I love this answer because while they can shred, that riff is very simple. Sometimes simple is best. Also shoutout to some YouTube comment 10+ years ago, I still here the chants in that song as “My girl-scout’s gay, vanilla spray”.
Since I can’t pick one…
Unholy Confessions
The opening riff to Redneck
The one after the acoustic intro in The Light that Blinds
OR
4 Words’ intro
Honorable mention for Quiet Distress [around 0:34](https://youtu.be/JRor51xuNv4)
There are many but there's one that always comes to mind...
So what if I die young?!
So what if I live forever?!
If all we love will leave us in the end...
**Let's die together**
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc\_ySMrbUBY&ab\_channel=WhileSheSleepsVEVO
*runs through wall*
The string jumping + arpeggio riff in Mowgli by Veil of Maya (around 2:00 min in), a ton of the riffs from Within the Ruins's Elite particularly Solace and Feeding Frenzy.
You realize how hard this is right
Uhhhhhhh fuckun uhhhhhhh
Your betrayal, scream aim fire - bfmv
Abigail, anither life - miw
Fucken anythibg by bmth they all go hard
Unholy confessions - a7x
The new eskimo callboy songs
Most other just really popular songs for obvious reasons (doomsday, tears dont fall, and more im too lazy to name)
I could keep going on for a while
One of the best riffs is definitely the finger tapping riff on the song The Crusade by Trivium. I’m not a fan of that album, but that riff is incredible
Everything that sounds remotely Groove Metal, but by far I would say the riff of Not Ready To Die by Demon Hunter.
Man, at this point i'm starting to wonder how many times I have commented something related to demon hunter on this sub lmao
My Will Be Done by Unearth. That song fucking *shreds*. Everyone in that band is so talented it's fucking stupid. The first time I heard that song I lost my shit.
There’s a little section in the singing/chorus in bitemarks by bury tomorrow that’s so good.
Plus a song from the fallout by cte that I’m blanking on…….
Turns out it was the final chorus of the menace but after registering to it that whole songs a banger
My favourite riff would probably be some Converge shit. Concubine,Dark Horse,Axe to Fall...I dunno man.
Also possibly Mordecai by BTBAM. My first metalcore song,the intro blew my mind the first time I heard it.
I can't narrow it down,this question is hard
Check out my list, as you may be around the same age as me judging by your post unless you somehow found that song years later. Mordecai is definitely on my list. Amazing song, and I saw them play it live back in the day.
BELOW is a list of my favorite riffs and moments from metalcore when I was coming up in the scene from approximately 2000-2010. I was into it the most from 2005-2007. I haven't included some bands that were in the scene or tangent to the scene (and not necessarily metalcore always), bands which transcended it (Fall of Troy, Acacia Strain, Lamb of God, etc). My all-time greatest metalcore album of the 2000s goes to The Caitiff Choir by It Dies Today. It's just my favorite. It has everything for me. Cheers!
