The best way to make fast riffs instantly heavier: play them twice exactly the same, but the second time with half time drums. The contrast hits like a sledge hammer.
Haha thanks, my camera struggles to keep up with the fast riffs sometimes. I guess it’s so fast it’s warping space time or something. Hope you’re well buddy! :)
Drums is the key for me (that's why I'm a drummer) This instrument is often underestimated because it can seems uniteresting for somes, or to simple, but it is actually super diverse, in a lot of way, like guitar, and they really tame the feeling of the song, more than the guitar at some points
I was going to say the same thing. For me Meshuggah are basically the kings of heavy. It's not just about how low they tune either, but the combination of that, the rhythm/polymeter, and dissonance (basically everything that Pete slowly added in as the video progressed). I also feel the right kind of atmosphere and ambiance can really add something special to the experience of the heaviness, which is another thing Meshuggah expertly employ as well. There's also something to be said for contrast being very important to the experience of heaviness as well. If a song is just the same intensity all the way through it hits nowhere near as hard as if there are some parts where things let up a bit before hitting you again like a sledge hammer.
In my opinion: The scale it's in (for example, phrygian is usually "heavier" than ionian) The attitude The articulation (palm muting, down strokes vs alt picking, pinch harmonics etc) The drums (super important) The guitar tone
Relying on modes and theory is cool and all, but as Victor Wooten said to Tyler, from Music Is Win, "Theory for music is the toolbox in a car. It's there if I need it, but I shouldn't need it every time I drive the car." That said, Phrygian is cool until you realize that literally everyone uses that mode in most of their solos. It gets boring to hear the same exact sounding scale every time a chorus goes off. Less mode, more just trying to figure out what to play. You think Eddie knows much about modal play? He has admitted he doesn't! You think B.B. King knows much theory? Boxing yourself in is how some of the greatest tunes came about. The meanest sounds usually came from hours, days and weeks of tinkering. Less computer processing the better. Also... stop down-tuning. It doesn't make a tune heavier. It muddles the tone and makes it sound like you're playing underwater. There's a very real reason most music today all sounds the same, it's because everyone does the same thing and no one tries anything new. It's worth mentioning that some of the heaviest riffs ever played weren't even played on the heaviest strings on the guitar. Look up Yngwie Malmsteen's "Demon Driver" and tell me that would sound any better tuned down. There's something to be said for exploring the tonality of one's instrument and lowering the tuning of your guitar actually reduces your ability to do that.
I suppose if you really want to pick it apart, "heavy" means "large and dangerous-sounding", and thus is a collection of psychoacoustic cues we use to determine that the sound source has those qualities. I.e.: I think you should view it as a caveman. For example: Larger animals are a) more dangerous b) able to produce much lower sounds than small animals, and thus we associate lower sounds (downtunings, more bass) with power. c) move more slowly, thus slowness = heaviness Louder sounds a) are produced by larger, more dangerous animals b) tend to overload our eardrums c) are more subjectively compressed and produce more of a reverberating tail = volume, distortion and compression make things sound more like large and dangerous things. It's all an auditory illusion we use to make things sound big and scary.
This is a great analysis man. My only nitpick is that slow things aren't always scary. In my personal life experience, faster things can often be scarier because it's unpredictable, as well as the fact that collisions with fast-moving objects can cause major bodily harm. Speed is one of the things I'm most split about when it comes to heaviness. I honestly think it's one of the aspects that least matters, because both slow riffs and fast riffs sound heavy asf to me. Back to the real world, scary in a slow sense would be like a tank, or Godzilla walking over the city, but then you also get gunfire, warplanes, and certain predators like lions and eagles which are insanely fast. They give off different types of fear. One gives a sense of impending doom and looming danger, while the other is more of a type of threat that you cannot escape from. I appreciate both in music.
while i agree with the general idea, large dangerous animals aren't slow. tigers weigh 500 lbs and can run 40 miles per hour. which is why there's also a hell of a lot of fast heavy music. it has momentum, it barrels forward. heavy is music that creates the acoustic impression of largeness and weight. a raging battle, a monstrous predator, a colossal alien machine.
In my interpretation, I think there's a difference between a *heavy* riff or song, and a *chaotic* sounding riff or song. And tempo largely plays into that When I think of the word *heavy,* the imagery that comes into mind is like a big ass dinosaur stomping around. At least the way I picture that in my head, it'd be moving pretty slow. When I hear something really fast, like Infant Annihilator, I don't picture that. The imagery that springs to mind is like a... Meth'd up jack rabbit? It's not heavy, but certainly chaotic. Not that either are better or worse, its entirely subjective. But, I just think fast doesn't necessarily make a heavy feeling.
It's any riff, no matter the compositional elements, that makes you feel like the song just grabbed you by the head, screamed SLAAAAAYYYYEEEERRRR in your face, then punched you in the mouth while making you love it. That is what heavy is. It's heavy because it HITS you. "Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion" is a perfect example of this. There's no one single element that makes it heavy, but it's stupendously heavy. The aural effect actually sounds like it has a weight to it, something that could physically hit you if it were loud enough. Enough bass on that sub and it can xD
David Nwokoye i agree, but black metal can definitely be heavy even though that has very little chugging, almost no bass and shit-sounding drum production
"Heavy" is very subjective. "Heavy" is more of a feeling. Any type of musical theory that is applied to a metal/rock song that gives you a "heavy" feeling is considered "heavy".
This be the truth. There are tons of songs that sound heavy, or have a part in the song that turns "heavy" and they don't follow any of the rules in this video. The Beatles "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" gets VERY heavy at the end, with a very dark sound that makes me feel like I'm swirling downward into a whirlpool. I'm no music theory expert, but the key and chords seems to have the most to do with what feels "heavy".
I think the slower version of the riff was when it was becoming heavy for me. Also the syncopated version was great. The major version of the riff in the begging sounded more like Slayer 😉
Exactly thesame for me, it became heavy when the riff was slowed down. What's heavy for me is more like funeral doom ("evoken" for example) very sloow riffs and a loud bass
For me the riff never really got heavy, I don’t really know what makes a riff heavy for me but this riff didn’t really do it for me, I was kinda into the major version of the riff and for some reason when he played the riff without distortion it sounded heavier
Songs I find heavy AF: - solo/riff in "the great Southern trendkill" by Pantera - The riff from "lay down" by Priestess - The intro from "Omega" by Periphery All are very different from each other, but all of them feel heavy to me.
Nothing about this sounded even remotely like a Djent riff. The last two riffs (Groove and Syncopation) have a Lamb of God type of groove to them and I think we can agree, that LoG isn't Djent at all.
I believe it was Chino that once said “it doesn’t have to be fast to be heavy.” I’ve always liked that. My opinion; it’s about dynamics. Yes, straight blast beats and indecipherable screaming for 5 minutes is suuuuuuper heavy... and also boring AF. Personally I like the blast beats and screaming to accentuate , elevate the song instead of just red lining the entire time.
