AWOL;

 

1. Raymond Frigon (Legend).

2. Lars Ulrich - I guess he shot himself in the foot really, since 1991, but he's criminally underrated by many kids today...

3. Cozy Powell.

4. Rob (Wacko) Hunter (Raven).

4. Nick Barker (Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir).

2. Martin Lopez

3. Jason Rullo

4. Tomas Haake

5. Dave Lombardo

...of these

 

Well...when it comes to technical skill I guess Lars isn�t the best ( I remember reading an interview with Flemming Rasmussen where he stated that he had to put in some of the most difficult drum hits on ...and Justice for All. because Lars couldn�t get them nailed). But there�s not doubt he is one of the most influential thrash metal drummers in the world.

 

I voted for Lombardo ( yes I admit it I�m a giant Slayer fanboy). His style isn�t especially varied. In fact he plays just about the same thing on all songs, but my, my he does it well. I also like the fact that his drums actually sounded like drums and not like some processed triggered hell of a kit, which seems to be the poison of many modern drummers. Of course that�s a production issue and not related to his playing, but I thought I would mention it. He is just one of those rare metal drummers that makes me want to enter the pit every time ( and let�s face it I�m gettin� a bit too old for that shit).

 

There are all sorts of ideas on the first 4 albums which may be accidental, but are perfect for the music - and make an important contribution to the fact that Metallica's first 4 albums are among the most influential in metal history. Lars may have "bashed the wossname" out of the drums, but on tracks like "Fight Fire With Fire", someone is drumming amazingly to my non-drummer ears.

 

No, influential <> good, but it has to be some sort of "good" to be influential, and some sort of "very good" to be "very influential".

 

So to me, at least, Lars is one of the greatest drummers - and I could care a great deal more about technique. Technique is technique, and good playing is something quite different.

 

On Lombardo, surely he has at least two drum styles? There's the style he used on "Criminally Insane" for the intro, and the style he used for the rest of the song...

 

Style doesn't have to evolve or be technically amazing, it only needs to be good. Ahem. AC/DC. Case closed.

I would've put Mark Zonder on the list - excellent drummer if you ask me...

thanks, do you know the album (in my avatar)?

 

Not just the best Metal drummer, but the best drummer, period.

 

 

I'll explain later!

Gene Hoglan is half the majesty of Darkness Descends. His uber thrash drumming on that album really set a new standard for the genre and the instrument. It was fast, it was ferocious, it was perfect for the album.

He then went on and became the driving force behind Dark Angel and turned them into a tech-thrash but heavy as stonehedge band. I am a great fan of Leave Scars. Not just a drummer then. Still on top of his game.

DEATH. Oh boy. I need a parenthesis here to make myself clear. My favourite singers are Robert Lowe of Solitude Aeturnus, Kai Hansen (esp. in Helloween) and Hansi Kursch. Yet, I *know* that the best metal singer is Dio (shh, let me just say my thing!) and the best singer ever is Freddie Mercury. 

Similarly, the best drummer *I* have ever heard is Steve Gadd, known for his work with Chick Corea (known to me at least). Now Gene Hoglan was on a Steve Gadd trip at the time Chuck called him to play on Individual Thought Patterns. And then there was much rejoice. My favourite Death album (which happens to be my favourite band, all things considered) and Gene's drumming is yet again setting new standards. Technically fluent, musically beautiful, progressively awesome. Lots of cymbal work, switching pedals, that turbo double bass drumming and that weird prop *clink* sound to provide icing on the awesome drumcake.

Same thing for Symbolic. Again, the album is the perfect vehicle for Gene's progressive playing years (which started on Leave Scars, solidified in Time Does Not Heal and became godlike on the Death albums!). Great songs that are even more enhanced by the very original drum parts. Crystal Mountain? That sort of thing.

And then, in 1997, I bought Strapping Young Lad's City just because Gene Hoglan was on it. It was not the first time I did that. I even have an atrocious Old Man's Child album (and I really don't listen to black metal-ish stuff) because he plays on it (he doesn't save it btw). City, however, was one of the best 90s albums that I came across.

And it showcases Gene's adaptability. Again, that album benefits so much from Gene's playing. Especially the double bass drumming, in its stupendous precision and speed adds so much to the industrial mechanical vibe of the whole album. Perfection.

For these works, Gene Hoglan is my favourite. And I haven't mentioned helping out Dave Lombardo in his early years (THE thrash drummer btw and my second favourite), being on the  Savage Grace album cover and being an overall awesome dude.

Someone vote for Sean Reinert! Please! 

---------------

Mikkey Dee: He should be on that list.  Top 5 drummer in my book.

Greg Hall (Sacred Reich): odd choice, but I simply adore his drumming on the first two Sacred Reich albums. Great sound, great feel, very underrated dude.

Uli Kusch: Along with Thomen Stauch, one of the very, very few drummers who play european power metal and don't make it sound boring and cliche. Kind of like the antithesis of Jorg Michael (Running Wild years onwards of course, he was great in Mekong Delta!)

---------

YES, he was a great drummer. He was not *the* greatest drummer and certainly not the most difficult to play but he managed to become recognizable and an integral part of the band. His drum fills and little nuances he does on Puppets-Black Album era are really great imo. And he was doing really well technically up to the Black Album. I saw him live on the Black Album tour and he was FINE. I mean speed, feet, the whole deal. Then as we all know, he simply got bored being a drummer and fell in love with being a rock star. Staying away from a drumkit for months (in his own words), playing just the basics, rock drumming... Of course when he tries to play the Justice tunes he is going to mess them up. A real shame. I saw him on the Big 4 gig in Athens and he was TERRIBLE. Cringeworthy.

It was however quite astonishing to see how the rest of the band manage to compensate for his random timing. They *know* he is going to hit that crash cymbal juuust a bit quicker than he is supposed to and the whole band synchronizes. Weird.

None of these people on the list can compete with the awesome that Flo Mounier, John Longstreth, and George Kollias (seriously?  Derek Roddy and not George?) bring to the table.

Indeed it shall, indeed it shall.

 

Or maybe Weasel Walter. Theres about 100 other drummers I really like that I can't quite think of now. But none on this list exactly excite me that much, except for Dave Lombardo.

 

Damnit I didn't see Gene Hoglan when I first scanned this list. Would've gone with him.

I guess that I can only state that my favorite would be a tie between Gar Samuelson and Thomen Staunch (of Blind Guardian).