Riff Ov The Week: Opening Solo Edition
*insta-shreds*
Last week we took riffs from debut albums and the contest was fittingly won by a debutante by the name of DoomKopf. The competition was fierce though, with votes distributed relatively evenly across all the riffs (except mine *shakes fist/claws*). Normally I would feel sympathy for someone who had been put in Richter’s position, who through the actions of some son-of-a-bitchin’ saboteur had his riff removed at the start of polling, but since he ended up with more votes than half the other entries, he gets none. NONE! Strong showings from Rusty and the perennial Moose as well. I would also like to commend everyone (well, almost everyone) because last week could have possibly been the first RoTW to be devoid of the asinine “can’t believe no-one submitted this riff” comment…it’s only taken three fucking years. If you’ve got a riff, don’t be a poser, submit it.
This week, we’re doing opening solos. The only rule was that the solo had to start within 0:05 seconds of the track commencing. Throughout the week we received some quality submissions, so much so that I’m going to have to listen to them all again before I vote. I suggest you take the same level of consideration when voting, it’d be a shame to have the appointment of President Cheeto Mussolini and an unsupportable solo sitting on the podium in the same week.
SHRED!
FrankWhiteKingOfNY
Pagan Altar – “Rising Of The Dark Lord“
You want leads? You’ll get them. Pagan Altar, in my book, is probably the most “English”-sounding metal band on planet earth, next to Godflesh. Where Godflesh sonically embodies the industrial decay of decrepit factories and crime-ridden council estates, Pagan Altar are masters at evoking the occult atmosphere of the ancient British countryside. And this effect, my dear friends, is obtained by the means of an infectious combination of Sabbathy riffs, haunting harmonies and massive evocative LEADS. No time is wasted before they get down and dirty with them sweet leads either, because as evidenced by my submission above, the leads start right from the get go at 0:01. Go!
Ted Nü-Djent
Nylithia – “Grinder“
A toilet friend was nice enough to buy me Nylithia’s Hyperthrash as a Bandcamp gift this past Christmas which reminded me that I owned their Infector E.P. Timely too seeing as the beginning of this song has a pretty sweet guitar solo to open the track. Plenty of hammer-ons or pull-offs (LOL), I don’t know the technical terms, I just know that what gives me wood.Listen up until 0.47. Hello Wisconsin!
ElusiveSamsquanch
Evergrey – “The Great Deceiver“
I nominate “The Great Deceiver” by Evergrey. Not only does the solo open the song, but it also opens the album. It’s a pretty sweet quick shred.
Richter
Naðra – “Fjallið“
Nadra, ostensibly a harsh black metal band, opens not only this song but this entire album with a guitar solo because Nadra gives 3 – 5 + 2 fucks. For those of you without advanced theoretical mathematics degrees, that equals zero fucks. [Time stamp unnecessary.]
Stanley
Luror – “A Symptom Of Evil“
This one took a bit of scouring through the ol’ record collection. Firstly, to find a Black Metal album with a decent solo and secondly, to find a song with a solo within the first five seconds. Luckily, this song rips, as does the surprisingly catchy solo. I couldn’t find the individual “A Symptom of Evil” song anywhere, so here’s the whole album. The song and the solo both start @ 14:56.
Lacertilian
Cruciamentum – “Tongues Of Nightshade“
“Hey man, reckon you can chuck a solo in to start this track for us?”
*nods once*
*presses record*
*bar dives*
*maniacal tapping*
*chromatic legato*
*shredding lick*
*chaotic atonal run*
*violent vibrato*
*breaks string*
*presses stop*
*nods once*
“uhhh…thanks”
Next week’s competition theme is water. The track you choose your riff from must relate to water somehow. Easy enough right?
Send your submission to toiletovhellriff@gmail.com along with your screen-name, a link to the track, and a time-stamp of the riff you’ve chosen along with a short description of why you chose it. We’ll be accepting entries up until Friday, get on it!
(Header image in honour of the memory of Masterlord’s helmet)