That was incredible. I think you nailed it if we're talking about one riff in isolation. For me, I always found the contrast between quieter sections and a heavy riff makes it sound massive. Even if the riff in isolation isn't the heaviest in the world.
Sometimes bad production can make a riff sound heavier depending on the way in which it's bad. The piercing fuzziness of the guitar tone on Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky and Burzum's Filosofem makes it sound more evil than a regular clean sound. Similarly, a dirty, messy Death Metal tone can create an effect of greater heaviness. This is where it gets very subjective because for me, sometimes bad production makes something sound better and other times, a good riff can fall flat when you can barely make out the notes.
pergproductions Well put. An issue with modern metal is that even though everything is “correct”, there’s no heaviness because it just feels unnatural and rigid.
man, when I listened non metal rock I felt heaviness, but when I started listen metal this feeling have gone. I think high natural tone of distorted guitar more heavy than what we see now
In the opposite direction of bands like Burzum is the early slow Behemoth songs or a lot of Doom/black demos. Specifically how don't make any attempt to cut down the room reflections. The wall of sound combined with the size of the room makes it so you can almost hear the music pressing against the walls like it has physical weight.
Yo same but I love progressive. Let's be honest some riffs be too much and over the top at times. Like you didn't need to go the extra mile for that transition to interlude into the bridge that goes Into the 3rd solo then Into the 2nd chorus like that. I love that genre tho😂
Simple chugs ruin most songs for me.... cant stand it Edit: im not exactly sure on what a chug technically is cause i dont play guitar but im pretty sure i hate all chuggs
For me, heaviness comes after the established parameters discussed here have been set - tempo, key, tuning etc For faster tunes (e.g. speed, thrash, earlier metalcore), higher tunings tend to work a bit better as you don't lose so much definition out of the bottom end. Here, you want to vary up some of the drum patterns (use some occasional half-time and double-time passages) to then add a little bit of groove that really gets heads banging. If you are going to try some lower tunings, make sure not to scoop the mids or good luck actually hearing what you're playing. What I would consider prime examples of effective fast, heavy tunes include: Slipknot - Surfacing Metallica - Battery Shadows Fall - The Light That Blinds Motorhead - Bomber Onslaught - Cruci-Fiction Judas Priest - Leather Rebel For slower tunes ( e.g. groove, doom) you might find that lower tunings work a bit better for digging into each note with allowed time to bring the full impact of each note to bear upon the audience. Simpler riffs and drum-beats, as well as certain instruments cutting out, can also work wonders as the riffs tend to be more sledgehammer-esque than minigun-esque. Bring the bass frequencies out a bit more without raising the low-mids too much or else everything will sound muddier if you want to throw in a more complex part. Prime examples of what I think are effective slow, heavy tunes include: Body Count - Carnivore Megasus - Red Lottery Whitechapel - The Saw Is The Law Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath Coheed And Cambria - Welcome Home Meshuggah - Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion Finally, it's perfectly possible to compose a heavy tune with more complex riffage, or a more mid-tempo approach. Prog metal, djent, deathcore and tech death tend to thrive upon complex riffage being heavy using things such as 16th-note syncopation, implied time/odd time signatures and wider use of low and high strings to satisfy the needs of those for whom simpler riffs just don't cut it. For great examples of more complex/technical, heavy songs, I'd recommend: Allegaeon - Biomech: Vals no 666 SikTh - Bland Street Bloom The Offering - Ultraviolence Threat Signal - As I Destruct Architects - Doomsday Scar Symmetry - Ghost Prototype 2: Deus Ex Machina Mid-tempo heavy tunes also exist in spades, each using a combination of techniques to suit their needs as and when. Examples include: Fear Factory - Soul Hacker The Raven Age - Eye Among The Blind Shadow Of Intent - Dirge Of The Void Alien Weaponry - Kai Tangata Saxon - Sacrifice Savatage - Hall Of The Mountain King
Im just gonna say that I love you for mentioning Scar Symmetry, criminally underrated band, been a fan since I can remember. Thank you, this made me really happy
If you wanna use whitechapel as an example you should've used darkest day of man as the example.it has some of Phil's best lows and his absolute best highs hes ever done and the song slows to a crawl before he goes apeshit with the highs and slow ass guitar riffs followed with insane drums
IMHO: - Lower tunning, but not necessarily very low, standard D or Db - Down chugging - Palm muting - Minor secods, flat fives and natural sevenths. Also tritones and major third intervals. And land on the octave for beat 1 - Slower tempo - Humbucker active bridge pickups - Mid driven EQ - "Modern" type distorsion, OD-1 like - Synchopation but not too much
@@shanekayat3217 It is not necessarily the same: A flat five is a note, a tritone is an interval. If you create your interval from the root then yes, that is a tritone.
7:00 Is imo the Heaviest, However why did nobody mentioned the Other Instruments or The Drums to go with the riff? A Riff Without good drums and bass in the background would just sound flat
Thank you!! Im glad the fact that you emphasized slowing down was included. For me a big element that makes a riff heavy that makes you headbang, is how you work it in with the drums, particularly the snare. Think of a song like “Walk” for example. Its a fantastic heavy af riff cuz the snare hits right in that sweet spot where it allows the guitar to breathe. Now think about how it would be if the snare hit one more time really quickly after the first hit during the intro. The riff would be overshadowed and it wouldnt sound nearly as heavy as it does. Depending on where your snare is in relation to the riff, can make a world of different into how heavy it sounds!!
A riff can sound heavy, yeah. But what makes something really sound heavy is how it's placed in the song. A riff in drop B might not sound that heavy alone, but if you make a song in drop D and in a breakdown or something you suddently play in drop B, it might sound a lot heavier. Also pairing it with mixing as people said, especially drum and bass, but lead guitar too! It depends on the genre too. A metallica fan might think that master of puppets is a heavy song, while a cannibal corpse fan might think master of puppets is really soft, no heaviness at all. It's complex, but I think you pointed out many relevant stuff there. Nailed it, great video!
To me Groove and Syncopation is definitely what makes something heavy, if your riff doesn't feel heavy without distortion than it's not that heavy in the first place
The thing about it is there's a million ways to find heaviness. With every point someone mentioned in this video, I could think of several riffs that were exactly the opposite idea yet still heavy as all fuck. I really think any riff could be heavy in the right context
An element contributing to the heaviness of the riff you didn't explicitly include was at the end, when you player higher notes. It worked very well to create simultaneously pitch dynamics between high melody and low, hard hitting chugs as a means of contrast, while in terms of musical structure, creating a catchy call and response between the two. Also the listener doesn't get bored of the same 0 chug of you just playing drums on guitar
The slower chugging riff sounded what I think of as ‘heavy’. I was surprised however how much of a difference the syncopation made, that was maybe my favorite version.
The drum pattern and bass riffs that go with your guitar riff. There's plenty of really heavy guitar riffs with no backup from the bass and drums that distract from the guitar.
