What are some examples of bands which have used the same riff, solo, vocal melody, etc. more than once? I always think it's kind of funny to hear this sort of stuff, especially when you notice it yourself.

Here are two examples:

King Diamond's "The Storm" and "Never Ending Hill" both open with very similar riffs.

The solo in Obituary's "Inverted" and "Solid State", as well as this live version of the song "Dying" all feature pretty much the same solo. It's not note for note, but they all have similar structures and end with the same bluesy "weeeaah wah wahh" thing which is the most memorable part for me.

On a side note, Leif Edling himself (of Candlemass) also pointed out that the verse riff of "A Cry from the Crypt" sounded very similar to the verse riff of "At the Gallows End", but I don't really hear it all that much.

Iced Earth up to and including Horror Show was fairly guilty of this. Thankfully the songs were still good.

Holy Terror took the riff from Back to Reign by Agent Steel and made it infinitely better, faster, and overall just a greater song. Panzerfaust also sounded like it had taken some ideas from A blaze in the northern sky and reused them as well.

Iron Maiden often use older riffs but will play them backwards. The acoustic but at the end of the chorus of Wasting love and the verse before the chorus in Children of The Damned is the same riff, just played in reverse.

Chuck did this a lot in Death, there was this particular guitar melody he liked to use a lot. I'll see if I can find it.

Really? That would be great to hear because I wasn't aware of it at all.

Manilla Road have done this. A few of the newer albums have "tribute" riffs or vocal lines that are based off older songs.

An obvious example is the end of "Epitaph To The King" off of Gates Of Fire, which is the main riff of "The Ninth Wave" off of Open The Gates.

Rather interesting topic. I have nothing to contribute at this moment, but I'll be lurking around.

Edit:
Actually, I remember some people saying that Megadeth used the same riff over and over, especially in the early albums, but to be honest I really don't see it. Obviously they use a lot of thrashy riffs that by nature sound a bit similar, but I don't really think that counts.

Isn't the music of Xasthur, for the most part, one big idea rehash?
I can't point out any note-for-note examples but sometimes the riffs come so close to being carbon copies that you could mix and match pieces from different songs and a listener could still be hard-pressed to notice the change.

Some musicians have a signature thing that they do - Iced Earth's gallops are pretty notable, as well as the diminished lick that Jeff Loomis uses a lot in his solos.

When a musician uses something similar, I don't focus in the differences between the similar riffs, rather I focus on the context they use it in - what comes before and after it and how it interacts with other instruments. Sometimes the right part for a song has already been used by you or another, but it's a perfect fit.

I feel like every two enslaled albums are like this. For example, monumension and below the lights had a similar vibe, isa and ruun sounded a little similar, vertebrae and axioma ethica odini sounded familiar. They arent identical, but it's almost like you can hear they were thinking similar ideas in each set of two albums.

As soon as I saw this thread, I thought of Running Wild.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzvCiMcQMzY

I always thought Deicides Blame it on god, and Slaves to the cross sounded to similar! especially the chorus

I'd always wanted to make a video like this, I'm glad somebody else had the presence of mind to pick out the two dozen songs Rolf uses that four note lick in.

Gorgoroth - Revelation of Doom http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpdhPivrg2E&t=1m30s
Gorgoroth - Blod og Minne http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcyvdHfXSFM&t=1m42s

I can't remember which album Slave to the Cross is from, but the entire Serpents of the Light album consists of about 3 riffs. It's a fucking great album, but it must've taken all of 2 hours to write.

There's the obvious Morbid Angel backwards riffs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVCerb1Oxvs

Suffocation also used a riff inspired by one in Jesus Wept, as the main riff in To Weep Once More.
Jesus Wept, about 1:10 is the riff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNp2F1PmuzU
Opening riff for To Weep Once More: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rEfj6ZjN4I

There's also two Impaled songs that have pretty much exactly the same riff/solo, but I can't remember which ones. I think they were on the same album, the debut. Don't know if that one is on purpose or not.

Natural Born Philosopher and From the Pagan Vastlands by Behemoth sound pretty similar

W.A.S.P. was the first band that came to mind for me. I'm sure they have plenty of examples but the identical main melodies for Wild Child and Crazy stands out the most.

Also, you could make a drinking game for all the times that Savatage motifs has popped up in later Savatage songs and also stuff by TSO and Jon Oliva's Pain. In addition to having the phrase "in the dark" be used at least once per album, they do repeat a lot of musical ideas that get reused. The most grating example is the way that TSO's "An Angel Returned" has the exact same vocal climax as Savatage's "Not What You See." They also have that weird cycle where "Believe" uses lyrics from "When The Crowds Are Gone" and "Alone You Breathe" uses lyrics from "Believe." Yet they're still one of my all-time favorite bands...

