11 Greatest Breakdowns Ever | WIll Putney's Picks 

I agree with This Love for Pantera. but the break down in Dominantion is the one where I break my neck everytime

Sepultura has so many legendary breakdowns. Roots, Territory, Dead Embryonic Cells, the list goes on

I feel like Crowbar is getting more recognition lately, and I'm glad. It's well-deserved! Kirk churns out some of the nastiest riffs I've ever heard. I've seen them three times and they brought it every time!

Not having suffocation here is criminal. Masters of a breakdown and originators of whole genres with their style. You can pick pretty much any song off of "pierced from within" and find a great break down on it.

Gotta agree, To Carry The Load is one of the best breakdowns ever. Crowbar riffs in general are just stupidly heavy. Kirk Windstein really is one of the true riff lords.

Dude, that Knocked Loose EP is so insane. Absolutely brilliant from beginning to end.

Gotta show some love to the ending to Pantera's By Demons Be Driven Double bass: checked Chugging riff: checked Odd time signature: checked Year: 1992 I guess that the whole list could be filled with Pantera's songs

Great list. Will Putney knows what he's talking about. This would absolutely be my list.

Pantera’s “Domination” has the greatest breakdown in all of music.

Domination is the greatest breakdown of all time. Roots Bloody Roots also has a face melting breakdown that never gets old

Some of my favorite breakdowns: END - Necessary Death Converge - Heartless Glass Cloud - She Is Well And Nothing Can Be Ill Architects - Early Grave Code Orange - I Am King Dillinger Escape Plan - Limerent Death Every Stranger Looks Like You - Smoking Crack At Your Funeral Minors - Bone Pointer Kublai Khan - Self Destruct

The breakdown in strength beyond strength is still to this day one of the heaviest ever

The chaos of early Meshuggah still hits different. Just absolutely soul crushing, and so happy Future Breed Machine still gets recognition. But also awesome list in general. Crowbar, Dillinger, Meshuggah, and a nod to Knocked Loose…lots of good shit

Great list. Here it is: Slayer - Raining Blood Metallica - One Pantera - This Love Sepultura - Propaganda Machine Head - Davidian Meshuggah - Future Dream Machine Hatebreed - Not One Truth Dillinger Escape Plan - 43% Burnt Crowbar - To Carry The Load Terror - Out Of My Face Knocked Loose - God Knows

Jesus... knocked loose really are absolute beasts. One if my absolute faves.

Pantera - Domination Dir en Grey - Unknown.Despair.Lost Dillinger Escape Plan - 43% Burnt Meshuggah - New Millenium Cyanide Christ Cryptopsy - Benedictine Convulsions A new one: Darko US - Pale Tongue

Chaos AD record is for sure one of the leaders of the pack, but I would have chosen Dead Embryonic Cells

The outro breakdown to Love by Gojira is probably the most interesting and unique one I've ever heard, it's so dark and heavy

Cool list, but let’s all remember how sick the breakdown in Opeth’s Deliverance is. Cathartic as all hell, unforgettable.

Fear Factory- Demanufacture album of the 90's..still sound over the years

Damn we missed The Saddest Day by Converge. That breakdown is still a mammoth that holds up to me.

Sepultura-Dead Embryonic Cells. Best breakdown ever.

i agree with will, KL literally has the best breakdowns always

I was waiting that whole video for him to say Knocked Loose and it made me so happy when he mentioned it at the end 😂

Well thought out list. Even though Im not super into their music, Norma Jean’s Memphis Will Be Laid to Waste is a standout breakdown that should be mentioned

I think the creeping death breakdown is also important

I like that this video also doubles as a history of breakdowns lol

Will putney props to you im 49 years old and completely agree . From slayer to knocked loose watched and heard it all fall into place year by year breakdown after breakdown

I've loved watching knocked loose rise to where they are. I always knew that band hit so fucking hard and they never stopped delivering, album after album.