I think the combination of high and low notes well placed are what makes a song heavy like Dillinger Escape Plan and Periphery usually does. Even in high tuning sounds pretty heavy.
A good example of ‘heavy’ imo is Nile’s work, particularly Annihilation of the Wicked. That album combines speed and brutality but also takes the time to slow down and be epic with the mountainous guitar tone and Egyptian theme. The title track alone gets me headbanging every single time. Great video!
For me, the simplified riff was my favorite. The heaviest thing to me though is a riff in 3/4 or 6/4, or even 9/8, but the drums accent groups of 2 for the first repetition, and groups of 3 for the second. Periphery's Reptile is a perfect example of it and I wish I heard it more. Awesome vid dude, a follow up would be awesome!
I always love hearing a heavy riff in an odd time signature. You could play that last riff in 7/4 and you bet your ass I'll be headbanging to that for the next week.
Zakk Wylde has said that Ozzy told him that one of the 'heaviest' songs is Mountain's ' Mississippi Queen,' just a P90. He went on to say that it's not about putting more and more distortion, he believes it comes from the bottom end of the spectrum, the bass guitar.
1. The DSBM:Psychotic atmosphere with tremolo riffs in contrast to melodic slow clean guitar playing that gives you a deep depressive feeling 2. The Slam Riff: This slow chugging riffs that are made of fourths and fiths 3. Apocalyptic Noises: I mean a wave of distortion, that creates a wall of apocalytic sounds in contrast to epic huge melodies In general the contrast between slow and fast, clean and distorted, high and low notes, huge and thin sound or switching between melodic and dissonat playing....
dynamics. dynamics is everything. no heavy tropes (slow tempos, low tunings, attitude, dissonance, simplicity, etc) are heavy without context. it's the concept that "to make something bigger, you need to make the things around it smaller." it's absolutely necessary!!
With Doom Eternal just recently releasing, where does someone like Mick Gordon fit in on the "Heavy" types you proposed? Would it be a combination of the different styles but played in separate riffs that compliment each other? If riff is even the right word. BFG 9000 is still one of the heaviest songs I've ever listened to. Then you have songs like Skull Hacker from the 2016 Doom that is clearly speed metal. Maybe it has to do with the way the intensity of the songs ebb and flow between the quiet, almost ethereal, lingering sections and the bombastic sections that are super intense.
It's all of that for sure, and it's also in the drums. Literally if you play anything to the simplest possible drum format: kick, crash, snare, crash, straight on the 1 2 3 4, that basically says "ok this is the breakdown, pay attention". Then if you play some syncopation over THAT, you're heavy. If you do that for the whole song, you have Vildhjarta.
I have nothing to add but some of my favorite heavy songs. Devouring the Feeble by Bloodbath The feeling of heaviness here definitely comes from the groove and the down-tuning. Right from the first few seconds of this song I feel compelled to rock along with the music. Cast Down the Heretic by Nile This song is an auditory pummeling. The double-team blitz of fast chugging and double-bass produces an exquisite wall of noise that feels so punchy. Progenies of the Great Apocalypse by Dimmu Borgir If you don't immediately start head-banging when this song plays, we can't be friends. A Million Deaths by Fleshgod Apocalypse It starts off quiet, steadily building with an ominous orchestral accompaniment and eventually hits a really groovy, dark stride that gets my blood pumping every time. Let the Cutting Begin by Gaped An underappreciated little project by Ryan Huthnance, this song is full of deep chugging and solid growls that keeps me coming back again and again.
the bass really is the common denominator in all of them and it really shapes the sound and causes all the other instruments to be treated a certain way
Idk why, but the first clip with the 7 string was the heaviest feeling for me, once everything slowed down, and then the groove kicked in, I completely stopped moving my head back and forth.
So one of the heaviest riffs imo is the intro to rain by trivium, its fast and in drop d, tempo and key doesn't have much impact on me personally, heavy to me is more about emotion and how it's put into the music, so a gojira song is heavy because you can feel what they were trying to put into the song, a slayer song is heavy because you can feel the anger from the music, a slipknot track is heavy because the wall of sound created by the 9 member shows the insanity of the band, its all down to emotion imo
I've been a metal fan/concertgoer since my first show in 1996 (Sepultura , Type O Negative, Ozzy Osbourne) ... In that span I've been to hundreds of metal shows. What is heavy? Heavy is what metal bands bring to the stage night after night. It's what the fans bring to the shows. It's what gets inside you and fires you up. It's what, even after a 12 hour shift, and a 4 hour drive, still fills you with an unstoppable energy; to jump.and scream and thash, even though you're exhausted and beat. It's the energy of the gods laid down thru metallers over the ages. It lives forever and will never die! Long after we're gone from the universe, some being, somewhere will hear a metal song and find his head bobbing and thrust his hand into the air in triumph.... Because Heavy endures....
Heavy is : powerful riffs on good, hard hitting and interesting drum parts Tuning doesn't matter, good riffs on E standard can hit harder than some riffs on B or drop A btw
Honestly below c for me is not heavy any more. I dont know why. Its just sounds low but not heavy, its weird. Rarely bands like Meshuggah, infant annihilator, dying fetus and aversions of crown do it for me but the djenty and modern prog metal stuff sounds just low freq. and out off place with the rest
The riff coming out of nowhere. Moment of surprise. Something that was prepared just for a that moment. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, the mid section riff ("where can you run to...") is the heaviest thing ever.
Totally agree on everything you pointed out. I’m working right now not only on heaviness on the groove, but also applying a particular sound effect that marks a difference with everyone else’s sound (tremolo, synth, rotovibe, whammy, etc.). The quest to s still on for me, but with a great joy and fun
Rammstein is a perfect example to mention when someone asks what the heck makes heavy heavy. Just listen to 'Ich tu dir weh' or 'Sonne'. Simplicity, tuning, tempo and also groove are the headbanging factors that comes with every riff.
Contrast can often up the ante on heavyness, a heavy riff that follows an otherwise more mellow riff or part of a song makes it sound more heavy in contrast. It's that part of a song you feel your body preparing for, the "here it comes!" part.
It's a mix of a lot of things, but one of the most important elements is context. I've heard brutally heavy riffs in standard tuning and of course on lower tunings as well. Of course it starts with a good riff, but for a riff to hit even harder, it's what leads up to it that matters. I've heard a piano, clav, bass, and drums sound heavy because of the shift in dynamics and chords in the song. Pretty much any riff can be heavy if it's placed correctly. The drums also play a huge role. The entire feel of a riff can be changed by changing where the snare hits or even what cymbals you use. There's so much that goes into making something heavy but it can all fit under the umbrella of context.
For me, the three most important factors to heaviness are the interval used, ie is it a minor interval, a tritone etc? Second is the tone, ie the type of distortion, the EQ curve etc. The third is contrast, or more specifically, dynamics. You can't have light without darkness, so contrasting your heavy bit with a softer passage will give it a lot more impact. If it's heavy all the time, it will just be fatiguing.
