We love heavy metal, don’t we folks? The riffs, the headbanging, the wide-ranging vocals… and we can’t forget the solos. The best is when a band comes in hot with a real face-melter, and you just feel your soul leave your body.
Over the years, there have been countless highly regarded heavy metal solos from some of our favorite bands. We can’t talk about all of them, but let’s discuss a few.
“Hallowed Point” by Slayer
Slayer often does not get enough credit for their incredible solos. I think it’s because their brand of thrash always had more in common with hardcore punk than what their peers were playing in the ’80s.
Then, during the late 90s and into the 2000s, they evolved in a more death metal direction. Like, even as I write this, I still can’t see the logic behind how underappreciated the killer solo work of Kerry King and the late Jeff Hanneman.
If you want a great example, jam “Hallowed Point” from Slayer’s fifth album, Seasons in the Abyss (1990). It’s quite possibly Kerry King’s greatest solo work, and it will certainly melt your face off.
“Floods” by Pantera
Dimebag Darrell is my personal favorite guitarist of all time, and it’s not even close. Hell, Pantera is probably my favorite band of all time (though a case could be made for Slayer or Deftones). And The Great Southern Trendkill is my favorite album of all time.
The way Dimebag broke ground in metal through his groovy-rythmic riffs and insane lead solos is the stuff of legend. Truly. The thing that hits so hard for me about Pantera’s Great Southern Trendkill album is how it blends so much of who they were with their individual influences.
The track “Floods” is such a great example. It’s kinda doomy, kinda sludgy, very groovy, and features a pair of back-to-back solos that Dimebag f***ing NAILS.
“Ride The Lightning” by Metallica
You can’t have a list of face-melting heavy metal guitar solos without including two very specific bands, the first being Metallica. I don’t necessarily think you can say that blending traditional rock guitar solos into thrash music started with Metallica. Certainly, though, they brought it to a wider audience.
While there are some incredible solos to choose from across their extensive catalog, it’s Kirk Hammett’s work on “Ride the Lightning” that really stands out. The title track off the band’s second album, Ride the Lightning, is a classic Metallica song, beloved by many. It also just so happens to not be a deep cut.
Dedicated fans would rarely agree that a band’s best work is in one of their more recognizable tunes, but in this case, that’s how the bell tolls.
“Tornado of Souls” by Megadeth
Oh, and the other band you can’t leave off a face-melting solos is, of course, Megadeth.
Back in 1990, the band dropped one of their most iconic albums, Rust in Peace. That record features the song “Tornado of Souls”, which has one of the most acclaimed solos ever.
Played by then-Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman, the wildly inventive solo won’t just melt your face off; it will melt off the faces of anyone within an 18-mile radius and set fire to their skulls. Play this one at your own risk.
The post 4 of the Most Face-Melting Guitar Solos in Heavy Metal History appeared first on VICE.
