The hell-raising, chaos-igniting riff of Motörhead's signature anthem Ace Of Spades is instantly recognisable to music fans the world over, and since being introduced by the late Eddie "Fast" Clarke as the title track of Motörhead's fourth album, it's become one of the cornerstones of modern metal.
While rewriting such an iconic guitar part is unimaginable - after all, who would dare tamper with perfection? - sometimes, it's fun to give in to curiosity and see what's possible courtesy of the creative fingers of guitar nerds on the internet.
The mastermind we're shining a spotlight on here is Pete Cottrell, a supremely talented guitarist on TikTok who has reconfigured the Ace Of Spades riff in the style of various legendary bands, including Metallica, Rammstein, Iron Maiden and ZZ Top.
Cottrell's results of the reimagining are seriously, seriously great. Personally, we're fans of the Gojira version, which is complete with multiple of their trademark abrasive fret slides. Another favourite has to be the Iron Maiden take, which features a leaping, galloping rhythm which dances around the classic Motörhead structure.
Check out Cottrell's wizardry below:
@peteplaysmusic ♬ original sound - Pete Cottrell
Previously, Cottrell tackled Metallica's Enter Sandman riff in the style of AC/DC, Megadeth and Rage Against The Machine with similarly impressive results.
In his other videos, you can find him revamping Metallica's Master Of Puppets to sound like it was lifted from the soundtrack of the Doom Eternal video game, playing System Of A Down's Chop Suey using only one guitar string, covering Meshuggah using sugar-based food items, making up his own Slipknot songs and listing six reasons why James Hetfield is awesome.
