12 Best Hard Rock Drum Solos

Any modern drummer who takes their craft seriously worships at the altar of Danny Carey. For years, Carey's work in Tool has been some of the most mind-expanding songs that the metal genre has ever seen. The band always maintained a group effort when composing the music, but "Ticks and Leeches" certainly feels like Carey's brainchild.

The intro to the song is almost hypnotic with the way it engulfs your senses, with Carey plodding away across various snares and toms. Even when the guitars finally come in, you're still reeling from the absolute headtrip you endured at the start. It's doubly impressive when you realize that the song is actually in 7/4, which involves Carey having to count out his beats in separate groups so that the track can move along.

Given the band's penchant for more complicated material, it's no wonder that the following track on this album is about the very concept of shifting time. However, "Ticks and Leeches" was the first time where the band just put everything on pause and let Carey showcase what he does best. It may be a great drum performance on its own, but the actual execution of it makes it more than just one of the best drumming feats. This feels like one of the greatest works of percussion ever to be laid down in Western music as a whole.