Leper Messiah by Metallica
Leper Messiah appears on Metallica's Master of Puppets, released in 1986. Written by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and the late Cliff Burton, the track is a blistering critique of the cult of personality and media-driven celebrity. Its riff-driven verse and menacing chorus showcase Metallica's ability to blend precision thrash with catchy hooks.
The song's recording captures the band's relentless energy and tight dialogue between the guitars; it has become a staple in fans' live setlists and a go-to example of mid-tempo aggression in classic thrash. With its relentless down-picking and dynamic shifts, Leper Messiah remains a favorite for players looking to nail Metallica's signature groove.
🎸 Want to know the techniques, practice tips, and lesson details? Scroll below the lesson!
What You'll Learn
From this lesson, students will master the core elements that give Leper Messiah its signature feel: the driving verse riff built on palm-muted power chords, the heavy open-chord chorus, and a concise lead lick from the solo. We'll break the parts into clean sections, teach you the correct picking technique to maintain attack at speed, and highlight tricky transitions between verse, chorus, and solo so you can reproduce the song with conviction.
Intermediate. Prior skills: solid palm muting, accurate down-picking, comfortable with power chords and basic scale-based phrasing; a steady tempo and careful sense of dynamics help.
🎸 Techniques Used
Practice Tips
- 💡Divide and conquer: practice verse and chorus separately at a slow tempo, then link them with a controlled transition.
- 💡Keep your palm muting consistent and adjust your hand position to get the right amount of muting without choking the notes.
- 💡For the solo lick, practice small phrases on the E minor pentatonic scale with clean bends and a touch of vibrato to mimic Metallica's feel.
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