Slower tempo was the best version. That perfect middle ground between death metal's low tuned, chugging darkness, hardcore punk's aggression and drive, and stoner/sludge groove.
The "slower tempo" version made me headbang a lot, and singing the riff... And it stuck into my head... I think I found this part being really heavy and actually I had also the feeling it sounded "fuller" than the simplistic one. In the end the final version is like "what makes heavy heavy? ... Meshuggah!!"
The moment you slowed the tempo I found myself not being able to not bang my head. And theeeeeeeen you added the syncopation and I want to hear a whole song.
I think context in a song is also extremely important. A song can be blindingly fast but then go into a half time chug in the middle - perfection. There are TONS of examples of slower, heavy breaks in songs but right now what comes to mind is Meshuggah's Corridor of Chameleons - already blisteringly heavy but GODDAMN that fucking breakdown with the dissonant rings in the back. There are records with better production, riffs tuned lower, and simpler heavy breakdowns but THAT one just makes me want to conquer the world every time.
Truth be told what makes a riff heavy is your style mixed with the supporting instruments. All of it already adding to the already amazing riff. You can easily have the bass guitar follow for accent. Have the the drummer hit certain notes or play half time. Along with a singer hitting a killer note with a great lyric. That's what makes a song and a riff heavy. All riffs can be heavy if you add enough distortion. It's all about how you put it all together that makes it heavy. Also syncopation is something I love so if you can master it then your already wayyy ahead in my books.
I definitely think it’s the drums and their pacing. Or at least some kind of hard percussiveness that is sometimes achieved on a bass or guitar. I don’t personally enjoy quicker tempos and blast beats and all that, but a solid drum tempo under a generally good riff can make anything headbangable. It’s really all about headbangablity, right? At least it is to me. Meshuggah-Bleed Trivium-Heart From Your Hate Alien Weaponry-Holding My Breath Freak Kitchen-Raw Sikth-The Aura Tool-The Pot Gojira-Silvera They’ve all got some kind of hard hitting emphasized notes that just hit so damn hard at the right moments. Some kind of percussive emphasis.
To me the song "Kickback" from Stray From The Path (at 02:54) is one of the best example of what heaviness is : simple riff, low tuning, half time drums and huge guitar and bass tone.
If this is the place to talk about heaviest riffs, personally the breakdown with the false A power chord in Gojira's Heaviest matter of the universe, is the heaviest shit I've ever heard. It's a combination of a lot of the things talked about here, the song goes from being D standard and then plays the two bottom strings open creating that A power chord feel and it while the guitars themselves just play a slow, chugging riff, with that iconic pick scrape, the drums are absolutely pounding when they go from a consistent triplet eighth feel to straight 16th's and the effect of that is CRUSHING, and then Joe has this huge echo-y growl he lets out. It's just magical.
The number of strings Drop tuning Lots of distortion Barre chords & tremolo picking Downpicking & palm muting A combo of all these will sounds heavy no matter what, the lower tuning the heavier sound, the more strings the heavier sound, and those techniques listed
Definitively all of them, in addition to extra like: the musician character or energy while playing, the attack on picking, the dynamics and the list goes on...
The best way to make fast riffs instantly heavier: play them twice exactly the same, but the second time with half time drums.
The contrast hits like a sledge hammer.
Many metalcore bands can confirm
Agree 100%
Or slow down the tempo while having the drums play a double-bass triplet barrage. That's fucking heavy.
polaris can confirm
Even metallica used it in blackened
2:57 looks sped up. I know it’s not. But your so good that it really looks like it is.
Haha thanks, my camera struggles to keep up with the fast riffs sometimes. I guess it’s so fast it’s warping space time or something. Hope you’re well buddy! :)
Most definitively the drums, and I wish more people realized that
They are a lot more important than it looks like.
Thank you.
Danny carey from tool is great proof, simple guitar riffs but with the bass and drums over it; heavy :)
Drums is the key for me (that's why I'm a drummer)
This instrument is often underestimated because it can seems uniteresting for somes, or to simple, but it is actually super diverse, in a lot of way, like guitar, and they really tame the feeling of the song, more than the guitar at some points
The drums from the breakdown in Domination definitely prove this
"How to get from Testament to Mick Gordon in 8 minutes"
Pretty much yeah
@Shangrilla _ Alex who??
Shangrilla _ yea Alex who
@Shangrilla _ who?
For me testament is heavier than mick gordon
He started playing Metallica's kinda heavy and turned into Meshuggah at the end. Awesome hahaha
Love this Comment, sums up what I was going for exactly haha. Thanks for watching! :)
I was going to say the same thing. For me Meshuggah are basically the kings of heavy. It's not just about how low they tune either, but the combination of that, the rhythm/polymeter, and dissonance (basically everything that Pete slowly added in as the video progressed). I also feel the right kind of atmosphere and ambiance can really add something special to the experience of the heaviness, which is another thing Meshuggah expertly employ as well. There's also something to be said for contrast being very important to the experience of heaviness as well. If a song is just the same intensity all the way through it hits nowhere near as hard as if there are some parts where things let up a bit before hitting you again like a sledge hammer.
The "Slower Tempo" variation definitely had my head moving the most.
4:12 is the "heaviest" to me.
Same! I think it’s because of going from Triplets to single notes on the meter for me
Totally agree!! It was just the nastiest and made me do a face lmao
Peik Aschan I also did the stank face. Heavier than my aunt who’s addicted to fried chicken.
Agreed!!
Totally! lower frequencies gotta breathe so you can feel that weight.
The drums, the guitar tone, the bassline, sharp 1s and flat 5s, palm mutes, it all comes together. That's what makes great music so awesome
What are sharp 1s?
@@LuLeBe half step up from the root note (the Jaws-theme use this lots)
In my opinion:
The scale it's in (for example, phrygian is usually "heavier" than ionian)
The attitude
The articulation (palm muting, down strokes vs alt picking, pinch harmonics etc)
The drums (super important)
The guitar tone
Completely agree, I came here to mention the drums, but I can see that someone else thinks the same. Thanks
You’ve nailed it
Bass tone is massive as well
Relying on modes and theory is cool and all, but as Victor Wooten said to Tyler, from Music Is Win, "Theory for music is the toolbox in a car. It's there if I need it, but I shouldn't need it every time I drive the car."
That said, Phrygian is cool until you realize that literally everyone uses that mode in most of their solos. It gets boring to hear the same exact sounding scale every time a chorus goes off. Less mode, more just trying to figure out what to play. You think Eddie knows much about modal play? He has admitted he doesn't! You think B.B. King knows much theory?
Boxing yourself in is how some of the greatest tunes came about. The meanest sounds usually came from hours, days and weeks of tinkering. Less computer processing the better.
