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Metallica - Screaming Suicide - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Metallica - Screaming Suicide guitar tab video
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72 Seasons album cover
72 Seasons
2023 5:30
Listen on Spotify
Metallica Heavy Metal 2023 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About Screaming Suicide

From the 2023 album 72 Seasons, "Screaming Suicide" shows Metallica working in a mid-tempo Heavy Metal groove that sits right around 119 BPM. In E Standard tuning and E minor, the song leans hard on palm-muted chugging riffs built around the low E string, the kind of rhythmic work that sounds straightforward until you try to keep it tight for a full song. The challenge is not raw speed but consistency: the right hand has to stay locked in while the fretting hand moves cleanly between power chord shapes. Getting the pick attack even and the muting controlled is where most players will need to put their time. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop any riff section slowed down until your hands sync up, then gradually bring the tempo back to full speed. The dynamic shifts between the heavier riff passages and the more open, melodic sections also deserve careful attention.

  • The song sits at 119 BPM in E Standard tuning, making clean palm-muted rhythm work the central technical challenge.
  • Playing in E minor, the riffs centre on low-string power chords and single-note lines that demand precise right-hand muting throughout.
  • Practise the transitions between the heavy chugging sections and the more open melodic passages, as the dynamic contrast can trip up timing.

How to Play Screaming Suicide

The song moves through: Intro, Interlude, Verse, Chorus, Break, Bridge 1, Solo 1, Bridge 2, Solo 2, Bridge 3, Outro 1, Outro 2.

Tuning: E Standard · Key: E minor · Tempo: 119 BPM · Difficulty: Medium

The arrangement runs through 12 distinct sections, and the solo is the steepest jump, so isolate it on its own.

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 119 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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