Top 6 Live Metal Drummers

By
invisibleoranges
Published: September 25, 2009Tags: ,

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/kBxcZPbP8iQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0

My favorite drummers don’t use triggers. Few things kill my buzz like the sight of a drummer futzing with a trigger module. A drummer should come to kill, not to play with MIDI. Here are my six favorite live drum killers. Some have that magic in the studio, too; some don’t. But they all bring the heat in the flesh. They’re the ones who make me leave shows saying, “Man, that drummer made my day.”

- Cosmo Lee

6. Dave Lombardo (Slayer)

For me, Dave Lombardo is the only drummer whose energy comes across in large venues. I have seen large venues render harmless some truly great drummers: Charlie Watts, Neil Peart, Dave Grohl, Vinnie Paul. But even when I’m up in a balcony, Lombardo’s beat-pushing raises the hair on my arms. Slayer albums are too inconsistent to fully showcase his talent. Only when you see him live, playing nothing but hits, do you realize what a force of nature he is.

5. Rich Hoak (Brutal Truth, Total Fucking Destruction)

Rich Hoak is sort of a cross between Buddy Rich and Ventor. His style is organic and almost jazzy, yet he can rain down blastbeats relentlessly. No other metal drummer moves around the kit like he does. His playing looks awkward and taped together, and his anxious facial expressions only reinforce that impression. But just when you think he’s going to lose a stick/lose his way coming back to the snare/fall over on his side, he somehow manages to stick the landing. He’s a nail-biter to watch, in a good way.

4. Darren Verni (Unearthly Trance, Glorior Belli)

Few drummers are as suited to their bands as Darren Verni is to Unearthly Trance. The band depends on manipulation of noise and space, and Verni regulates these with martial rigor. Yet he also works up rumbling tribal grooves and mighty everything-at-once crashes. He’s fun to watch, as he violates Vinnie Colaiuta’s “least motion/most impact” principle, raising his hands high above his head as a prelude to drum beheading. It’s interesting that he and Unearthly Trance bassist Jay Newman joined French black metal band Glorior Belli. Will they wear their trademark baseball caps in that band?

3. Ben Koller (Converge)

Ben Koller’s drumming has probably caused thousands of dollars in hospital bills from the moshpit mayhem it creates. I’ve witnessed this multiple times. He’ll drop a d-beat or a blastbeat, and people will go absolutely berzerk. He (and the next two drummers) have that special something that turns people into teeth-gnashing, blood-spurting, stranger-punching fiends.

2. Aesop Dekker (Ludicra, Agalloch)

Aesop Dekker’s rough-hewn style is immediately recognizable within seconds. It’s muscular and literally low to the ground — no Dream Theater kit excess for him. Few things are as satisfying as when he leads Ludicra into their signature swinging grooves. He’s also another drummer who can incite crowd violence with the flick of a wrist. One blastbeat from him could powderize half the pansies tap-tapping their way through technical death metal.

1. Chris Maggio (Coliseum)

Who is this guy??? I can hardly find any information on him. All I know is that whenever I see him play, everything gets all tunnel vision-y, and I only see metal and wood and sweat for the next hour or so. He’s got lightning in his hands. Nothing super-technical, just energy that bounces and rolls tirelessly. Check out the above video for proof. It’s of his new project with Chris Owens from Lords. Evidently, Maggio recently left Coliseum. His replacement has big shoes to fill.