Riff Of The Week: Live Edition
As always, Riff Of The Week was filmed in front of a live studio audience.
Before we go live, let’s check out the results from last week’s Trad Edition. At the end of polling, the trve battle came down to Crypt Sermon and some Judas Priest cover band. As it was a tie, you all know the drill, I generally award victory to third place. Wait, that was a tie too? Fuck this. EVERYONE LEAVE THE HALL.
This week we were looking for riffs from Live Albums. Y’all must have been busy voting in the semi’s of our Most Innovative Guitarist In Metal competition and getting bombarded with killer premieres to submit. Oh well, take your pick from these three.
Jimmy McNulty
Genesis – ‘The Knife’ (Riff @ 2:04)
Yeah, it’s Genesis. I wish I could stop listening to them (and talking about it) but they’re probably the best band ever. And did you know that they’ve got some heavy shit in the early material? Yeah, they had a tiny bit of grid, of attitude, for instance at 2:04 of “The Knife” off their 1973 live album. If you’ve never heard this before, give the whole song a listen and hear Genesis at some of their best (and heaviest). Otherwise just listen to the riff and vote for me.
Yarnhawk
Opeth – ‘A Fair Judgement’ (Riff @ 11:17)
The live version of the outro to this song is infinitely better than the album version, thanks almost exclusively to the tempo. I’ve always enjoyed this track; it’s a great example of Opeth’s heavy/soft writing abilities, with excellent melodies, beautiful interludes, stellar drum work, and some tasty riffage, but the ending on the studio cut feels hurried and lacking punch. Well, knock that tempo back a few notches, make the guitars sound way nastier, and you’ve got an absolutely crushing riff that emphatically puts an end to the track.
Lacertilian
Azoic – ‘Skywatchers’ (Riff @ 3:39)
Seeing all the pics and videos some of my friends are posting from the final Oration fest in Iceland the past few days has had me revisiting these killer live albums. Azoic are a band I do not ever see mentioned, and it bums me out that this is the only digital stuff of theirs I can find to purchase. Wonky but catchy as fuck riffs like the one at 3:39 should be sufficient evidence that everyone could use more Azoic in their life.
Next week the theme is BLUE. Get creative!
Submission details below.
(Image via)