I'm an old metalhead that loves reminiscing on the glory days while also trying to remain current because there is too much good music in the world to be perpetually stuck in a time lock of your youth. Out of all the bands I've seen live over 30 years the one that has absolutely blown me away every time I've seen them is Parkway Drive. Not only is everything they've released top notch but their live shows are a must see experience for any metal fan. I know they're a bit "new school" for the old heads, even though they've been dominating the scene for 15 years, but I'd put them in my top 5 for all-time not only breakdowns but metal bands. In my opinion they've mastered the perfect mix of heavy, melody, technicality and raw energy. If you haven't seen them before, do yourself a favor and make sure you do.

The ones that come to mind for me (and I’m not well versed in breakdown culture): Converge- You Fail Me Meshuggah- New Millennium Cyanide Christ Opeth- Deliverance .. and of course.. Pantera- Domination

That hatebreed album was the first cd I ever bought. My life was changed after that. It’s breakdown central

Just off the top of my head, here's mine in no order: 1. Unearth - This Lying World (he literally screams breakdown before the breakdown I mean come on) 2. Botch - To Our Friends in the Great White North 3. Converge - The Saddest Day 4. the mid section of Hammer Smashed Face 5. Pantera - Domination 6. Arsis - Sadistic Motives 7. Meshuggah - New Millennium Cyanide Christ 8. Fit For An Autopsy - Do You See Him? 9. The Red Chord - Dreaming in Dog Years 10. Dillinger - 43% Burnt

My introduction to MESHUGGAH was the "NONE" EP which blew me away as a kid man. We were jamming out some DEMOLITION HAMMER then put on the NONE EP which I had just bought that afternoon and it just totally destroyed me and my buddy, we were hooked from that point on and I had to make tape copies for everyone I knew so I could spread it.

Also agree about Knocked Loose, the last EP was insane!

The Ills of Modern Man album from Despised Icon has like the whole album full of pretty sick breakdowns

Thank you Revolver & Will Putney. Now every time some metal elitist says breakdowns aren’t metal or they come from punk, we can send them here for a history lesson haha great list

I'd add "Liege of Inveracity' from Suffocation to this list, but these are all solid picks!

Strapping Young Lad 'In The Rainy Season' is the greatest breakdown of all time.

My favorite Crowbar breakdown is the one at the end of The Only Factor, it’s just so disgustingly sludgy and it’s probably my favorite breakdown ever

When I saw this video the first band in my head was knocked loose but as you started saying bands I didn’t think you were gonna go there... thank God you did

I was waiting for Knocked Loose and goddamn I’m happy he put them on his list

Sepultura changed the game forever, so many incredible breakdowns

The breakdown on Sepultura Dead Embryonic cells is one of the best.

Great choices. Will has written some truly devastating breakdowns in Fit and END that I'll never forget. Also, Josh Travis has written some utterly filthy breakdowns. Knocked Loose is definitely at the top of the breakdown mountain right now too. A Tear In The Fabric Of Life is on another level.

Let’s not forget Burnt By The Sun. They had some nasty breakdowns. Famke is amazing.

I’ve seen people attempt this concept countless times and this is the first one I’ve seen that I couldn’t disagree with a single point made. This dude rules.

I'm so glad you added TERROR to this list and especially that particular song. Seeing them preform live is awesome!

Gojira-Flying whales Pantera- 5 minutes alone Knocked Loose- Deadringer Slayer- Raining Blood 🐐 Metallica- One Lorna Shore- you know what song Hatebreed- Doomslayer

Pantera's transition from Suicide part I to Suicide part II is mind blowing. Pure genius!!!

