Time to enter the 21st century with our Best Metal Riffs lists. From a decade so prominent with excellent heavy music, we've narrowed down the 10 Greatest Metal Riffs from 2000-2009.

If there’s one band that ruled the metal underground in the ‘00s, it’s Mastodon. From Remission to Crack the Skye, Mastodon released nothing but phenomenal albums, crafting riffs worthy of metal immortality. Mastodon probably compiled the greatest collection of riffs during the decade, but we could only pick one to include in our Loud List.

The 2000s also saw the monumental rise of System of a Down. With the release of Toxicity, the band took weirdness to its zenith, selling over three million copies of the album in the U.S. alone. Toxicity is packed with powerful riffs, but “Aerials” is the standout to our ears. The moody intro from Daron Malakian is instantly recognizable, never failing to elicit a response from SOAD’s fanbase.

Though Gojira’s rise to metal’s A-list arguably occurred in the 2010s, the French metallers released their masterpiece, From Mars to Sirius, back in 2005. The album helped resurrect the art of groove-driven metal with ageless cuts like “Backbone” and “The Heaviest Matter of the Universe.” However, it’s the gigantic “Flying Whales” that made it into our list. Though the song’s main riff only consists of three notes, its character outweighs the most complex of guitar leads.

Check out our picks for the 10 Greatest Metal Riffs of the 2000s (2000-09) in the Loud List above!

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