Also... stop down-tuning. It doesn't make a tune heavier. It muddles the tone and makes it sound like you're playing underwater. There's a very real reason most music today all sounds the same, it's because everyone does the same thing and no one tries anything new. It's worth mentioning that some of the heaviest riffs ever played weren't even played on the heaviest strings on the guitar. Look up Yngwie Malmsteen's "Demon Driver" and tell me that would sound any better tuned down. There's something to be said for exploring the tonality of one's instrument and lowering the tuning of your guitar actually reduces your ability to do that.
Yoni Kup the groove is massively important too
I suppose if you really want to pick it apart, "heavy" means "large and dangerous-sounding", and thus is a collection of psychoacoustic cues we use to determine that the sound source has those qualities.
I.e.: I think you should view it as a caveman. For example:
Larger animals are
a) more dangerous
b) able to produce much lower sounds than small animals, and thus we associate lower sounds (downtunings, more bass) with power.
c) move more slowly, thus slowness = heaviness
Louder sounds
a) are produced by larger, more dangerous animals
b) tend to overload our eardrums
c) are more subjectively compressed and produce more of a reverberating tail
= volume, distortion and compression make things sound more like large and dangerous things.
It's all an auditory illusion we use to make things sound big and scary.
This is a great analysis man. My only nitpick is that slow things aren't always scary. In my personal life experience, faster things can often be scarier because it's unpredictable, as well as the fact that collisions with fast-moving objects can cause major bodily harm.
Speed is one of the things I'm most split about when it comes to heaviness. I honestly think it's one of the aspects that least matters, because both slow riffs and fast riffs sound heavy asf to me.
Back to the real world, scary in a slow sense would be like a tank, or Godzilla walking over the city, but then you also get gunfire, warplanes, and certain predators like lions and eagles which are insanely fast. They give off different types of fear. One gives a sense of impending doom and looming danger, while the other is more of a type of threat that you cannot escape from. I appreciate both in music.
So that's why the call them caveman riffs
while i agree with the general idea, large dangerous animals aren't slow. tigers weigh 500 lbs and can run 40 miles per hour. which is why there's also a hell of a lot of fast heavy music. it has momentum, it barrels forward. heavy is music that creates the acoustic impression of largeness and weight. a raging battle, a monstrous predator, a colossal alien machine.
People: "Slower Riffs sound heavier"
*Infant* *Annihilator* *has* *left* *the* *game*
*Gojira entered*
Sunn O))) wins
Hey what about black tongue?
Infant Annihilator has some very slammy downtempo riffs
In my interpretation, I think there's a difference between a *heavy* riff or song, and a *chaotic* sounding riff or song. And tempo largely plays into that
When I think of the word *heavy,* the imagery that comes into mind is like a big ass dinosaur stomping around. At least the way I picture that in my head, it'd be moving pretty slow. When I hear something really fast, like Infant Annihilator, I don't picture that. The imagery that springs to mind is like a... Meth'd up jack rabbit? It's not heavy, but certainly chaotic.
Not that either are better or worse, its entirely subjective. But, I just think fast doesn't necessarily make a heavy feeling.
It's any riff, no matter the compositional elements, that makes you feel like the song just grabbed you by the head, screamed SLAAAAAYYYYEEEERRRR in your face, then punched you in the mouth while making you love it.
That is what heavy is. It's heavy because it HITS you.
"Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion" is a perfect example of this. There's no one single element that makes it heavy, but it's stupendously heavy. The aural effect actually sounds like it has a weight to it, something that could physically hit you if it were loud enough.
Enough bass on that sub and it can xD
I guess it's just distortion and some chugging, some nice *THICC* bass and killer drums
Is that a new profile pic??
The pic threw me off
David Nwokoye i agree, but black metal can definitely be heavy even though that has very little chugging, almost no bass and shit-sounding drum production
Bass is so important to all forms of music but to metal especially
The groove section sounded like Pantera and I'm all here for it
I was searching for someone who thought of the same way as I did
Sounded even more like LOG
Not wearing a shirt while playing makes a riff heavier, well at least it does for Matt Pike.
Can confirm.
no pants works too
"Heavy" is very subjective. "Heavy" is more of a feeling. Any type of musical theory that is applied to a metal/rock song that gives you a "heavy" feeling is considered "heavy".
Byte MUSIC Tigran Hamasyan can be heavy and he’s all piano
no shit
This be the truth. There are tons of songs that sound heavy, or have a part in the song that turns "heavy" and they don't follow any of the rules in this video. The Beatles "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" gets VERY heavy at the end, with a very dark sound that makes me feel like I'm swirling downward into a whirlpool. I'm no music theory expert, but the key and chords seems to have the most to do with what feels "heavy".
For reference Metallica’s “thing that should not be” slow and heavy
CJ Stoner Rock is a great example. The song The Druid from Sleep has a very heavy riff and it’s slow.
Sad but true is an even better example
@@Simon1si i think the heaviest metallica songs are probably the shortest straw or harvester of sorrow
Probably one of the heaviest songs, ever and my fav Metallica song.
@@Aymungoos
You should be ashamed of yourself 🤦
5:43 was the heaviest riff for me but drums and the bass guitar usually make the biggest impact imo
I think the slower version of the riff was when it was becoming heavy for me. Also the syncopated version was great. The major version of the riff in the begging sounded more like Slayer 😉
Exactly thesame for me, it became heavy when the riff was slowed down. What's heavy for me is more like funeral doom ("evoken" for example) very sloow riffs and a loud bass
For me the riff never really got heavy, I don’t really know what makes a riff heavy for me but this riff didn’t really do it for me, I was kinda into the major version of the riff and for some reason when he played the riff without distortion it sounded heavier
Songs I find heavy AF:
- solo/riff in "the great Southern trendkill" by Pantera
- The riff from "lay down" by Priestess
- The intro from "Omega" by Periphery
All are very different from each other, but all of them feel heavy to me.
this is basically how to turn a thrash riff into a djent riff
Nothing about this sounded even remotely like a Djent riff. The last two riffs (Groove and Syncopation) have a Lamb of God type of groove to them and I think we can agree, that LoG isn't Djent at all.
Not even djenty gtfo
@@ThorsShadow last riff apply more or architect riffs
The Stickman Djent is usually very groovy and down tuned. I see where you’re coming from
Sees a 7 string. Must be djent.
I believe it was Chino that once said “it doesn’t have to be fast to be heavy.” I’ve always liked that. My opinion; it’s about dynamics. Yes, straight blast beats and indecipherable screaming for 5 minutes is suuuuuuper heavy... and also boring AF. Personally I like the blast beats and screaming to accentuate , elevate the song instead of just red lining the entire time.
That's not what "dynamics" means, but I agree. Heavy without contrast is boring.
The simplified riff and the syncopated riff really did it for me.
4:52 The exact moment that the riff became heavy in my eyes. Gosh, that slaps
That was incredible. I think you nailed it if we're talking about one riff in isolation.
