If there’s ever been a year to forget, it’s 2020. It’s had enough global craziness for several lifetimes, and no one could have seen it coming. Fortunately, however, our favourite musicians have continued to bring us the soundtrack to get us through it all – even when touring has been an impossibility. So for that, we can’t commend them enough.
To celebrate the enduring spirit of music against all odds, I’ve compiled a list of what I think are 10 of the best rock and metal guitar tracks from the past year.
To stay in the loop on all the cool content coming to this site in 2021, make sure you subscribe to the weekly newsletter. Don’t worry, it’s spam-free, cost-free and you’ll receive a wealth of useful content on the regular. Enjoy!
10. Code Orange – Swallowing the Rabbit Whole
I confess, Code Orange only appeared on my radar in 2020, but boy am I glad they did. They prove – pretty indisputably – that the boundaries of hard rock and metalcore are far from their limits, and with their new album Underneath, they seek to push them considerably closer.
Beginning with a brooding instrumental section, second track Swallowing the Rabbit Whole quickly shifts gears, becoming a digitally influenced metalcore monolith, hosting a main riff that’s certain to warp your mind.
I pick Swallowing the Rabbit Whole as a personal favourite from the record, but to tell the truth, any one of its 14 tracks is well worthy of highlight. All killer, no filler, for sure.
9. Corey Taylor – Kansas
Corey Taylor is, by most accounts, the modern day renaissance man. As if fronting Slipknot and Stone Sour – two of modern metal’s biggest bands – wasn’t enough, 2020 saw the release of his debut solo album CMFT (which, by the way, stands for ‘Corey Mother Fucking Taylor’, naturally…).
The record is clearly a chance for Corey to let loose compositionally, with hard-rock stomper Culture Head and rap-rock romp CMFT Must Be Stopped among the highlights of his versatility.
But it’s Kansas that deserves the spotlight in this list. A song that’s been in existence for a long time prior to its official release, Kansas channels strong on-the-road Eagles vibes, and utilises well-established songwriting tools to ironically refreshing effect.
Also, Zach Throne’s guitar solo uses both precise melody and an impressive rapid descending line, offering a satisfying climax before the song’s final chorus key change. This one’s a real knockout.
8. Unleash The Archers – Faster Than Light
Power metal is the marmite of the metal community: you either love it or you hate it. For those in the former camp, Unleash The Archers’ latest album Abyss carries all the thunderous rhythms, harmonised guitars and infectious melodies to more than satisfy.
On seventh track Faster Than Light, guitarists Grant Truesdell and Andrew Kingsley serve up a rally of dizzying lead lines before pummelling into its thunderous galloping verse riff, subsequently laying down the backdrop to an instantly catchy chorus hook.
The guitar solo brings both the melody and virtuosity that’s so essential of successful power metal, nurturing assurance that the subgenre is still in very capable hands.
7. Avenged Sevenfold – Set Me Free
With legions of A7X fans hungry for new music, the Set Me Free notification back in January set some pulses racing. While the track turned out to be a standalone, unreleased cut from 2013’s Hail to the King, it helped satiate the rabid fanbase, at least for the time being…
This, for me, was one of 2020’s standout feel-driven guitar tracks. The melody speaks for itself throughout, eliminating the need for much showing off. Those harmonised lead lines and silky cleans typify Avenged Sevenfold’s signature ballad writing style, and you have to wonder why this was left off Hail to the King in the first place. In any case, it emerged in 2020, and that’s something to be thankful for.
6. Bury Tomorrow – Choke
I’ve had the good fortune to see Bury Tomorrow live on a couple of occasions – during both their The Union of Crowns and Runes album cycles. Each time, they dominated the stage and the atmosphere was truly palpable.
Of course, since then, the Southampton metalcore vets have dropped three new full-lengths – Earthbound in 2016, Black Flame in 2018 and now Cannibal in 2020. So when the opportunity arises to see the band again, I’ll certainly be first in line for tickets.
Cannibal plays host to some of BT’s most ambitious guitar parts yet, illustrated perfectly on its furious opener, Choke.
5. Fit For A King – Breaking the Mirror
Fit For A King’s The Path has to be one of 2020’s best guitar albums. Guitarists Bobby Lynge and Daniel Gailey are on fine form as they deliver a cornucopia of stellar six-string lines over the course of the album’s 10 godly tracks.
While their compositional sophistication is demonstrated throughout, second track Breaking the Mirror highlights their ability to blend heavy with melodic, further carving out their niche within the realm of modern metalcore.
Again, if and when gigs return in 2021, I cannot wait to see – and be a part of – that energy when Breaking the Mirror‘s breakdown hits.
4. Sylosis – Worship Decay
Sure, Sylosis did drop their long-awaited fifth album Cycle of Suffering – which was jam-packed front to back with grade-A guitar lines – back in February, but there’s just something I love about the main riff of Worship Decay. It’s simple, but oozes power, and will undoubtedly go down as one of their best.
If there’s one thing I hope 2021 brings, it’s the ability to witness what that riff does to a crowd. The chants – and brooding mosh pits – will almost certainly be a spectacle to behold.
I’ve banged on about the main riff, but the verse riff, guitar layering in the chorus and blistering solo make this a guitar great, and certainly a positive thing to remember from 2020.
3. Lamb of God – Checkmate
Virginia’s groove metal flag-bearers exploded back onto the scene this year with their self-titled tenth studio album, and first without long-serving drummer Chris Adler.
We got our first taste of the album when the band dropped Checkmate back in February and boy, did it whet our appetites. Opening with a teasing noodle from Mark Morton over an embryonic version of the track’s main riff, Checkmate quickly blooms into a ground-shaking piledriver, employing all the Phrygian goodness LoG have long claimed as their signature guitar sound.
2. Trivium – What The Dead Men Say
Trivium’s latest album has more guitar goodness than you can possibly digest fully in one sitting, so choosing one standout is pretty hard. That said, I feel the title track embodies where Trivium are as a band right now: compositionally mature, with the streaks of both melody and brutality that forge the foundation of their sound present as ever.
That main riff is concrete during its first few iterations, but the addition of a Gojira-style pickscrape highlights the attention to detail Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu have clearly nurtured over the years.
1. AC/DC – Demon Fire
Sure, AC/DC’s latest album Power Up does little to pave new paths through the yet-uncharted wilderness of rock ‘n’ roll, but it sticks to a formula that for so many years has time and again proved faultless. And let’s face it, a new record from the Aussie rockers was just what the world needed to close such a trying year.
Though it’s the first AC/DC’s album not to feature Malcolm Young, the late legend’s influence runs deep within every single one of its tracks.
Though Power Up‘s first single Shot In The Dark channels quintessential AC/DC energy, Demon Fire, for me, is the record’s highlight. Its main riff proves once again that simplicity is the key to solid riff writing, and, in only a few notes, re-stokes the flames of rock ‘n’ roll.
