Loud opinions, louder riffs. One voice on heavy metal and hard rock with a European perspective.https://www.metalheadrock.com/https://www.metalheadrock.com/riff-post/symptom-of-the-universe/https://www.metalheadrock.com/riff-post/symptom-of-the-universe/Tony Iommi broke every rule in 1975. Forty years later, nobody has written a heavier opening riff. Here's why.Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/riff-post/unchained-van-halen/https://www.metalheadrock.com/riff-post/unchained-van-halen/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.Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/deep-dive/vreid-the-skies-turn-black/https://www.metalheadrock.com/deep-dive/vreid-the-skies-turn-black/Vreid came back after five years of silence. What they brought is their most atmospheric record yet. And it sounds like a proper album, not a bedroom demo.Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/kreator-pleasure-to-kill-live-wacken-2014/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/kreator-pleasure-to-kill-live-wacken-2014/German thrash on German soil. Mille Petrozza plays this like a metronome that wants to kill you. Wacken's cameras catch every second of it.Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/metallica-monsters-of-rock-1991/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/metallica-monsters-of-rock-1991/1.6 million people. One band. The biggest metal show in history, and it still gives me chills. That helicopter shot at the start tells you everything.Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/7-forgotten-metal-bands/https://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/7-forgotten-metal-bands/Seven 80s metal bands that had the riffs, the attitude, and the talent. They just didn't have the timing. Or the MTV budget.Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/faith-no-more-midlife-crisis-live/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/faith-no-more-midlife-crisis-live/Mike Patton and Faith No More ripping through Midlife Crisis live. The man's vocal range is still terrifying. The band is still impossibly tight.Mon, 27 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/rise-of-the-northstar-falcon/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/rise-of-the-northstar-falcon/Hardcore meets bushido. Rise of the Northstar channelling everything heavy into three minutes of controlled violence.Fri, 24 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/my-dying-bride-live-wacken-2015/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/my-dying-bride-live-wacken-2015/Fifty minutes of Yorkshire doom on a German festival stage. Aaron Stainthorpe turned Wacken into a funeral. Nobody complained.Mon, 13 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/igorrr-daemoni/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/igorrr-daemoni/Igorrr doing what only Igorrr can do. Butoh dance, throat singing, and breakcore colliding in a single video.Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/dolly-parton-sings-duality-slipknot/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/dolly-parton-sings-duality-slipknot/Dolly Parton singing Slipknot's Duality. It shouldn't work. It absolutely does. The internet peaked here.Sun, 14 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/igorrr-infestis/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/igorrr-infestis/Black metal meets Tibetan ritual. Igorrr at their most chaotic and beautiful. This track has no business being this good.Mon, 08 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/kanonenfieber-z-vor/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/kanonenfieber-z-vor/First World War black metal from Germany. Kanonenfieber turn trenches into blast beats. The monochrome video makes it hit harder.Mon, 08 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/igorrr-headbutt/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/igorrr-headbutt/Igorrr smashing a piano, a choir, breakcore beats and metal guitars into one track. Gautier Serre doesn't make music. He builds controlled demolitions.Sun, 07 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/riff-post/scorpions-coast-to-coast-guitar-solo/https://www.metalheadrock.com/riff-post/scorpions-coast-to-coast-guitar-solo/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.Thu, 04 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/primordial-live-new-york-2025/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/primordial-live-new-york-2025/Primordial in New York. Full set. Nameless Cult Productions filmed every riff, every roar, every fist in the air. This is how you document a live show.Sun, 31 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/electric-callboy-still-waiting/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/electric-callboy-still-waiting/Electric Callboy covering Sum 41 and somehow making it heavier and more fun at the same time. Pure energy.Fri, 22 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/riff-post/crossroads-guitar-duel-steve-vai/https://www.metalheadrock.com/riff-post/crossroads-guitar-duel-steve-vai/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.Tue, 22 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/karnivool-drone/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/karnivool-drone/Karnivool return with a track that hits like prog-metal therapy. Polyrhythmic, brooding, and utterly Karnivool.Mon, 21 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/the-strange-case-of-draugveil/https://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/the-strange-case-of-draugveil/Black metal, Reddit drama, and a band nobody can agree on. The internet did its thing again. Here's why none of it matters.Sun, 13 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/deep-dive/die-spitz/https://www.metalheadrock.com/deep-dive/die-spitz/Four friends from Austin who picked a band name over a brown bag of Fireball. Their debut on Third Man Records is pure chaos. The good kind.Sun, 13 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/die-spitz-throw-yourself-to-the-sword/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/die-spitz-throw-yourself-to-the-sword/Die