One astute Reddit user compiled 12 songs that trace the history of the single most ripped off riff in metalcore. Check it out below!

Melodic Death Metal

We start out our journey, shockingly enough, with a melodeath riff thats not ripped off from Slaughter of the Soul. Slayer of the E-string is of course where all the other recycled metalcore/melodeath riffs originate ...or at least the ones not ripped off of Vulgar Display of Power.

We however will be looking at a different Swedish melodeath act - Ceremonial Oath. Some of the members of this band would go on to found In Flames and Hammerfall, which led to the bands early disbandment in 1995, but not before releasing this fateful track:

1 Ceremonial Oath - Dreamsong 0:00 (1995)

A bit of variation in that first half, but essentially setting the outline for the riff. Later rip-offs use the first part from the second song on the list:

2 Death - Spirit Crusher 2:21 (1998)

Can you spare a moment to talk about our lord and savior, Chuck Schuldiner? This is what most people consider to be the original, because it was far more popular than the first song, but it would not be fair to leave out Dreamsong. Anyway, this song popularized the riff, and its probably where the later bands got their ideas from.

And the first of those was... not Avenged Sevenfold, in fact. A month before the release of Waking the Fallen, a now successful melodeath band called The Black Dahlia Murder launched their debut Unhallowed, and on it:

3 The Black Dahlia Murder - Elder Misanthropy 0:00 (2003)

TBDM launched it as part of a melodeath album tho, a dying genre at that point, so it was up to the hip new metalcore acts to really put it on the map.

Metalcore

4 Avenged Sevenfold - Unholy Confessions 0:00 (2003)

The one where we all know it from, and arguably the most famous one. Many soon followed.

5 As I Lay Dying - Through Struggle 3:05 (2005)

6 Chiodos - There's No Penguins in Alaska 1:42 (2005)

These two are a bit more like the Death one, less ominous than A7Xs.

7 Bullet for my Valentine - The Poison 3:17 (2005)

Hoooolding on to Chuck, to keep on writing...

8 Parkway Drive - Frostbite 00:29 (2007)

I guess at this point it was mandatory to put this riff on your album or the record deal was off. Thats the best explanation I've got...

Deathcore

Everyone gets in on the fun.

9 Suicide Silence - Destruction of a Statue 1:29 (2007)

Electronicore

Just when you though the dead horse is sufficiently beat, its been electrocuted back to life to beat it some more.

10 Attack Attack! - What happens if I canf check my Myspace when we're there 0:00 (2007, demo)

God bless this song title and this whole album/demo EP. If only Chuck was alive to see it...

11 Asking Alexandria - Not the American Average 2:03 (2009)

This whole album is one big Someday Came Suddenly rippoff, from the crabdance to the techno interlude, it only makes sense to rip off the ripped off riff too. It was done more tastefully than SCS though which made Asking Alexandria the band of choice.

Other

12 Black Veil Brides - Knives and Pens 00:23 (2010)

I never listened to this band tbh, but they have by far the most views of all the songs on this list, so what do I know...

And that would be the list...a whopping 12 songs, most of them were singles too. 2006 sure was a time to be alive, ay?