10 Greatest Drum Performances In Rock Music History

For any drummer looking to get into the more technical side of things, metal has practically got you covered. If you look through the thrash scene or even the early days of Black Sabbath, you're going to hear bands relying on a heavy backbeat, taking the dark riffs and bringing that much more intensity to them over 8 minutes at a time. It's always nice to give them an endurance test, but Painkiller proceeds to blow you away from the first 30 seconds of the song.

Before any of the guitars or the trademark vocals of Rob Halford start, the beginning of the song is all drums, as Scott Travis pumps out some of the greatest fills, with double bass pedals and a heavy emphasis on the snares and China cymbals. While it does sound like absolute chaos for the first few seconds of the song, everything turns a corner when he lays into the groove (still at a demanding tempo) and brings the rest of the band in with some double bass fills.

It would take any common drummer months (if not years) to master that intro alone, but we're just getting started, as the rest of the band come in and he has to lay down that same intensity for the better part of 6 minutes. Then again, it makes sense why Scott would have needed to give it his all on this record. Priest were looking to reinvent metal one more time for the '90s crowd, and when you have a belter like Rob Halford at the front, you're going to need to come through with everything you've got.