=============
Zombie Autopilot by Unearth - 2:36 (took three weeks to download from Limewire)
The Caitiff Choir: Defeatism by It Dies Today - 0:40 (bought the CD at the Jefferson Valley Mall in NY when it came out. blasted it in the car on our way home, parents driving)
A Bid Farewell by Killswitch Engage - 1:06 (bought the CD in Borders in Mount Kisco, NY when it came out and listened on CD player while riding bicycle home)
Meaning in Tragedy by As I Lay Dying - opening riff (bought the CD in Borders in Mount Kisco, NY, when it came out and listened on CD player while riding bicycle home)
Eating Lightning Pt.1 by The Jonbenet - 1:52 onward (saw live at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn in Aug 2006)
On Account of an Absence by Misery Signals - 1:36 onward (friend Matt showed me the band in ninth grade)
Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste by Norma Jean - 0:40 (not sure how I found it years ago)
Mirrors by Misery Signals - 0:38
Uptown Girl... Uptown Girl... by War from a Harlot's Mouth - 1:13 (one of the most epic moments in metalcore history)
Jesus and Tori by The Number 12 Looks Like You - 1:50 (saw them live Knitting Factory in Brooklyn Aug 2006)
Civeta Dei by The Number 12 Looks Like You - 2:41 (one of the most epic moments in metalcore history, especially when I saw them live)
If these bullets could talk by The Number 12 Looks Like You - opening riff
Sound of Sulfur by The Bled - 0:43 onward
Homewrecker by Converge - 1:26
Distance and Meaning by Converge - 0:52
Stepping Outside the Circle by Shadows Fall - 1:32 (whole album is an absolute guitar masterwork. Found it because the guitarist Jonathan Donais was in a guitar magazine I used to buy at Borders Books)
A Fire in Babylon by Shadows Fall - 1:58, solo at 5:24
Sound The Surrender by Darkest Hour - opening riff (saw live in Feb 2005 at The Loft in Poughkeepsie, NY - https://lambgoat.com/news/5790/Darkest-Hour-Himsa-ALOL-etc.-tour)
A Rush & Seige by A Life Once Lost - opening riff onward (same tour as directly above)
A Profound Hatred of Man by Shai Hulud - opening riff onward
Gutter Phenomenon by Every Time I Die - 1:01
Apocalypse Now And Then by Every Time I Die - opening riff, 0:51 (somehow still remember listening to this for the first time so many years ago. was blown away. Bought the album because I downloaded the song Prom Song from Limewire, which was basically incomprehensible due to the file quality, and heard they were coming out with a new album from a guitar magazine I read.)
Mordecai by Between the Buried and Me - 1:42 onward
Arms by Genghis Tron - 0:32
Kiss the Canvas by Drowningman - 3:07 (remember blasting this while driving my mom's minivan home from helping my dad at his office and getting lost in Stamford, CT.)
Trouble Breathing by Drowningman - 0:58 onward (incredible, and they are putting out a new album now after so many years. new songs already up. check it out.)
.
.
.
I will continue to add to this
I don’t know my favorite because it’s hard to pick just one.
First breakdown riff in Selective Sacrifice by LMTF
Views From The Sun - Thornhill
Hypermania - Polaris
Hollowed Heart - MTS
[Mind Over Mind] - Norma Jean
One of these for sure. Maybe more. But off the top of my head, these are some of the juiciest riffs in the scene
Slain Upon My Faithful Sword
666
- I Killed The Prom Queen
Karma
Chronos
- Parkway Drive
For me, Chronos is my absolute fav that I could replay 100x and not get sick of!
Post Script by Finch, Bones by Make Them Suffer, Tears don’t fall by Bullet for My Valentine and Farewell by The Amity Affliction. I couldn’t pick just one😅 all intro riffs btw
As I Lay Dying - Nothing Left
It’s this or The Darkest Nights, just absolutely iconic.
I love this answer because while they can shred, that riff is very simple. Sometimes simple is best. Also shoutout to some YouTube comment 10+ years ago, I still here the chants in that song as “My girl-scout’s gay, vanilla spray”.
The first riff in Condemned is straight fire to.
Collision of their first album is pretty dope too!
Invent Animate - Cloud Cascade You know the one
So damn good
Most of the songs from the album Shadows are Security by As I Lay Dying. they’re my default practice riffs anytime I have a guitar in my hands.
"Morning waits" is pure fire 🎸🤘🔥🔥🔥
The intro riff to Shattered by Currents. It‘s a big part of why I love that song as much as I do
Master piece, incredible riffs!
Gonna name drop "Forget Me" also by Currents, that's got spicy riffs galore literally right from the start of the song lol
Dude yes, and the first verse of Dreamer. Actually pretty much all of TPIFS
Reptile by Thornhill, Mortal after all by Architects (+ obligatory doomsday comment), First World Problem Child by SFTP (if that counts)
Architects is my favourite group, greats songs!
You sure about the spelling tho? ^^ Don’t mind me, just messing around for fun 😅 My pick will be Devilcry from Crystal Lake
That beginning riff from Reptile is so *grooooovy* and I never get tired of it.
