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Riff Posts

Why does this riff work? What makes that tone so damn good? Nerdy, passionate, vinyl in hand. This is the record shop conversation.

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Darkthrone's Siberian Thaw — the riff a rusty fan couldn't resist.
10 May 2026

Darkthrone's Siberian Thaw — the riff a rusty fan couldn't resist.

Esoteric Order ov the Riff has 53 subscribers. He is out of practice. He still couldn't resist learning the new Darkthrone the day after release. The Siberian Thaw riff, from Pre-Historic Metal, is the kind of doomy slow-burner that pulls musicians back to their guitars even when life has pulled them away.

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More riff posts

A jazz guitarist plays Master of Puppets and accidentally proves why the riff works
Riff Post

A jazz guitarist plays Master of Puppets and accidentally proves why the riff works

Lucas Brar's 'But It's Jazz' video takes the most iconic thrash riff of all time and plays it in elevator-music chords. The joke lands. But what it actually proves is that the Master of Puppets riff is built on a chord progression strong enough to survive any treatment you throw at it.

18 April 2026
15 metal riffs every beginner should learn first
Riff Post

15 metal riffs every beginner should learn first

Fifteen riffs. Five minutes. Tabs on screen. From Sabbath to Annihilator, these are the riffs that turn a beginner into a metalhead with a guitar.

11 April 2026
Why the opening riff of Symptom of the Universe still hits harder than anything released this year
Riff Post

Why the opening riff of Symptom of the Universe still hits harder than anything released this year

Tony Iommi broke every rule in 1975. Forty years later, nobody has written a heavier opening riff. Here's why.

5 April 2026
Unchained. The riff that made me buy my first cassette.
Riff Post

Unchained. The riff that made me buy my first cassette.

Eddie Van Halen wrote hundreds of riffs. This is the one. The one that made a kid in 1984 spend his pocket money on a cassette that changed everything.

5 April 2026
Scorpions - Coast To Coast guitar solo lesson
Riff Post

Scorpions - Coast To Coast guitar solo lesson

Michael Schenker's solo on Coast To Coast is one of the finest pieces of melodic lead guitar from the Lovedrive era. Here's how to learn it properly.

4 September 2025
The Crossroads Guitar Duel. What it actually sounded like.
Riff Post

The Crossroads Guitar Duel. What it actually sounded like.

Steve Vai vs Ralph Macchio. The isolated tracks from the Crossroads guitar duel reveal who was really playing. Spoiler: it wasn't the Karate Kid.

22 July 2025
Top 5 Modern Shred Guitarists
Riff Post

Top 5 Modern Shred Guitarists

Modern shred guitar is not the 1980s anymore. No hairspray, no spandex, no neoclassical clichés. These five players — Matteo Mancuso, Tom Quayle, Andre Nieri, Max Ostro and Stephen Taranto — are redefining technical guitar in the 2020s. Watch them once and the genre catches up to you.

7 October 2023
10 Easy Metal Riffs (with Tabs)
Riff Post

10 Easy Metal Riffs (with Tabs)

Ten beginner-friendly metal riffs that sound massive and take minutes to learn. Rammstein, Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera. Grab your guitar.

18 February 2023
10 Iconic Drop D Riffs (with Tabs)
Riff Post

10 Iconic Drop D Riffs (with Tabs)

One string. One whole step down. Drop D changed everything. From Sabbath to Rage Against the Machine. Here's why this tuning owns metal.

24 June 2022