I know Annihilator is another band that reuses a lot of ideas. A subtle "Alice In Hell" reprise occurs at the end of "Brain Dance," "Syn. Kill 1" has a slowed down riff from "Refresh The Demon" as its main riff, "Liquid Oval" vaguely reminds me of "Phoenix Rising, "Shallow Grave" and "Nothing To Me" has fairly similar AC/DC-esque riffs, and I don't think I need to explain what "Back To The Palace" uses it as its inspiration...

first things that came to my mind were (oddly enough) nirvana's teen spirit / rape me and ihsahn's after album, which uses pretty much the same sax melody through the whole thing

Somehow I think it's unavoidable, because musicians are going to play in their own styles and are going to come up with similar sounding riffs and leads. You can say that they are ripping off their own music, but I would argue that even the best musicians are guilty of this.

Better than having all different sounding songs which rip off a variety of artists and styles.

It would also sound too chaotic if they don't rip off anybody but change the style of all the songs. It would not only be very hard to do, but it would probably sound like different bands.

Reminds me of Metallica video with every "death" or "die" they had in discography.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDLZix8NVjg

In Demons & Wizards, Kürsch sings a very similar melody in two of the songs on the first album.
Heaven Denies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KKLrbpD9V0&t=1m49s
Tear Down the Wall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztYSOAcBclk&t=2m7s

Like with Running Wild, there's a certain guitar lick the Amorphis lead guitarist uses in half his solos in the band's more recent output, sometimes more than once. I don't feel like compiling a video though.

The intro solo from Trapped Under Ice by Metallica is really similar to the No Remorse intro solo with wah wah xD

Well, I think when Virgin Steele did it they were trying to connect their songs and tie them up with a governing theme. In "Emalaith" for example a lot of other VS songs like "Weeping Of The Spirits" and "Life Among The Ruins" are alluded to lyrically and in "Sword Of The Gods", "Agony and Shame" and "Invictus" are alluded to musically. These, I gathered, were deliberate so the the listener could take in the series of albums ("The Marriage Of Heaven and Hell" and "The House Of Atreus") as pieces of a whole instead of as random songs without any apparent connection.

Well, not sure that really belongs in this topic, but it was pretty damn funny, "Deaaaath die die die deaaath dying die diee die!"

Symphony X riffs sound almost all alike to me to be honest, after a quick listen to the songs in this video, you at least have to admit they looooooove a certain chord very much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xpu187-6OI

Megadeth seem to enjoy using the word "life" in a lot of their songs. I swear to god, there's this one riff that's in a lot of Megadeth songs that keeps on getting reused.....

Well that's certainly rather antagonistic to Metallica!

Someone made a video for that as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBGmPbOXFHQ

We all know the best one is Slayer Like Satan (and Hell): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9R3_cS6jsk

HEEEEEEEELLLLLLLL!!!?

Why isn't there one with Manowar and steel?

Metalucifer with metal word... play a drinking game triggered by that.

Obvious one im surprised no ones said http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA9lPZSkuDE

Yngwie Malmsteen definitely reuses riffs and melodic patterns a lot. Don't get me wrong, I love him, and that's his thing, but it's just kind of funny to hear 'new' music that's almost note-for-note identical to something he's done before.

Lost Horizon used the same part in the solos of the opening two tracks of their first album:

Heart of Storm - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gpjy6Pt6ng&t=4m17s
Sworn in the Metal Wind - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7o7GugUE3I&t=4m16s

It's not even similar, it's the same god damn thing...and almost at the exact same exact point in each song!

Type O Negative : October Rust onwards, every album album has a couple of songs with similar signature chord progressions in that patented style...and it never gets old or boring

i remember steele and josh even saying it in an interview, somehting to the effect that they have been releasing the same shit again and again, plaigarizing themselves and still sell a ton of records

This intro from Bolt Thrower comes to mind...

The Killchain
Cenotaph
Embers
Powder Burns

Can we mention bands re-using ideas or riffs from other bands? Because I always thought Behemoth stole riffs from Massacra when they wrote "No Sympathy For Fools".

Compare the intro riffs:

Massacra:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWYp1wZk_i8
Behemoth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkUOwTAHqv8

Nah, methinks those riffs are too simple to be stolen.

Every guitarist here has probably jammed something similar on their guitar at one point or another.