Debate: what is the greatest metal riff of all time?

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The riff. It's everything to metal. You can strip away pretty much any other element that has come to define the genre over the years - haunting atmospherics, scorching wails and guttural screams, blastbeats, basslines and a ton of denim and leather - but it all comes back to the riff.

Black Sabbath, the first true heavy metal band, were powered by the bowel-shaking, devilishly down-tuned riffs of Tony Iommi, metal's first undisputed guitar god.

From then, every major metal band has built their rep around iconic riffs, from James Hetfield's urgent and powerful downstrokes on Creeping Death and Master Of Puppets to Dimebag Darrel's churning guitar attack on Cowboys From Hell all the way to the propulsive bounce of Wes Borland on Break Stuff.

But what's the greatest metal riff of them all? We once compiled our own list with the help of a few friends, but we want your opinion.

Raining Blood? The Trooper? Iron Man? Blind? Blood And Thunder? (sic)? There are so many epic, dark, heavy and earwormy riffs to choose from, but if you could only pick one, which would it be?

Let us know in the comments below.

Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.

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