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Metallica - Seek and Destroy - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Metallica - Seek and Destroy guitar tab video
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Gain6
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Mid7
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Metallica (Remastered Deluxe Box Set) album cover
Metallica (Remastered Deluxe Box Set)
1991 17:35
Listen on Spotify
Metallica Thrash Metal 1991 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About Seek and Destroy

Few riffs in heavy metal are as immediately recognizable as the main groove in "Seek and Destroy." Built around a low, driving figure on the bottom strings, it rewards players who dig in hard with their pick and keep the palm muting tight and consistent. The challenge is not speed but precision: the muted notes have to feel locked and punchy, and the transition into the open, ringing sections needs to land without hesitation. Playing in E minor keeps things guitar-friendly, but do not let that fool you into cruising through it carelessly. The verse riff repeats enough times that any sloppiness in your muting hand becomes obvious fast. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop and slow down the main riff until the pick attack and muting feel completely natural at a lower tempo, then work the speed back up in stages. Metallica built much of their early reputation on riffs exactly like this one, where groove and aggression do equal work.

  • The signature riff relies heavily on palm muting on the low strings, so right-hand control and consistent pick pressure are the core technical demands.
  • Playing in E minor means the open low E string is central to the riff, giving it a naturally heavy, resonant sound that rewards a firm picking attack.
  • The riff is mid-paced rather than fast, so focus your practice on muting accuracy and rhythmic lockup rather than building raw picking speed.

How to Play Seek and Destroy

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

Key: E minor · Tempo: 140 BPM · Difficulty: Medium

The foundation of this song is a palm-muted, low-E-string riff played in E minor, and locking in that muting technique with consistent pick attack is the real challenge at 140 bpm. Begin with the intro riff, since it introduces the core picking motion that drives the verse and chorus sections. The pre-chorus and chorus involve faster rhythmic shifts, so isolate those transitions and use the section loop to tighten them before connecting the full arrangement. A common pitfall is letting the palm mute creep too loose as the tempo builds, which blurs the riff's aggressive, staccato character.

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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