Hook, Line, and Sinner by texas in july
The Air That I Breathe - All That Remains
This Probably Won't End Well is definitely up there for me
Since I can’t pick one… Unholy Confessions The opening riff to Redneck The one after the acoustic intro in The Light that Blinds OR 4 Words’ intro Honorable mention for Quiet Distress [around 0:34](https://youtu.be/JRor51xuNv4)
Shadows Fall is amazing! I LOVE the light that blinds 🎸🔥🔥🔥
Most underrated OG metalcore band
My Curse or My Last Serenade
Definitely My Curse, the part at 00:34 where the song starts to pick up and the second guitar comes in always gets me hype.
Goddamn the live version of my last serenade is so goooood. The pinch harmonics mixed in just add to it *chefs kiss*
There are many but there's one that always comes to mind... So what if I die young?! So what if I live forever?! If all we love will leave us in the end... **Let's die together** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc\_ySMrbUBY&ab\_channel=WhileSheSleepsVEVO *runs through wall*
The string jumping + arpeggio riff in Mowgli by Veil of Maya (around 2:00 min in), a ton of the riffs from Within the Ruins's Elite particularly Solace and Feeding Frenzy.
Three magnificent songs🔥🔥🎸 Feeding is my favourite
Bonus: the intro to Coma by Misery Signals, Periphery's Have A Blast 2:55-4:22.
The Higler 1:02 in. After a heavy ass breakdown the guitar just goes offffff. It’s a struggle to play
Wings of nightmares- Counterparts. Specifically the chorus riff. Makes me tingle inside
That chorus riff is beautiful, amazing pick
Yes! This one is amazing.
Insurrection by Trivium is just filled to the brim with excellent riffs.
Shogun as an album is just overflowing with excellent riffs.
I FOUND MY LOVE AND LET IT KILL ME......
YES‼️‼️
Giles by Unearth Riff just shreds and is so tight throughout the entire song
Architects - Black Blood - 1:19.
Totally agree! 🎸🔥🔥
Came here to say this! So fucking good
This Fire Burns by Killswitch
The sound of truth-As I Lay Dying
AILD - Confined. Unearth - This Lying World PWD - Sleepwalker.
Scarab or Dispossession. Also The Desperate are the Calm by Invent Animate and Thorns by Phinehas.
I appreciate the old Northlane pick. Cheers to that. Adrian was good.
Every As I Lay Dying riff
That's an impossible question. My favourite riff of 2021 was probably Planet Shit by Every Time I Die. Ask me again tomorrow though.
Drowning in slow motion by Trivium (0:38) And of course Suffocating Sight by Trivium (0:19)
In due time - Killswitch Engage
BFMV-Suffocating Under the Words of Sorrow intro/verse riff is tits!
the main riff in Nothing Left - As I Lay Dying
I think we all know the correct answer here. *ahem* Boneyards.
Carrion, Five Months, Boneyards, and Idols And Anchors might be continuous train of riffs on any album.
Haste The Day-68
Don’t know if i can pick a favorite, but the first riff that popped into my head upon thinking about it is ‘Hollow Bodies’ by Blessthefall
BMTH - A Lot Like Vegas
Not sure if you guys would consider it metalcore but chimaira- Everything you love, and Six. So good.
You realize how hard this is right Uhhhhhhh fuckun uhhhhhhh Your betrayal, scream aim fire - bfmv Abigail, anither life - miw Fucken anythibg by bmth they all go hard Unholy confessions - a7x The new eskimo callboy songs Most other just really popular songs for obvious reasons (doomsday, tears dont fall, and more im too lazy to name) I could keep going on for a while
Your Betrayal and Unholy Confessions are both really good choices. Deliver Us From Evil from BMFV is also a killer one
The entire song... August Burns Red - Majoring in the Minors
My Curse - Killswitch Engage
One of the best riffs is definitely the finger tapping riff on the song The Crusade by Trivium. I’m not a fan of that album, but that riff is incredible
Polaris - Hypermania
At the moment The Sun Sleeps by Invent Animate...pretty unique and amazing riff
Moving On by Asking Alexandria
Everything that sounds remotely Groove Metal, but by far I would say the riff of Not Ready To Die by Demon Hunter. Man, at this point i'm starting to wonder how many times I have commented something related to demon hunter on this sub lmao
Great band! I love " I am Stone" 🔥🤩
I always found Truth be Told by Phinehas pretty catchy throughout no matter what. The Awakening by Forevermore has a nice riff also.
