Municipal Waste’s Ryan Waste Plays His Favorite Riffs

Municipal Waste guitarist Ryan Waste is the latest Gear Factor guest, showing off the first riffs he ever learned, his favorite bits of thrash from around the world and how it all ties to his signature Waste attack.

Waste first started with four strings instead of six, as he turned his attention toward bass when he first had aspirations of being a musician. He credits Judas Priest's "Electric Eye" with being the song that first inspired him to pick up a guitar, ripping through the iconic burst of riffs that open the Screaming for Vengeance favorite, playing it the way he first learned it.

Switching to another Birmingham favorite and Gear Factor standard, Black Sabbath, Waste ran through the melodic section of "War Pigs," which was among the first lead/melodic passages he learned to play, along with the first song he ever learned, "Electric Funeral."

From there it's a world tour of thrash riffs from the Bay Area to the Great White North and all the way to Germany before bringing it back home to Richmond, Va. with some moshy Waste parts.

Watch the full episode above and follow Municipal Waste on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Get the band's new EP, The Last Rager, here.

See Municipal Waste in the Top 50 Thrash Albums of All Time