For me, I always found the contrast between quieter sections and a heavy riff makes it sound massive. Even if the riff in isolation isn't the heaviest in the world.
What makes heavy, heavy?
The answer is: DUH-jent !
Sometimes bad production can make a riff sound heavier depending on the way in which it's bad. The piercing fuzziness of the guitar tone on Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky and Burzum's Filosofem makes it sound more evil than a regular clean sound. Similarly, a dirty, messy Death Metal tone can create an effect of greater heaviness. This is where it gets very subjective because for me, sometimes bad production makes something sound better and other times, a good riff can fall flat when you can barely make out the notes.
pergproductions Well put. An issue with modern metal is that even though everything is “correct”, there’s no heaviness because it just feels unnatural and rigid.
man, when I listened non metal rock I felt heaviness, but when I started listen metal this feeling have gone. I think high natural tone of distorted guitar more heavy than what we see now
In the opposite direction of bands like Burzum is the early slow Behemoth songs or a lot of Doom/black demos. Specifically how don't make any attempt to cut down the room reflections. The wall of sound combined with the size of the room makes it so you can almost hear the music pressing against the walls like it has physical weight.
"Simplicity often makes a riff heavier." My poor progressive metal loving ears...
ian mcpeck fucking exactly. To me, slow chugging are for wimps
Yo same but I love progressive. Let's be honest some riffs be too much and over the top at times. Like you didn't need to go the extra mile for that transition to interlude into the bridge that goes Into the 3rd solo then Into the 2nd chorus like that. I love that genre tho😂
I feel like a good prog band knows when to keep it simple though. The contrast really brings out the heaviness of the riff.
Simple chugs ruin most songs for me.... cant stand it
Edit: im not exactly sure on what a chug technically is cause i dont play guitar but im pretty sure i hate all chuggs
Gojira, Lamb of god and at the gates: allow us to ourselves
For me, heaviness comes after the established parameters discussed here have been set - tempo, key, tuning etc
For faster tunes (e.g. speed, thrash, earlier metalcore), higher tunings tend to work a bit better as you don't lose so much definition out of the bottom end. Here, you want to vary up some of the drum patterns (use some occasional half-time and double-time passages) to then add a little bit of groove that really gets heads banging. If you are going to try some lower tunings, make sure not to scoop the mids or good luck actually hearing what you're playing. What I would consider prime examples of effective fast, heavy tunes include:
Slipknot - Surfacing
Metallica - Battery
Shadows Fall - The Light That Blinds
Motorhead - Bomber
Onslaught - Cruci-Fiction
Judas Priest - Leather Rebel
For slower tunes ( e.g. groove, doom) you might find that lower tunings work a bit better for digging into each note with allowed time to bring the full impact of each note to bear upon the audience. Simpler riffs and drum-beats, as well as certain instruments cutting out, can also work wonders as the riffs tend to be more sledgehammer-esque than minigun-esque. Bring the bass frequencies out a bit more without raising the low-mids too much or else everything will sound muddier if you want to throw in a more complex part. Prime examples of what I think are effective slow, heavy tunes include:
Body Count - Carnivore
Megasus - Red Lottery
Whitechapel - The Saw Is The Law
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Coheed And Cambria - Welcome Home
Meshuggah - Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion
Finally, it's perfectly possible to compose a heavy tune with more complex riffage, or a more mid-tempo approach.
Prog metal, djent, deathcore and tech death tend to thrive upon complex riffage being heavy using things such as 16th-note syncopation, implied time/odd time signatures and wider use of low and high strings to satisfy the needs of those for whom simpler riffs just don't cut it. For great examples of more complex/technical, heavy songs, I'd recommend:
Allegaeon - Biomech: Vals no 666
SikTh - Bland Street Bloom
The Offering - Ultraviolence
Threat Signal - As I Destruct
Architects - Doomsday
Scar Symmetry - Ghost Prototype 2: Deus Ex Machina
Mid-tempo heavy tunes also exist in spades, each using a combination of techniques to suit their needs as and when. Examples include:
Fear Factory - Soul Hacker
The Raven Age - Eye Among The Blind
Shadow Of Intent - Dirge Of The Void
Alien Weaponry - Kai Tangata
Saxon - Sacrifice
Savatage - Hall Of The Mountain King
Im just gonna say that I love you for mentioning Scar Symmetry, criminally underrated band, been a fan since I can remember. Thank you, this made me really happy
Would give a different Architects Song since Doomsday is pretty catchy.
Digital Deathsquid body count and the offering rock
If you wanna use whitechapel as an example you should've used darkest day of man as the example.it has some of Phil's best lows and his absolute best highs hes ever done and the song slows to a crawl before he goes apeshit with the highs and slow ass guitar riffs followed with insane drums
Another contribution to heaviness, I feel, is a well placed pinch harmonic
4:07 was the most heavy riff for me, the "slower tempo" riff
"What is heavy?"
Well by the end of this video I'm convinced the answer is Mastodon...
IMHO:
- Lower tunning, but not necessarily very low, standard D or Db
- Down chugging
- Palm muting
- Minor secods, flat fives and natural sevenths. Also tritones and major third intervals. And land on the octave for beat 1
- Slower tempo
- Humbucker active bridge pickups
- Mid driven EQ
- "Modern" type distorsion, OD-1 like
- Synchopation but not too much
Isn't a flat five the same as a tritone?
@@shanekayat3217 It is not necessarily the same: A flat five is a note, a tritone is an interval. If you create your interval from the root then yes, that is a tritone.
What I call "heavy" is what gives out the most energy.
What do you call "heavy" ??
7:00 Is imo the Heaviest, However why did nobody mentioned the Other Instruments or The Drums to go with the riff? A Riff Without good drums and bass in the background would just sound flat
GordaPL it sounds like Slipknot. I love it
Thank you!! Im glad the fact that you emphasized slowing down was included. For me a big element that makes a riff heavy that makes you headbang, is how you work it in with the drums, particularly the snare. Think of a song like “Walk” for example. Its a fantastic heavy af riff cuz the snare hits right in that sweet spot where it allows the guitar to breathe. Now think about how it would be if the snare hit one more time really quickly after the first hit during the intro. The riff would be overshadowed and it wouldnt sound nearly as heavy as it does.
Depending on where your snare is in relation to the riff, can make a world of different into how heavy it sounds!!
A riff can sound heavy, yeah. But what makes something really sound heavy is how it's placed in the song. A riff in drop B might not sound that heavy alone, but if you make a song in drop D and in a breakdown or something you suddently play in drop B, it might sound a lot heavier.
Also pairing it with mixing as people said, especially drum and bass, but lead guitar too!
It depends on the genre too. A metallica fan might think that master of puppets is a heavy song, while a cannibal corpse fan might think master of puppets is really soft, no heaviness at all.
It's complex, but I think you pointed out many relevant stuff there. Nailed it, great video!
