind of Battery is probably the purest form of Metallica combining prog with thrash metal.