Guitarists Shred the Metallica Riffs That Made Them Want to Learn

There’s no doubt Metallica have inspired countless musicians to pick up a guitar and start a band.

Through many, many episodes of Gear Factor, we’ve heard shredder after shredder say the same thing. The first song they learned? The band that made them want to play in the first place? Their favorite riffs? The mighty Metallica, of course.

That’s why we decided to revisit a multitude of players, from Ghost’s Tobias Forge to GWAR’s Pustulus Maximus, gushing about the Metallica riffs that inspired them to learn to play and even want to start a band in the first place.

Formed in Los Angeles, in 1981, before relocating to San Francisco two years later, Metallica helped both spearhead and define the thrash metal genre. In the ‘90s, they embraced more accessible sounds and new compositional styles that took them to new heights.

One song that many guitarist say they first learned is “Seek and Destroy” from 1983’s Kill ‘Em All. And, of course, you’ll hear a lot of “Master of Puppets” from their 1986 album of the same name and, perhaps their most well-known song, “Enter Sandman” from their eponymous 1991 album.

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