10 Best Metal Drummers Of All Time
1. Bill Ward
It should go without saying that almost anything synonymous with heavy metal music always comes back to Black Sabbath. Way before double-bass pedals and blast beats, Bill Ward taught every drummer in the world how to create unsettling sounds on the drum kit.
The way that Ward would use his tom-toms to bring about lifts in Black Sabbath's tracks was what gave him his true power. It was as if he was subtly luring you in with his quieter moments before pounding you over the head with every fill. While many people pay attention to Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne when it comes to describing Sabbath's power, Bill Ward had the ability to make the band flip on a dime from riff to riff without every sounding musically schizophrenic.
Being from a jazz background, Ward considers himself a percussionist rather than just a drummer. When you listen to the intricacies that he uses alongside bassist Geezer Butler, you can hear wisps of drum legends like Gene Krupa in his delivery. As the years go on and metal gets more disturbing and complicated, Bill Ward is one of the main reasons why Black Sabbath's hymns of doom still terrify listeners to this day.