10 Best Metal Drummers Of All Time

Once the new millennium started, metal seemed to be going in a more of a gentle direction. Even though great bands like Linkin Park were scoring massive hits, the musicianship behind their angst weren't exactly what metalheads were expecting...but there was much heaviness to come.

When Slipknot burst onto the heavy metal scene, they were unlike anything the mainstream had ever come across. Here were guys dressed in boiler suits playing songs with such a forceful backbeat that it moved a certain muscle in your gut. The guitars in the band were heavy for sure, but Joey Jordison made Slipknot's music feel like the gnarliest metal in the world.

Jordison's maniacal work across the band's first two records are tremendous feats of metal brilliance with incredible blast beats and rhythms that were almost death metal. When the band moved on to more straightforward metal bangers, Jordison offered the perfect foil by having simple yet effective drum grooves that made it impossible not to headbang.

It's no shock that this guy had the dexterity to take over for Lars Ulrich at a Metallica show later down the line. Of all the modern marvels of drumming, Jordison truly brought the punkish soul into Slipknot's mad world.