Riff Of The Week: Long Edition
Riffs from Cryptic Shift, Spectral Lore, Leprous, Iced Earth, Cenotafio, and In The Woods…
Last time we met we got the Y2K bug from our Year 2000 Edition. Seems there was a tie on exactly 20% each between Nevermore and The Chasm, so I’m awarding victory to The Chasm, because The Chasm.
This week I asked for riffs from songs which run longer than 10 minutes
Here’s what you sent in…
Positronic Brain
Cryptic Shift – ‘Moonbelt Immolator’ (Riff @ 16:10)
This song has about 97 riffs, many of them Voivodian. This one follows a quiet section with the same riff, and not only does the transition sound really cool, the cleanliness of the playing is super duper cool.
Jeremy Riegel
Leprous – ‘White’ (Riff @ 6:30)
This song is what happens when you throw every idea at the wall… and it all sticks. The 50-second snippet starting at 6:30 could’ve easily been cut with no one the wiser, but the song would be so much less epic (yet still over 10 minutes!) for it.
Drivel Headed Shill Machine
In The Woods… – ‘Generally More Worried Than Married’ (Riff @ 6:17)
Hoping to slide in under the 10 minute cut-off with one a smidge short of 9… I don’t know In The Woods’ discography at all well, can’t even remember another song from Strange in Stereo, I just know that I love to get my nod on when this riff kicks in (not the riff’s first appearance but for me, with the vocals leading in, its most impactful one).
Holdeneye
Iced Earth – ‘Dante’s Inferno’ (Riff @ 6:17)
Don’t be shocked that I changed things up and went with Iced Earth this week. This may be my favorite song of all time.
McNulty
Cryptic Shift – “Moonbelt Immolator” (Riff @ 16:10)
Well hello, new favorite sci-fi death metal band! Long songs are my bread and butter, and this one is a lightly toasted brioche bun with a generous pad of Kerrygold. Lots of riffs from which to choose, and this felt like the most intense one.
Megachiles
Spectral Lore – ‘Earth (The Mother)’ (Riff @ 5:54)
Dunno if it’s age, becoming a parent and resultant sleep deprivation, pandemic quarantine induced dilation of time, or all of the above, but my usual aversion to long ass songs has subsided quite a bit. Whatever the cause I’ve finally been able to embrace the sweeping, long form compositions of Spectral Lore, and finally gave their split release with Mare Cognitum another go. Low and behold, like all of Ayloss’s releases I’ve begun to realise, it’s fuckin’ rad as hell. I think the section starting at 5:54 really highlights 1) that Ayloss writes some majestic as heck leads, and 2) all black metal should be abolished and replaced with Ayloss projects because then it wouldn’t be so boring and full of racist bootlickers.
Lacertilian
Cenotafio – ‘Maleficae’ (Riff @ 0:00)
Have done too many of these columns to remember if I’ve already submitted this hot fire from Chile for RotW before but I was respinning it earlier this week and it fits the fucken bill.
Next week is our half-yearly special edition
Send in your fave riffs released in 2020 so far
Anyone can enter
Submission details below