I would like to add my input of Suffocation - Liege of Inveracity (1991) for literally creating the slam genre... Suffocation - Pierced From Within (1995) for being a dope heavy breakdown,,, Earth Crisis - Firestorm (1993) for helping start 90s metalcore beatdown.. Cannibal Corpse - Hammer Smashed Face (1993) for brutal death metal breakdown,... System of a Down - Sugar (1999) or Limp Bizkit - Break Stuff (1999) for Nu metal breakdown.. Lamb Of God - Black Label (2000) for most underrated? From First To Last - Ride the Wings of Pestilence (2004) emo breakdown, From Autumn To Ashes - The After Dinner Payback (2004) my metalcore pick, Job For A Cowboy- Entombment of a Machine (2005), Suicide Silence - Unanswered (2007) / Destruction of a Statue (2005) for greatest deathcore band of all time, Carnifex - Lie to My Face (2007) for classic myspace deathcore breakdown, Impending Doom - My Nemesis (2007) Christ slamcore, Waking The Cadaver - Chased Through The Woods (2007) best slam memecore of all time, Slipknot - Psychosocial (2008) mainstream breakdown.. Oceano - District of Misery (2008) another deathcore banger & some of my favs: Carnifex - Hell Chose me (2010), Chelsea Grin - My Damnation (2011), No Zodiac - Population Control (2012) or No Zodiac - Constant Decay (2015), Beyond Deviation - White Noise (2014), Code Orange - Forever (2016), Poppy - Concrete (2019), Poppy - Bite Your Teeth (2020), Ghostemane - Lazaretto (2020) rap metal breakdown. Honorable Mentions - Animosity, Despised Icon, Motionless In White, Emmure, Cryptopsy ... the list goes on and on :) My favorite modern era breakdown - Extermination Dismemberment - Omnivore (2019). & i have to disagree about Knocked Loose because Lorna Shore exists.

I was in Wills social group for the few years I lived in New Jersey in my early 20s and I think it’s really cool that dude accomplished his dream

He nailed it for sure. I always thought anthrax had some good breakdowns as well. Incendiary has some beefy ones too.

Would recommend adding these as well: Converge - Last Light & Concubine END - Pariah (Produced by Will Putney) Botch - Transitions from Persona to Object Cult Leader - I Am Healed Hopesfall - Open Hands to the Wind Mastodon - Iron Tusk Frontierer - Bombgnasher

I listened to Future Breed Machine for the first time in 2010 and it was still utterly mindblowing, even when having grown up with metalcore, deathcore and tech death bands throughout the 2000s. Great video though, Will has such an incredible insight to the history of breakdown that I didn't even realize was a thing. Even if I had heard Sepultura, hearing the start and stop chugging with the dissonant guitars makes so much sense, it's like I've heard that exact breakdown iterated upon hundreds of times from so many different bands I love, it's crazy.

I would add in some early Unearth (maybe One Step Away or Endless) because they kind of elevated the brutal breakdown landscape around the early 2000s. No problems with the rest of the list. Nicely done!

I completely agree with every band and song mentioned. I’ll add Converge - The Saddest Day. Kurt Ballou was the riff master when it came to writing crushing breakdowns. Coalesce - Functioning On Impatience also. Great list!!!

My favourite is actually by Fit For An Autopsy funnily enough. The song ‘Your Pain Is Mine’. The buildup is so emotional and then it hits with a really eerie dissonant breakdown it never fails to give me goosebumps.

Slipknot's Disasterpiece has their best breakdown. Also Eyeless. Man, these were filthy ones. They were my gateway to deathcore.

The breakdown at the end of Doomsayer by Hatebreed is 🔥

Domination from Pantera is the heaviest riff ever!

Great picks, but Converge needs a mention in any breakdown list. The Broken Vow, Eagles Become Vultures and Dark Horse are top notch.

Awesome to hear a master of the craft share his thoughts.

This has got to be the most legitimate list of all list videos on RU-vid.

HELL YES for Crowbar. Their music definitely does hit different. One of the only bands where I can just listen to their whole discog straight through without a song skip.

Great list and agree with much of this. For breakdowns from these bands, I'd also recommend Meshuggah: Suffer In Truth, Crowbar: Like Broken Glass, Pantera: Shedding Skin, and Hatebreed: Smash Your Enemies

It's like a history of breakdowns, great video!

He writes the best breakdowns because he knows every fucking breakdown what a goat

I know people might not like pop-punk but ADTR has some of the most memorable breakdowns IMO

Machine head, Sepultura and Pantera were definitely the best OGs imo!

Disembodied is a criminally overlooked band in this context. They wrote insanely heavy music in the end of the nineties.

I was genuinely surprised for his number 11 he didn't say the end of Contorted in the Faille from the same KL record. That breakdown makes me wanna punch my windshield out every time it hits.

