My favorite rhythm guitarist in a hard rock or metal band is James Hetfield. He pioneered the use of exclusively down picking while muting fast riffs and he is a master at writing riffs. The only other guy who I might say did as much for pioneering metal riffing is Tony Iommi. In some ways Iommi was even more of a metal pioneer than Hetfield. They’re both great and have both been tremendously influential on heavy metal musicians.
…these guys
#whatismetalrhythmguitar
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EVH, Hetfield, Dino Cazares, Vogg, Anders Bjorler, Hagstrom/Thordendal.
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As bizarre as it is to describe Eddie Van Halen as underrated, his rhythm playing (and song writing) are just as brilliant as his lead playing.
The solos just cast a long shadow. 
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Agree with the songwriting part too.
PANAMA!
Eddie Van Halen and Akira Takasaki.
Iced Earth’s Jon Schaffer is one of the few rhythm metal players I feel could go toe to toe with Hetfield.