Hey there! I hope you all are doing well in spite of the pandemic. As promised, I’d like to share my top five riffs of the 2000s, starting off a series of posts exploring my top five riffs of each decade that metal has been around for. At any point in time, metal is so full of passionate artists at some unnoticed peak of their career or another; picking just five riffs for the whole decade is a bit unfair to all the kickass riffs I’ll be missing! But here we go!

Nevermore – “Enemies of Reality” @ 0:35 (Enemies of Reality – progressive metal)

Oh my god, this riff. Narrowing this down to five riffs may be unfair to Jeff Loomis alone. This is the kind of massive, grinding, dark and meaty riff that just puts a goofy grin on my face. Loomis has plenty of wonderful riffs throughout Nevermore’s discography – hell, his work will probably make another appearance when I get to the 90’s – but this one has to be my favorite for its sheer sonic mass. It prompts the kind of headbang where you keep your head low and let your long metallic hair cover your face.

Bolt Thrower – “Last Stand of Humanity” @ ~1:11 with buildup (Those Once Loyal – death metal)

Like with Nevermore’s work, it’s difficult to pick just one riff from Bolt Thrower’s 2005 masterpiece, Those Once Loyal. This album is so full of devastating riffs that Bolt Thrower themselves decided to stop recording studio albums after its release, feeling that their attempts at follow-up albums could never top it. Since I’m making myself pick just one, I’ll share the riff that I most distinctly remembering standing out to me on my first listen through the album. This prominent riff in “Last Stand of Humanity” takes an opportunity to attack, and then takes over for pretty much the rest of the song. And this riff slays, this riff is a sinister snarl, a cathartic, heavy, and groovy headbang. It has a percussive bounce to it, and for the moments it does break, it’s all the more satisfying when it comes back. So much respect to Bolt Thrower! Such a satisfying band as a riff-lover.

Katatonia – “Leaders” @ 0:05 (The Great Cold Distance – alternative sadboi metal)

Katatonia are more well-regarded for their songwriting and depressive atmospheres than their riffs, but I find Viva Emptiness and The Great Cold Distance to be jam-packed of edgy and dark riffs that bring a great heaviness to the music. “Leaders” starts right off with one of the mightiest riffs Katatonia have ever composed, demonstrating Anders Nyström and Fredrik Norrman’s amazing abilities to create a dark, brooding, and razor-sharp atmosphere without being too technical at all.

Exodus – “The Atrocity Exhibition” @ 7:38 (The Atrocity Exhibition – Exhibit A – thrash metal)

I’ve found the Rob Dukes era of Exodus to be underrated, compared to the also-great work of the other vocalists. The Atrocity Exhibition albums are full of badass riffs and satisfying guitar solos. While my favorite track off Exhibit A is easily “Funeral Hymn,” for its fantastic build and release of tension, and its kickass trade-off guitar solo section, the single riff from this album that satisfied me most is what I’ll call the climax riff of the title track, “The Atrocity Exhibition.” This riff blazes in after a lengthy (and frankly, alright) guitar solo section with vigor and prompts a pump of the fist into the air!

Gojira – “From The Sky” @ 4:21 (From Mars to Sirius – progressive death metal)

Gojira are yet another band whose body of work is full of memorable riffs and moments. Their 2005 album From Mars to Sirius has so many great songs that each have their own crazy moments; I thought I’d share a favorite of mine that I feel isn’t represented as much as other greats such as “Flying Whales” and “Backbone.” After an atmospheric build-up, Gojira unleash a thundering tremolo-picked riff. This riff feels like soaring over the seas in a dark, calamitous thunderstorm. And I do love a powerful tremolo riff like this!

Thanks for reading! I’m going to continue going through my favorite riffs of each decade, going either to the 1990’s or the 2010’s next! Stay safe and try your best to relax and indulge your passions!