Riff of the Week: Riffs from 2016
Cool casual man holding an electric guitar.
Hello again, friends. Shabubu thoroughly defeated us all last week with his pppreeeettty sick riff by toilet favorite whose name sounds wayyyy too similar to “babushka” but is still a pretty cool band. Congratulations on a win that you most likely deserve — a rare occurrence here in this our weekly Toilet ov Hell riff contest.
Next week, we’re doing something that we might have done before but I can’t really remember and to be really fucking honest with you I’m too lazy to look up. Guilty pleasures. Send me riffs that you’re at least sort of embarrassed of liking as much as you do. Honestly this should be like suuuuper fucking easy for most of you.
Send your embarrassing riffs to toiletovhellriff@gmail.com. Include your name, a link to the video, the time of the riff, and an explanation for why you chose it. If you have an idea for a theme, shoot me an email.
Here we go! Riffs from 2016.
Masterlord
In typical Moonsorrow fashion, this riff rules at first but then switches up a bit and ends up ruling way harder. Starts at 6:05.
Lacertilian
Get Ripped! (@ 4:06).
Brock Samson
When the riff at 3:10 kicks in while I’m driving my car you better watch out because I pretty much have to do my best air guitar impersonation and if you are in your car next to me you will see how awesome my invisible strings talent is.
Tertius Decimus
I’d love to choose a riff from any Vektor’s song, but it will be too easy, right? Vektor’s new full-length will be easily an AOTY among many listeners and rightly so, so in ToH “Riff of the week” chart it’ll be a low-hanging fruit. We need to go deeper [insert Leo’s face from “Inception” movie here]. Here it is. Skronky technical death with huge Dominic Lapointe-vibe emphasis. Atheretic’s “Apocalyptic Nature Fury” sits on the utmost top of my favorite technical acts and “Swerve” by Intonate somehow mixes fretless bass madness with grim, dirty, dark atmosphere of genre pioneers Gorguts. I like this alot. Definitely a keeper in my playlist. Riff goes from 10:21.
Gorak
HYPERION PROBABLY FAVORITE ALBUM SO FAR 2016!!!! RIFF START AT 2:00.
Blackbeard
Strength: Main Riff.
Parameter bonus: Guitarmonies.
+10 Frost Defense
Immune to Frozen
Boss the Ross
Into the fray, we die and we slay
Our home up above, the hall of the brave
We are Warriors! Defenders of Steel!
Fight through the wars, hunger we feed
Warriors! Defenders of Steel!
Burn our way to Odin’s Hall, from all battlefields
Yeahhh!
Tigeraid
Uuuuuuh oh, 2016 riffs? I did that last week. Ah well, here’s another, from Stoner-ish Doom outfit Hedonist, who’ve certainly flown under the radar but have been one of my favs so far this year. The opening riff is tweedly-deedly goodness and threads in and out. A fun secondary riff at 2:43 is also a nice down-tempo break. Great driving song.
Waynecro
The riff at 0:18 makes me want to stomp around.
Ted Nü-Djent
On an album full of insane riffage, I found it very difficult to settle on one. Here’s one of them. Listen from 0.43 to about 1.37. Hopefully this atones for my shameful zero of last week. Thanks, vote Nuge.
Nordling Rites ov Karhu
I don’t know if this is the best riff from 2016 so far, in fact I highly doubt it. But as far as I can see you’ll all be picking a Slayer riff or Mastodon’s Blood And Thunder’s opening riff as the best of this year, so what does it even matter. Good band, good song, good riff. Goes through most of the song, but 1:42 is a place.
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