Ahhh the almighty riff. What would rock and metal be without it? It’s a sentiment that newcomers Your Future Is Metal agree with.
Born out of a pandemic-hit cloud of frustration and isolation by vocalist and guitarist Johann Saul, Your Future Is Metal‘s self-titled debut EP somewhat serves up as a manifesto of their intentions – to be the greatest heavy metal band. Joined by drummer Salaryman Ben, the pair share a passion for cult classic B-movie horror, 80s pop, dark humour, and of course, old-school heavy metal.
Having played together in the emotional hardcore group Weathered Hands and hardcore punks Real Authority, they have a history of creating heavy sounds together. However, Your Future Is Metal is considerably their most refined work. In short, it’s a cocktail of pummelling drum work, frantic guitars, tongue-in-cheek lyrics, and, yes you guessed it, RIFFS!
Tracks such as ‘Do You Want to Dance (With a Wanted Man)?‘ and ‘When Jekyll Hydes’ exemplify what Your Future Is Metal are all about. Larger-than-life riffs with choruses to match. While ‘Ultimate Power’ adds a succulent groove to the mix, before Ben’s dense drums batter you into submission. Overall, it’s a thrilling, adrenaline rush of a debut EP.
With riffs playing a major part of what Your Future Is Metal are all about, we asked vocalist and guitarist Johann Saul to pick out some of his favourites.
Nuclear Assault – Something Wicked
For me, this is one of the single most underrated metal songs in the genre. Don’t even get me started on the solo, the main riff alone will make you want to chuck your Slipknot records in the bin because psychosocial is a beige day out compared to this.
Alice In Chains – We Die Young
Hard as nails riff that I unashamedly stole the vibe of for our own song ‘.357 MAGNUM OPUS’. Jerry Cantrells guttural guitar tone is a massive influence on this cut.
Type O Negative – In Praise Of Bacchus
Barre chords + open strings + a chorus pedal = a sensual watery sound. I never grow tired of hearing. The chromatic parts in this song are very Beatles-esque and definitely had a hand in influencing sections of ‘ULTIMATE POWER’ from the ‘Your Future Is Metal‘ EP.
Cycle Sluts From Hell – Conqueress
To me, it’s almost like ‘Seek and Destroy’ by Metallica but sluttier. These gals only released one album full of biker rock anthems which I absolutely love from start to finish with this track probably being my favourite.
Judas Priest – Electric Eye
Although I prefer ‘Painkiller’ as far as Priest riffs go, I genuinely believe you could trace the whole concept of the melodic metalcore riffing style all the way back to this particular song.
Queens Of The Stone – Sick Sick Sick
I love the way this is just one weird chord played in a strange, choppy rhythm and a guitar sound like some kind of honking cybernetic goose (know what I mean?). It might be an unpopular choice but ‘Era Vulgaris’ is my preferred QOTSA album because it’s so full of dark, off-kilter vibes.
Killing Joke – Pandemonium
Geordie Walker is such a unique guitarist because he plays heavy riffs on a hollow-bodied jazz guitar. Between the chugging and eastern-sounding guitar lines, this particular song could (almost) be considered metal.
Mercyful Fate – A Dangerous Meeting
One of the best metal bands of all time for killer riffs, most people would give that title to Black Sabbath but for me, THIS band was my Sabbath. There really are so many amazing riffs to choose from but this particular track from the first few seconds just makes my spine freeze over.
Cannibal Corpse – Death Walking Terror
Of all the complete filth in Cannibal Corpse’s discography (try ‘Frantic Disembowelment’ and tell me you know what the hell is going on…) this down-tuned and down-picked hell is the peak of death metal riffage in my book. In particular, it’s the bridge part before the solo that gets me the most. So groovy and evil.
Tigercub – Perfume Of Decay
My girlfriend recently showed me this song and it was jarring in the best possible way to hear the dynamic of that massive bass riff going into some really out of the (jack in the) box guitar work. I never expected to hear a guitar sound as fear-inducing as this from an indie rock band.
‘YFIM’ by Your Future Is Metal is released on June 30th.
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