Here's a set of mine:
-Mike Smith (
Suffocation): For my money, Smith is one of the best drummers because he manages to balance technicality with a sense of taste and restraint, as well as a really fearsome, hard-hitting style. The drums on Effigy of the Forgotten are incredibly musical in nature - they operate in tandem with the punishing riffwork amazingly well without being overly flashy or subdued. Not that Suffo's other drummers were BAD (although I never got into Dave Culross' drumming as much on
Despise the Sun), but Smith clearly is one of the best in my opinion.
-Randy Foxe (
Manilla Road): Foxe always had a really flashy, hard-hitting style, but what sets his drumming apart is how well it meshes with the rest of the member's of
Manilla Road - the dude often uses a lot of really creative fills and accents, but never to where it really detracts from the songs. They're very musical in nature as well.
-Aad Klausterwold (
Sinister): I'm certain I completely mispelled the dude's last name. Anyway, Sinister's early albums feature some of the most punishing yet tight percussion work i've ever heard on a
Death Metal alum, knowing when to lay off the gas and really accentuate the riffwork, and when to slam
Down and go to 180 miles an hour, with some really creative fills and accents. Sinister's a fairly blast-heavy band, but his drumming really makes it work.
-Dave Lombardo (
Slayer): Come on, this is
obvious why. Great sense of groove, great fills, great drumkit sound, etc. One of the masters for a reason.
-Pete Sandoval (
Morbid Angel,
Terrorizer): Shit, this one is obvious as well... but I struggle to come up with better drum performances in metal then the first three
Morbid Angel albums and the lone
Terrorizer LP. (to
Hell with all your Darker Days Ahead nonsense! ;) ) Fast as fuck, but with an incredible sense of groove and timing.
-Bill Ward (
Black Sabbath): Really, the dude had an incredible sense of timing and groove on the early Sabbth albums, his somewhat jazzy style was a perfect complement with Geezer's sludgy bass and Iommi's monstrous, crushing riffage. The guy also consistently had a fantastic drum sound throughout the first
Six Black Sabbath releases.