To me Groove and Syncopation is definitely what makes something heavy, if your riff doesn't feel heavy without distortion than it's not that heavy in the first place
The thing about it is there's a million ways to find heaviness. With every point someone mentioned in this video, I could think of several riffs that were exactly the opposite idea yet still heavy as all fuck. I really think any riff could be heavy in the right context
An element contributing to the heaviness of the riff you didn't explicitly include was at the end, when you player higher notes. It worked very well to create simultaneously pitch dynamics between high melody and low, hard hitting chugs as a means of contrast, while in terms of musical structure, creating a catchy call and response between the two. Also the listener doesn't get bored of the same 0 chug of you just playing drums on guitar
The slower chugging riff sounded what I think of as ‘heavy’. I was surprised however how much of a difference the syncopation made, that was maybe my favorite version.
Complex rythm, constant time signature changing, low tuning, dissonances, hockets, kicking the kick drum at every note possible
2:33 I made it in! DOWNPICK 'EM ALL! @itscallman
Guitar is my main instrument, but as an audio engineer I can pretty confidently say the rhythm section is what defines whether a song is heavy or not.
Can’t trust anyone that insists an album has to be down tunes to be heavy when Sepultura - Arise/Beneath The Remains exist.
5:43 is my favourite and the heaviest, in my opinion. And you're right Pete, it did make me smile.
What do you think makes a riff or song heavy? \m/ :)
Pete Cottrell palm muting and distortion
Hi
The drum pattern and bass riffs that go with your guitar riff. There's plenty of really heavy guitar riffs with no backup from the bass and drums that distract from the guitar.
Pete Cottrell BENDING TECHNIQUE! Listen to Alice In Chains
I think the space in between thr notes and a good groove makes a riff heavy for example walk - pantera
I think the combination of high and low notes well placed are what makes a song heavy like Dillinger Escape Plan and Periphery usually does. Even in high tuning sounds pretty heavy.
It’s ironic how the riff was heavier and groovier before he talked about groove 😭😭😭
A good example of ‘heavy’ imo is Nile’s work, particularly Annihilation of the Wicked. That album combines speed and brutality but also takes the time to slow down and be epic with the mountainous guitar tone and Egyptian theme. The title track alone gets me headbanging every single time. Great video!
For me, the simplified riff was my favorite. The heaviest thing to me though is a riff in 3/4 or 6/4, or even 9/8, but the drums accent groups of 2 for the first repetition, and groups of 3 for the second. Periphery's Reptile is a perfect example of it and I wish I heard it more. Awesome vid dude, a follow up would be awesome!
I always love hearing a heavy riff in an odd time signature. You could play that last riff in 7/4 and you bet your ass I'll be headbanging to that for the next week.
Zakk Wylde has said that Ozzy told him that one of the 'heaviest' songs is Mountain's ' Mississippi Queen,' just a P90. He went on to say that it's not about putting more and more distortion, he believes it comes from the bottom end of the spectrum, the bass guitar.
I legit came here from a video of Zakky playing mississippi queen lol
The "Groove" and "Syncopation" riffs sound like Lamb of God. And I think that's beautiful.
The answer to this question is in "The Heaviest matter of the Universe" by Gojira. You are welcome.
1. The DSBM:Psychotic atmosphere with tremolo riffs in contrast to melodic slow clean guitar playing that gives you a deep depressive feeling
2. The Slam Riff: This slow chugging riffs that are made of fourths and fiths
3. Apocalyptic Noises: I mean a wave of distortion, that creates a wall of apocalytic sounds in contrast to epic huge melodies
In general the contrast between slow and fast, clean and distorted, high and low notes, huge and thin sound or switching between melodic and dissonat playing....
"What makes heavy, heavy?" *Vsauce theme*
dynamics. dynamics is everything. no heavy tropes (slow tempos, low tunings, attitude, dissonance, simplicity, etc) are heavy without context. it's the concept that "to make something bigger, you need to make the things around it smaller." it's absolutely necessary!!
With Doom Eternal just recently releasing, where does someone like Mick Gordon fit in on the "Heavy" types you proposed? Would it be a combination of the different styles but played in separate riffs that compliment each other? If riff is even the right word. BFG 9000 is still one of the heaviest songs I've ever listened to. Then you have songs like Skull Hacker from the 2016 Doom that is clearly speed metal. Maybe it has to do with the way the intensity of the songs ebb and flow between the quiet, almost ethereal, lingering sections and the bombastic sections that are super intense.
For me, a little pinch harmonic on the lowest string on the 3rd fret at the end of a riff gives me goosebumps
5:43 sounds like Pantera
Revolution Is My Name, right?
@@M4RCi92 Bingo!))
Or lamb of god (6/8 feel)
It's all of that for sure, and it's also in the drums. Literally if you play anything to the simplest possible drum format: kick, crash, snare, crash, straight on the 1 2 3 4, that basically says "ok this is the breakdown, pay attention". Then if you play some syncopation over THAT, you're heavy. If you do that for the whole song, you have Vildhjarta.
Oof I’m actually torn between the “simplified riff” and the “final product” they’ve both got lots of power but hit different.
Yeah they both sound heavy but they'd fit different songs
I have nothing to add but some of my favorite heavy songs.
Devouring the Feeble by Bloodbath
The feeling of heaviness here definitely comes from the groove and the down-tuning. Right from the first few seconds of this song I feel compelled to rock along with the music.
Cast Down the Heretic by Nile
This song is an auditory pummeling. The double-team blitz of fast chugging and double-bass produces an exquisite wall of noise that feels so punchy.
Progenies of the Great Apocalypse by Dimmu Borgir
If you don't immediately start head-banging when this song plays, we can't be friends.
A Million Deaths by Fleshgod Apocalypse
It starts off quiet, steadily building with an ominous orchestral accompaniment and eventually hits a really groovy, dark stride that gets my blood pumping every time.
Let the Cutting Begin by Gaped
An underappreciated little project by Ryan Huthnance, this song is full of deep chugging and solid growls that keeps me coming back again and again.
So interesting... The first sense I got off 'heavy' was when the tempo dropped. Maybe I listen to too much Sabbath?
the bass really is the common denominator in all of them and it really shapes the sound and causes all the other instruments to be treated a certain way
When he tuned it down it started sounding like a slipknot song
Idk why, but the first clip with the 7 string was the heaviest feeling for me, once everything slowed down, and then the groove kicked in, I completely stopped moving my head back and forth.
So one of the heaviest riffs imo is the intro to rain by trivium, its fast and in drop d, tempo and key doesn't have much impact on me personally, heavy to me is more about emotion and how it's put into the music, so a gojira song is heavy because you can feel what they were trying to put into the song, a slayer song is heavy because you can feel the anger from the music, a slipknot track is heavy because the wall of sound created by the 9 member shows the insanity of the band, its all down to emotion imo
Love the genre changes. One riff, played in multiple styles.
The "slower tempo" riff was the heaviest easily. Slammed.
