Song: The Last Dance Massacre
Artist: Darkest Hour
Album: So Sedated, So Secure (2001)
Transcribed by: Rick Nuzback
In this guitar tab, I'll be covering the 8 minute and 45 second long closing extravaganza that is The Last Dance Massacre, off of Darkest Hour's 2001 album So Sedated, So Secure. There is a rhythm and a lead guitar, I'll do my best to show you how the two sync up without getting too confusing. Being a heavy, hardcore song, most of the time you'll be using downstrokes, except in the case of triplets during the chorus riffs, main riff, and part of the verse. The structure also gets complex, I've devoted an entire section to it. If you get lost in the tab, just listen to the song and you'll get a feel for the rhythm and structure. Let's get started...
Tuning: Dropped C (CGCFAD)
Open with a pickslide up the neck after drum intro finishes (0:08 minute mark on CD)
Main/Opening Riff:
Both guitars:
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----10-10-10----10-10-10----8-8-8----8-8-8----6-6-6----6-6-6----6-6-6----5-5-5------
C-10-----------8-----------5--------8--------3--------6--------5--------5-----------
Pre-verse Riff:
Lead:
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G--------------------8-x-x-x--10-x-x-x---------------------1-1-1-3-3-3-4-4-4-6-6-6---
C--6-x-x-x--6-x-x-x--------------------3-x-x-x--3-x-x-x------------------------------
Rhythm: (let these notes ring)
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------1-1-1-3-3-3-4-4-4-6-6-6---
C--6-----------------------------------3---------------------------------------------
Verse Riff 1:
"A sudden gasp for air..."
Lead: (let these notes ring)
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G--------------------8--------10---------------------------3-----------5-------------
C--6-----------------------------------3---------------------------------------------
Rhythm: (let these notes ring)
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C--6-----------------------------------3---------------------------------------------
Lead: (let these notes ring)
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G--------------------8--------10---------------------------1-1-1-3-3-3-4-4-4-6-6-6---
C--6-----------------------------------3---------------------------------------------
Rhythm: (let these notes ring)
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------1-1-1-3-3-3-4-4-4-6-6-6---
C--6-----------------------------------3---------------------------------------------
Verse Riff 2:
"Try to piece it together..."
Lead: (let these notes ring)
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G--------------------8--------10---------------------------1-1-1-3-3-3-4-4-4-6-6-6---
C--6-----------------------------------3---------------------------------------------
Rhythm:
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------1-1-1-3-3-3-4-4-4-6-6-6---
C--6-x-x-x--6-x-x-x--6-x-x-x--6-x-x-x--3-x-x-x--3-x-x-x------------------------------
Chorus Riff:
"It sends an impulse out..."
Both guitars:
Riff [a]
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-----6-6-6----6-6-6----6-6-6----6-6-6----6-6-6----6-6-6----6-6-6----6-6-6-----------
C--6---------6--------3--------3--------8--------8--------8--------8-----------------
Riff [b]
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-----6-6-6----6-6-6----6-6-6----6-6-6----6-6-6----6-6-6----6-6-6----8-8-8-----------
C--6---------6--------3--------3--------8--------8--------6--------6-----------------
Pre-Bridge Riff:
Lead guitar produces feedback noises
Rhythm:
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C-6--6--6--6--6--6--3--3--3--3--3--3--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8-------------
Bridge Riff 1:
Lead:
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G---8~~~~~-------------------------6~~~~~----------------------3~~~~~~---------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rhythm:
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C---6--6-6-6-6--6-6-6-3--3-3-3-3--3-3-3-8--8-8-8-8--8-8-8-8--8-8-8-8--8-8-8-8--8-8-8-
Bridge Riff 2:
Lead:
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G---8~~~~~-------------------------6~~~~~----------------------3~~~~~~---------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rhythm:
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C---6--6-6-6-6--6-6-6-8--8-8-8-8--8-8-8-3--3-3-3-3--3-3-3-3--3-3-3-3--3-3-3-3--3-3-3-
End Bridge Riff:
Lead:
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G---8~~~~~-------------------------6~~~~~----------------------3~~~~~~---------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rhythm: (let these notes ring)
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C---6------------------------------8---------------------------3---------------------
All that's left of the song is 2 small harmonic riffs that play for 3 straight minutes at the end, we'll call them Closing Riff 1 anbd Closing Riff 2.
Closing Riff 1:
Lead: (the effect is some sort of volume/wah, each notes fades in and out slightly)
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-8--------------------6-----------------------2-------------------------4-----------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Closing Riff 2:
Rhythm: (same fade effect as lead, but with more fuzz and what I think is a phaser)
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C---10~~~~~~~~10~~~~~~9~~~~~~9~~~9~~~9~~~10~~~7~~~~7~~~~~5~~~~~7~~~~7~~~~~5----------
G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's pretty much the whole song outside of the strucure, which is long and complex if you're not familiar with the song. Therefore, let's go over it against the song:
Guitar slide up neck x1 (0:08)
Main/Opening Riff x4 (0:09)
Pre-Verse Riff x1 (0:30)
Verse Riff 1 x1 (0:35)
Verse Riff 2 x2 (0:46)
Chorus Riff x2 (0:56)
Main/Opening Riff x4 (1:16)
Verse Riff 1 x1 (1:37)
Verse Riff 1 x2 (1:48)
Chorus Riff x2 (1:58)
Pre-Bridge Riff x2 (2:20)
Guitar slide up neck x1 (2:27)
Bridge Riff 1(Rhythm ONLY) x2 (2:28)
Bridge Riff 1(Lead + Rhythm) x2 (2:40)
Bridge Riff 2 x2 (2:50)
End Bridge Riff: x1 (3:01)
Main/Opening Riff (Lead only)x1 (3:11)
Main/Opening Riff x4 (3:17)
Verse Riff 1 x1 (3:38)
Verse Riff 2 x2 (3:48)
Chorus Riff x4 (3:58)
Bridge Riff 1 (Lead ONLY) x14 (4:40)
Chorus Riff (Rhythm ONLY)[a] x14 (4:40)
Closing Riff 1 x26 (5:52)
Closing Riff 2 x4 (6:17)
Closing Riff 2 x4 (7:07)
Closing Riff 2 x4 (7:58)
And that's it!
Please send all question/comments/complaints/corrections/etc. to Rick Nuzzy at:
JotunIDR@hotmail.com