Knocked loose literally saved me. They freshened the genre up! Very tight band! Don't think I'd survive a show... I play guitar and want to be as heavy as them every time I play.

Not sure if he's heard of these guys, but there's this band called Fit For an Autopsy that is today's modern day breakdown masters.

In the arms of perdition - despised icon. The ending is wild and changed my life

Love that knocked loose gets love. My favourite current band, one of my favourite sounds I've ever heard. Good list!

Raining Blood - Slayer Domination - Pantera

The only problem with the Domination breakdown is that it doesn't hit quite the same on the album. CFH just didn't have that super aggressive and crisp production and tone that we associate with them like on the albums after.

That crowbar breakdown is one off my all time favorites, so damn heavy!

Fantastic mate! Agree with the whole chronology. It’s uncanny actually. It’s my 10k running playlist.

1 year before Hatebreed dropped "Satisfaction..." In 97, 96 was really the year breakdowns became the thing in hardcore. Refused were out there with "rather be dead" and Snapcase had dropped "looking glass self" also Earth Crisis dropped "Fire storm" Definitely worth a mention in genre defining breakdown HC. No taking anything from Hatebreed though, "Satisfaction" was really the perfection of the every song is a breakdown song albums in HC.

Satisfaction is my favourite Hatebreed album, but Proven is still the undefeated hardcore breakdown IMO.

Will Putney is legend status imo 🤘 his projects whether on guitar or drums or behind the scenes is always killer 💯

So glad you acknowledged Knocked Loose!

Pantera - Domination Knocked Loose - Counting Worms Silent Planet - Trilogy

Vitriol is a breath of fresh air! I would dare to say that vitriol is heavier than a neutron star!

Wow! You must be near my age bc that rundown was true nostalgia and I couldn’t agree more with you on any of that.

Always loved the breakdown in Declaration that closed Trivium’s Ascendancy album. Good list. Takes me back.

Dying fetus has some of the best breakdowns, especially the one in "intentional manslaughter " at about the 1:50 mark.

i personally think Benedictine convulsions has one of the most insane breakdowns. VERY underrated breakdown. Also recreant and serial urbicide

'In the Rainy Season' -Strapping Young Lad It's almost a happy, atmospheric thing... a huge lift with a slower tempo than 97% of SYL's madness, but still locks you HARD into that simple groove and delayed vocal smeared on top. 'Deliverance' -Opeth I fuckin' love how it JUST. KEEPS. GOING. It's like the last four minutes of that track, such a killer pattern, the slide guitar lead dub is unique when it goes to doubles, and THEN that last turnaround where it cleans out the ambiance and the Axe's overhead fills go nuts is just unmatched, IMHO. 'So Heavy' -Psychostick LOL. Just about every cliché we've come to know. The part where they make the pattern so convoluted that they can't even play it right in the video is gold! "Teabag the stage! Teabag the stage!"

great content. you and I clearly listened to the same jams cuz you nailed it with this list. there are countless examples you could name. only one I thought you'd mention was anything early converge or integrity

WILL! How can you miss out Pantera - Domination? I AM DISAPPOINT . How many Hardcore bands have either covered that or ripped it off? ;-)

Great list. Leaves a lot on the table when it comes to Metallica and Pantera. Not sure how you cite the bridge to “One” as the best breakdown on AJFA over the breakdown in “Blackened” or “Harvester of Sorrow”. Iconic song and an iconic section, but not the best breakdown on the album and not even really a breakdown imo. As for Pantera, “This Love” is def. innovative with the tempo shift but in a world where “Domination” exists AND pre-dates “This Love”…it just doesn’t stack up. I mean the first four tracks on Far Beyond Driven all have harder breakdowns than “This Love”.

Crowbar are masters of breakdowns and riffs.period.

Will Putney is the best producer in heavy music right now. Dude has been making some of my favorite new albums

I would say Sepultura's breakdown in Dead Embryonic Cells was one of the greats for me.

Personally the breakdown in use my third arm by pantera was always a favorite of mine. I find myself screaming the lyrics often

Great list My two favorite drum breakdowns of all time Death- Open Casket Sepultura- Under Siege

Breakdowns have and will always save my life great songs bruh