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Metallica - Leper Messiah - Guitar Lesson

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Key E minor
Metallica - Leper Messiah guitar lesson video
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Master of Puppets (Remastered Deluxe Box Set) album cover
Master of Puppets (Remastered Deluxe Box Set)
1986 5:40
Listen on Spotify
Metallica Thrash Metal 1986 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About Leper Messiah

Few tracks on Master of Puppets sit in the pocket quite like "Leper Messiah." The riff is mid-paced and heavy, built on a grinding, syncopated chug that rewards right-hand precision over raw speed. Because the groove depends so much on tight palm muting and exact rhythmic placement, even small timing slips become obvious, so use the Practice Toolbar to loop the main riff slowed down until your pick attack and muting are locked in together. The song is in E minor, which means the open low E string is a weapon here, and learning how Metallica use that open string against fretted power chords is one of the core lessons the song teaches. The mid-section shift in feel asks you to stay relaxed through a change in subdivision, which is harder than it sounds at tempo. Work the transition in isolation before connecting it to the rest of the arrangement.

  • The main riff relies heavily on syncopated palm muting in E minor, making right-hand rhythmic accuracy the central challenge.
  • The open low-E string is used as a pedal tone against fretted power chords, a technique worth isolating in your practice.
  • The mid-section feel shift demands that you stay relaxed through a subdivision change, so looping it slowed down is especially useful here.

How to Play Leper Messiah

Key: E minor · Tempo: 140 BPM

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 140 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Kirk Hammett's vintage 1959 'Greeny' Les Paul Standard delivers warmer, more dynamic PAF-style tones that contrast his EMG-equipped ESP guitars, adding organic sustain to his lead work. This guitar's traditional construction gives his solos a thicker, less compressed character than his signature models.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

While not Hammett's primary choice, the Les Paul Custom shares the Les Paul's warm PAF pickup character and thick body resonance, offering heavier players an alternative to Strat-style designs for achieving Metallica's crushing rhythm tones.

Gibson Explorer
Guitar

Gibson Explorer

James Hetfield's early Gibson Explorer established his signature angular shape and thick body tone, delivering the aggressive midrange attack essential to Metallica's crushing rhythm style before his ESP signature models became his primary tool.

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier
Amp

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier

Kirk Hammett's Dual Rectifier heads provide the high-gain, midrange-forward aggression that lets his solos cut through Hetfield's scooped rhythm tone, creating definition and clarity in Metallica's dense wall of distortion.

EMG 81
Pickup

EMG 81

Hetfield's bridge EMG 81 delivers the hot, compressed output with tight low-end that defines Metallica's palm-muted riffs, the ceramic magnet and active preamp cutting through heavy arrangements with focused, aggressive attack.

EMG 60
Pickup

EMG 60

Both guitarists use the neck EMG 60 for warmer, more articulate rhythm tones and smoother lead voicings, balancing the 81's aggression with clearer note definition across Metallica's dense arrangements.

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