I've been a metal fan/concertgoer since my first show in 1996 (Sepultura , Type O Negative, Ozzy Osbourne) ... In that span I've been to hundreds of metal shows. What is heavy? Heavy is what metal bands bring to the stage night after night. It's what the fans bring to the shows. It's what gets inside you and fires you up. It's what, even after a 12 hour shift, and a 4 hour drive, still fills you with an unstoppable energy; to jump.and scream and thash, even though you're exhausted and beat. It's the energy of the gods laid down thru metallers over the ages. It lives forever and will never die! Long after we're gone from the universe, some being, somewhere will hear a metal song and find his head bobbing and thrust his hand into the air in triumph.... Because Heavy endures....
Heavy is : powerful riffs on good, hard hitting and interesting drum parts
Tuning doesn't matter, good riffs on E standard can hit harder than some riffs on B or drop A btw
Honestly below c for me is not heavy any more. I dont know why. Its just sounds low but not heavy, its weird. Rarely bands like Meshuggah, infant annihilator, dying fetus and aversions of crown do it for me but the djenty and modern prog metal stuff sounds just low freq. and out off place with the rest
The riff coming out of nowhere. Moment of surprise. Something that was prepared just for a that moment. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, the mid section riff ("where can you run to...") is the heaviest thing ever.
What's with that word "heavy" again? Is there a problem with Earth's gravitational pull?
There's no one thing that makes it heavy. It's the overall attitude and aggression of the music.
That first instance of "major riff" was epic. I dig it.
Holy shit, this gave me increasingly chillier chills throughout the video! Great demonstration!
Totally agree on everything you pointed out. I’m working right now not only on heaviness on the groove, but also applying a particular sound effect that marks a difference with everyone else’s sound (tremolo, synth, rotovibe, whammy, etc.). The quest to s still on for me, but with a great joy and fun
Amazing video. I define heavy in 4 elements:
"Simple"
"Repetitive"
"Slow"
"Perfect harmony with the bass"
4:52 for sure! It had that vibe which just made you wanna hear more
Rammstein is a perfect example to mention when someone asks what the heck makes heavy heavy. Just listen to 'Ich tu dir weh' or 'Sonne'. Simplicity, tuning, tempo and also groove are the headbanging factors that comes with every riff.
Contrast can often up the ante on heavyness, a heavy riff that follows an otherwise more mellow riff or part of a song makes it sound more heavy in contrast. It's that part of a song you feel your body preparing for, the "here it comes!" part.
It's a mix of a lot of things, but one of the most important elements is context. I've heard brutally heavy riffs in standard tuning and of course on lower tunings as well. Of course it starts with a good riff, but for a riff to hit even harder, it's what leads up to it that matters. I've heard a piano, clav, bass, and drums sound heavy because of the shift in dynamics and chords in the song. Pretty much any riff can be heavy if it's placed correctly. The drums also play a huge role. The entire feel of a riff can be changed by changing where the snare hits or even what cymbals you use. There's so much that goes into making something heavy but it can all fit under the umbrella of context.
For me, the three most important factors to heaviness are the interval used, ie is it a minor interval, a tritone etc? Second is the tone, ie the type of distortion, the EQ curve etc. The third is contrast, or more specifically, dynamics. You can't have light without darkness, so contrasting your heavy bit with a softer passage will give it a lot more impact. If it's heavy all the time, it will just be fatiguing.
When he added "grove" instantly became a Lamb Of God song
Slower tempo was the best version. That perfect middle ground between death metal's low tuned, chugging darkness, hardcore punk's aggression and drive, and stoner/sludge groove.
The "slower tempo" version made me headbang a lot, and singing the riff... And it stuck into my head... I think I found this part being really heavy and actually I had also the feeling it sounded "fuller" than the simplistic one.
In the end the final version is like "what makes heavy heavy? ... Meshuggah!!"
For me :
-simple and slow riffs
-down tuning between C# and A#
-groove
-aggressive down picking
The moment you slowed the tempo I found myself not being able to not bang my head. And theeeeeeeen you added the syncopation and I want to hear a whole song.
I think context in a song is also extremely important. A song can be blindingly fast but then go into a half time chug in the middle - perfection.
There are TONS of examples of slower, heavy breaks in songs but right now what comes to mind is Meshuggah's Corridor of Chameleons - already blisteringly heavy but GODDAMN that fucking breakdown with the dissonant rings in the back. There are records with better production, riffs tuned lower, and simpler heavy breakdowns but THAT one just makes me want to conquer the world every time.
Truth be told what makes a riff heavy is your style mixed with the supporting instruments. All of it already adding to the already amazing riff. You can easily have the bass guitar follow for accent. Have the the drummer hit certain notes or play half time. Along with a singer hitting a killer note with a great lyric. That's what makes a song and a riff heavy. All riffs can be heavy if you add enough distortion. It's all about how you put it all together that makes it heavy. Also syncopation is something I love so if you can master it then your already wayyy ahead in my books.
SO many things but SIMPLICITY is the thing that ties is all together for me. You wanna be able to just fucken headbang.
I definitely think it’s the drums and their pacing. Or at least some kind of hard percussiveness that is sometimes achieved on a bass or guitar. I don’t personally enjoy quicker tempos and blast beats and all that, but a solid drum tempo under a generally good riff can make anything headbangable. It’s really all about headbangablity, right? At least it is to me.
Meshuggah-Bleed
Trivium-Heart From Your Hate
Alien Weaponry-Holding My Breath
Freak Kitchen-Raw
Sikth-The Aura
Tool-The Pot
Gojira-Silvera
They’ve all got some kind of hard hitting emphasized notes that just hit so damn hard at the right moments. Some kind of percussive emphasis.
To me the song "Kickback" from Stray From The Path (at 02:54) is one of the best example of what heaviness is : simple riff, low tuning, half time drums and huge guitar and bass tone.
If this is the place to talk about heaviest riffs, personally the breakdown with the false A power chord in Gojira's Heaviest matter of the universe, is the heaviest shit I've ever heard. It's a combination of a lot of the things talked about here, the song goes from being D standard and then plays the two bottom strings open creating that A power chord feel and it while the guitars themselves just play a slow, chugging riff, with that iconic pick scrape, the drums are absolutely pounding when they go from a consistent triplet eighth feel to straight 16th's and the effect of that is CRUSHING, and then Joe has this huge echo-y growl he lets out. It's just magical.
I like how it went from thrash to metalcore to deathcore to groove metal
The number of strings
Drop tuning
Lots of distortion
Barre chords & tremolo picking
Downpicking & palm muting
A combo of all these will sounds heavy no matter what, the lower tuning the heavier sound, the more strings the heavier sound, and those techniques listed
Definitively all of them, in addition to extra like: the musician character or energy while playing, the attack on picking, the dynamics and the list goes on...
Duuuuuuuuuude the SYNCOPATION version was sooo siiiiiiiiiick!!!!! 🤘🤘🤘