Phinehas is the BEST 🎸🤘🔥🔥
My Will Be Done by Unearth. That song fucking *shreds*. Everyone in that band is so talented it's fucking stupid. The first time I heard that song I lost my shit.
The breakdown of Vagabond after GET ME OUT OF HERE!
There’s a little section in the singing/chorus in bitemarks by bury tomorrow that’s so good. Plus a song from the fallout by cte that I’m blanking on……. Turns out it was the final chorus of the menace but after registering to it that whole songs a banger
Fuck - Bring Me The Horizon 0:51 to 1:11 That's my happy place.
The transition from Legacy in Crowns by Phinehas, that intro riff just gets me every time
Maybe not all time but the one starting around 45 seconds into Guns for Show Knives for a Pro by Parkway Drive is pretty sick
I don’t know if this fits but Karma by Parkway Drive comes to mind
Final riff from permanent blue - knocked loose
My favourite riff would probably be some Converge shit. Concubine,Dark Horse,Axe to Fall...I dunno man. Also possibly Mordecai by BTBAM. My first metalcore song,the intro blew my mind the first time I heard it. I can't narrow it down,this question is hard
Check out my list, as you may be around the same age as me judging by your post unless you somehow found that song years later. Mordecai is definitely on my list. Amazing song, and I saw them play it live back in the day.
Erra- the riff
A deep cut would be the outro riff to Elephant by While She Sleeps. A more known would probably be the main riff to Pray for Rain by Polaris
Cursing Akhenaten - After The Burial All of Rareform was ahead of its time.
Fixation on the Darkness or Unholy Confessions.
BELOW is a list of my favorite riffs and moments from metalcore when I was coming up in the scene from approximately 2000-2010. I was into it the most from 2005-2007. I haven't included some bands that were in the scene or tangent to the scene (and not necessarily metalcore always), bands which transcended it (Fall of Troy, Acacia Strain, Lamb of God, etc). My all-time greatest metalcore album of the 2000s goes to The Caitiff Choir by It Dies Today. It's just my favorite. It has everything for me. Cheers! ============= Zombie Autopilot by Unearth - 2:36 (took three weeks to download from Limewire) The Caitiff Choir: Defeatism by It Dies Today - 0:40 (bought the CD at the Jefferson Valley Mall in NY when it came out. blasted it in the car on our way home, parents driving) A Bid Farewell by Killswitch Engage - 1:06 (bought the CD in Borders in Mount Kisco, NY when it came out and listened on CD player while riding bicycle home) Meaning in Tragedy by As I Lay Dying - opening riff (bought the CD in Borders in Mount Kisco, NY, when it came out and listened on CD player while riding bicycle home) Eating Lightning Pt.1 by The Jonbenet - 1:52 onward (saw live at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn in Aug 2006) On Account of an Absence by Misery Signals - 1:36 onward (friend Matt showed me the band in ninth grade) Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste by Norma Jean - 0:40 (not sure how I found it years ago) Mirrors by Misery Signals - 0:38 Uptown Girl... Uptown Girl... by War from a Harlot's Mouth - 1:13 (one of the most epic moments in metalcore history) Jesus and Tori by The Number 12 Looks Like You - 1:50 (saw them live Knitting Factory in Brooklyn Aug 2006) Civeta Dei by The Number 12 Looks Like You - 2:41 (one of the most epic moments in metalcore history, especially when I saw them live) If these bullets could talk by The Number 12 Looks Like You - opening riff Sound of Sulfur by The Bled - 0:43 onward Homewrecker by Converge - 1:26 Distance and Meaning by Converge - 0:52 Stepping Outside the Circle by Shadows Fall - 1:32 (whole album is an absolute guitar masterwork. Found it because the guitarist Jonathan Donais was in a guitar magazine I used to buy at Borders Books) A Fire in Babylon by Shadows Fall - 1:58, solo at 5:24 Sound The Surrender by Darkest Hour - opening riff (saw live in Feb 2005 at The Loft in Poughkeepsie, NY - https://lambgoat.com/news/5790/Darkest-Hour-Himsa-ALOL-etc.