10 Greatest Metallica Riffs EVER

Every so often, a guitarist will want to challenge themselves to expand their strengths as a player. From stringing together various exercises or just practicing your downstrokes, there's always that creative spark that makes you want to incorporate everything you learn into a song. Even though many bands would want to play off of a certain exercise, not many bands can claim to have a riff with every note in it.

Metallica fans were already preparing themselves for something epic when throwing on Master of Puppets for the first time, and the opening lick of the title track did not disappoint. Starting at a high octave, James Hetfield slowly descends down the fretboard until he runs out of notes and returns to start the riff over again. However, the riff actually feels seamless instead of economical, almost as if Hetfield is treating every single run as a rollercoaster ride to bring the listener back for more.

That's before you even get to the interlude lick, which somehow combines the lingering mystery of the James Bond guitar riff while leaving your fingers bleeding. As you dive deeper into the track, the next 8 minutes are an absolute treasure trove of licks, from sections that stop on a dime to the elegant breakdown harmonies in the bridge.

There are countless great licks to come from Metallica's 3rd album, but there's a damn good reason this is called the group's masterpiece.