Spitz ripping through their debut single like they've got something to prove. Directed by Emily Sanchez. Gritty, loud, zero compromise. Third Man Records picked a winner.Sun, 13 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/paradise-lost-serpent-on-the-cross/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/paradise-lost-serpent-on-the-cross/Paradise Lost return with a doom-laden riff and a music video that matches the weight of every note. Nick Holmes at his most gritty.Fri, 11 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/jack-black-mr-crowley/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/jack-black-mr-crowley/Jack Black covering Ozzy with Tom Morello's kid on guitar and a teenage drummer who plays like Bonham reincarnated. For charity. Metal doing what metal does best.Sun, 06 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/sanguisugabogg-abhorrent-contraception/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/sanguisugabogg-abhorrent-contraception/Sanguisugabogg with a guest spot from Defeated Sanity's Josh Welshman. It's filthy. It's disgusting. The riffs are massive. Exactly what you'd expect.Sun, 06 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/slaughter-to-prevail-russian-grizzly/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/slaughter-to-prevail-russian-grizzly/Alex Terrible and Slaughter to Prevail doing what they do best. Crushing breakdowns, a bear, and zero subtlety. Exactly what was ordered.Sun, 06 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/10-rock-songs-that-were-brutally-banned/https://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/10-rock-songs-that-were-brutally-banned/The PMRC's Filthy Fifteen. AC/DC, Judas Priest, Venom, all blacklisted in the '80s. Today's lyrics are ten times worse and nobody cares. What changed?Sat, 31 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/riff-post/top-5-modern-shred-guitarists/https://www.metalheadrock.com/riff-post/top-5-modern-shred-guitarists/Shred guitar has moved on. No hairspray, no spandex. These five players are redefining what technical guitar looks like in the 2020s.Sat, 07 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/belgiums-metal-bands/https://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/belgiums-metal-bands/Belgium punches way above its weight in metal. From 80s speed metal pioneers to the H8000 hardcore scene. Here's why you should care.Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/heavy-metal-and-aggression/https://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/heavy-metal-and-aggression/Does heavy metal make you aggressive? Science says no. A study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience actually found the opposite.Wed, 05 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/riff-post/10-easy-metal-riffs-with-tabs/https://www.metalheadrock.com/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.Sat, 18 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/comedy-metal-bands/https://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/comedy-metal-bands/Steel Panther, Mac Sabbath, Nanowar of Steel. Comedy metal gets a bad rap. Some of it deserves it. Some of it is genuinely brilliant.Sat, 18 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/tatiana-shmayluk-jinjer/https://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/tatiana-shmayluk-jinjer/Tatiana Shmayluk turned Jinjer from a Ukrainian metal band into a global force. Piano kid, pillow screamer, one of the most versatile vocalists in modern metal.Mon, 16 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/germany-the-land-of-metal/https://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/germany-the-land-of-metal/From Scorpions to Rammstein, from thrash to power metal. Germany has shaped heavy metal more than most countries get credit for.Sat, 03 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/the-forbidden-riff/https://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/the-forbidden-riff/Stairway to Heaven leads the list. But the real forbidden riff list goes deeper than one Led Zeppelin intro. Here's the full rundown and why guitar shops banned them.Sun, 20 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/meshuggahs-oscars-performance-unreleased-footage/https://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/meshuggahs-oscars-performance-unreleased-footage/Meshuggah at the Oscars. Obviously fake. Obviously brilliant. The internet did something right for once.Wed, 02 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/riff-post/10-iconic-drop-d-guitar-riffs-with-tabs/https://www.metalheadrock.com/riff-post/10-iconic-drop-d-guitar-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.Fri, 24 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/the-best-hair-metal-bands/https://www.metalheadrock.com/opinion/the-best-hair-metal-bands/Six bands that defined the hair metal era. Big riffs, bigger hair, and enough hairspray to punch a hole in the ozone layer.Sun, 12 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/bill-bailey-any-song-heavy-metal/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/bill-bailey-any-song-heavy-metal/Bill Bailey proves what we already knew. Every song improves with distortion and double bass. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star has never sounded this good.Sat, 07 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/metallica-turn-the-page-uncensored/https://www.metalheadrock.com/video-drop/metallica-turn-the-page-uncensored/The uncensored version of Metallica's Turn the Page video. Raw, uncomfortable, and better than the sanitised cut they aired on MTV.Thu, 09 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.metalheadrock.com/deep-dive/backward-priests-eyes-wide-shut/https://www.metalheadrock.com/deep-dive/backward-priests-eyes-wide-shut/The masked ball scene from Eyes Wide Shut. That music. A Romanian Orthodox chant, reversed, and turned into one of cinema's most unsettling moments.Fri, 10 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT