10 Best Metal Drummers Of All Time

Bringing the thunder to the hymns of doom.

By Tim Coffman /

Being a drummer seems to be a relatively simple musical practice. From an outsider's perspective, anyone who can keep time throughout a song's duration can be a drummer, but the musical aspect is what you do with the beat. When it comes to metal, that means dialing in your speed and intensity to unheard-of levels.

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Heavy metal is a genre that relies on its thunderous volume and the percussion is the most essential factor in bringing that thunder to the tape. While many metal bands get by with just heavy guitars and less-than-stellar solo work, a metal band without a good drummer is on the brink of falling apart at all times.

With the demanding dexterity metal drummers put their bodies through, these skinsmen have proven themselves to be superhuman with the rhythms they pull off. From moody lurches to double-bass chaos, these drummers certainly know how to put the punch into heavy metal's sonic assault. May they continue to pummel our speakers for many more albums to come.

10. Brann Dailor

When it comes to progressive music, Mastodon have been one of the few bands carrying the torch for complicated riffage in metal. With each member sharing an equal role, Brann Dailor certainly leaves his stamp as the band moves from strength to strength on each record.

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From the band's sludge metal beginnings to the trippy madness of their later years, Dailor has plowed through each album with tremendous power. The way in which each drum fill locks in perfectly with Brent Hinds's rhythm guitar makes it feel like the band has a musical telepathy of some sort. Once you've wrapped your head around the fact that the man is pulling off lightning-fast rhythms, it gets even more mind-numbing when you realize Dailor also provides vocals on quite a few of the band's songs.

Across 7 records of no let-up, Dailor's tenacity is something truly not of this Earth. When you blast a Mastodon track, each drum attack feels reminiscent of the long math problem that you never understood in high school. However, if you're into metal and are more of the calculus variety, Dailor is a drummer to add to your heroes list without question.

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