1 King Gizzard &amp; The Lizard Wizard PleuraGenerally speaking, the heavy side of King Gizzard &amp; The Lizard Wizard tends to dwell more in 70s garage rock worship than anything overly distorted or hellishly metallic. There are occasional exceptions, however, such as the riff that arrives 30 seconds into Pleura, which could easily have been penned by the Iron Man himself, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, and sat on early 70s masterpieces such as Master Of Reality or Vol. 4. Performed in C# minor, bouncing between the root and minor seventh, it&rsquo;s the little trills in between that add melodic depth &ndash; utilising the second, minor third and perfect fourth intervals to decorate the groove and widen their sonic range. It&rsquo;s hard to know exactly which pedals in their sizeable collection were used on this track specifically, though firm favourites over the years have included the standard Cry Baby wah and the Devi Ever Torn&rsquo;s Peaker fuzz &ndash; the latter of which singer/guitarist Stu Mackenzie has used &ldquo;since forever&rdquo; and describes as &ldquo;a one-trick pony&rdquo; thanks to its knobs no longer working (&ldquo;you just step on it and it squeals&rdquo;).<div style="page-break-before:always; page-break-after:always">2 GojiraAnother WorldThe opening riff heard on Fortitude&rsquo;s third track is a lot easier than it sounds, employing hammer-ons and pull-offs on the fourth and fifth strings to create rapid movements that are surprisingly straightforward for both the fretting and picking hands. To jam along to the recording all you need to remember is to tune your guitar a whole step down, as open strings are key here. 3 Black MidiJohn LThere&rsquo;s an atonal quality to the scratchy riff that introduces and concludes the opening track on Black Midi&rsquo;s latest album. It&rsquo;s the kind of idea few would dare to come up with, let alone release, which is precisely what makes it so miraculously captivating.<div style="page-break-before:always; page-break-after:always">4 Mastodon Pushing The TidesHarking back to the chaotic discordance heard on Mastodon&rsquo;s 2002 debut Remission, the main riff in Pushing The Tides uses tritone chords against an open drop C to great effect. Back in October, Bill Kelliher explained the idea had originally been penned for 2017 track Roots Remain and was later reworked for what became Hushed &amp; Grim&rsquo;s lead single.5 Trivium In The Court Of The DragonPicking our favourite riff from In The Court Of The Dragon &ndash; not even the album, but the title track itself &ndash; was not an easy task. The opening intensity of the main chorus hook certainly grabs the listener from the off, while the palm-muted neoclassical frenzy that backs the solo three minutes radiates mindboggling brilliance. The result? Let&rsquo;s call it a tie!

Riffs of 2021 

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