Originally Posted by: AspenRich4214Been writing songs lately, came up with one that sounds a little bit like Antrax(Mad House) and second guitar part to Master of Puppets put together. Solos are easier to write though, but I wanted to know what the best way to writing metal was. As in, use alot of power cords, or harmonics, and the best config for Metal distortion.

Mad House is one of my favorite Anthrax songs! Well, metal bands tend to vary in songwriting. Metallica tends to use a lot of power chords and drone notes. Black Label Society and Pantera use a lot of one-string drone lines with a lot of pinch harmonics. Iron Maiden (def. my favorite) the chords are power chords and often follow the melody (Aces High) or sometimes (for the heavier songs) pick the entire power chord and then drone the lowest note of that chord (The Trooper). Another popular thing Maiden does is to just let the one power chord ring out while the vocals are in play. There are tons of approaches, and I like to incorporate them all! My most recent metal song "Destroyer of worlds" has a very Metallica-like riff in Drop D (even though I can't think of a drop-D Metallica song off the top of my head). However, my fantasy metal song "Candyland: the lost chronicles" has an Iron Maiden-like rhythm. Go with what works, and most importantly, have fun!