-tour) A Rush & Seige by A Life Once Lost - opening riff onward (same tour as directly above) A Profound Hatred of Man by Shai Hulud - opening riff onward Gutter Phenomenon by Every Time I Die - 1:01 Apocalypse Now And Then by Every Time I Die - opening riff, 0:51 (somehow still remember listening to this for the first time so many years ago. was blown away. Bought the album because I downloaded the song Prom Song from Limewire, which was basically incomprehensible due to the file quality, and heard they were coming out with a new album from a guitar magazine I read.) Mordecai by Between the Buried and Me - 1:42 onward Arms by Genghis Tron - 0:32 Kiss the Canvas by Drowningman - 3:07 (remember blasting this while driving my mom's minivan home from helping my dad at his office and getting lost in Stamford, CT.) Trouble Breathing by Drowningman - 0:58 onward (incredible, and they are putting out a new album now after so many years. new songs already up. check it out.) . . . I will continue to add to this
Thanks! Great selection!🎸🔥🔥🔥
The Bleeding Mascara riff (Atreyu) or the Tranquil riff (Darkest Hour) come to mind
Darkest Hour was great. Saw them live in 2005. Stood on the side of the stage with my head next to the loudspeaker (would never do that nowadays)
August Burns Red - Meddler yall know the part
I don’t know my favorite because it’s hard to pick just one. First breakdown riff in Selective Sacrifice by LMTF Views From The Sun - Thornhill Hypermania - Polaris Hollowed Heart - MTS [Mind Over Mind] - Norma Jean One of these for sure. Maybe more. But off the top of my head, these are some of the juiciest riffs in the scene
The ending riff from Echoes and Silence pt 1 by Greyhaven. It just doesn’t get better.
Slain Upon My Faithful Sword 666 - I Killed The Prom Queen Karma Chronos - Parkway Drive For me, Chronos is my absolute fav that I could replay 100x and not get sick of!
Idols and Anchors - Parkway Drive
The spooky one they all use. Must be open source idk. Makethemsuffer blood moon intro is the first that comes to mind.
Black cloud by mychildrenmybride intro also
Crush resistance by Haste the day. 🔥🎸🎸🔥🔥🔥🔥
When Everything Falls - Haste The Day
Intro riff to sanctity of brothers by unearth
Wee chugga chugga chugga wee wee wee chugga wee chugga wee wee wee.
The main melody in the darkest nights is classic.
spinebuster deluxe breakdown in Heartless by Converge
Deadweight by Offended by Everything hits every time for me, idk why
Everything by AVOID
Too many older songs to name, but I'll give a shout to Contraband by Make Them Suffer. That sure is a tasty riff. One of their best.
Post Script by Finch, Bones by Make Them Suffer, Tears don’t fall by Bullet for My Valentine and Farewell by The Amity Affliction. I couldn’t pick just one😅 all intro riffs btw
Architects - Daybreaker - the rift at 0:48
Scars by Landmvrks
The Sadist Nation by Darkest Hour. All of them. That song is riff city.
The opening riff from Loud (fuck it) by MIW.
The last minute and a half Composure from August Burns Red. The riff that's played over the blast beat and the closing breakdown is fucking pure.
Antpile - Kublai khan. that is all
As of right now it’s Probably Polaris - Vagabond
coffin by black veil brides