Current metal drumming

[Midnightmadness]

Hi all, Im new here. My favorite kind of music is metal. I have been a metal fan my whole life and have been a drummer for many years. I have really started to notice that a lot of metal drummers, as well as metal bands as well, sound the same. Blast beats, super fast double bass all the time etc.

I like blasts and fast double bass. But hearing both so much has gotten me really board of it most of the time (unless it really fits the song).

As a drummer in a metal band I have always tried to have a unique voice and sound. But because of the trends that I hear from a lot of current metal drummers Im inspired to push my drumming in my metal band even further from modern metal norms.

I still like to use double bass, sparingly in comparison to a lot of guys, but I really try not to over use it. I've never been a major blast beater.

Any thoughts on this subject from anybody?

[Kevaruka]

Listen to the new Motörhead cd. Proper band with proper drumming.

[xweasel]

Blast beats and fast double kick is pretty much a staple in certain styles of metal. It's like a blues shuffle, or a reggae one drop at this point. I don't listen to a lot of technical death metal these days because I kinda got bored with the variations of skank, blast, double kick 16ths that's prevalent in much of it. I can certainly still appreciate the skill involved, and I wish I could do a clean blast at 280bpm, but it's just become a bit monotonous for me to listen to.

[wired]

I think you might want to get more into Jazz,Latin,funk,world music everything that you don't listen to. Because wither you like these other genres or not. In all these different styles you might find inspiration and new ideals.

Take someone like Stuwart Copeland. He would play a lot of mid east/reggae inspired beats to those old police songs, Unique hi hat patterns,unexpected tom beats/fills. So right off the bat he's coming from a different place then most rock drummers back in his day. But yeah by going and fooling around with other styles
you will develop new ideals off these and it will slowly work it's way into your playing by osmosis. Just a thought.

[8beat]

I like listening to metal but I don't play it. I'm not set up to play blast beats.

[piratemonkey124]

I play metal and I don't play blast beats, but then again it doesn't really fit in the music my band is writing. I think blast beats are way over used in a lot of metal because people hear other bands doing it and think they should be too. My local scene is mostly thrash right now, with a few death bands. Going to shows sometimes is like seeing the same band 4 times until the one different band on the bill plays. That's why we are trying to stand out with our music. Do what makes you like, don't worry about the trends. People will tend to remember something different from the typical wall of noise.

[SpazApproved]

OH man I LOVE metal!!

Check out Fleshgod Apocalypse "the violation"

Also check out anything from a drummer named Alex Rudinger.... he's my favorite metal drummer to watch

[Ricardo]

OH man I LOVE metal!!

Check out Fleshgod Apocalypse "the violation"

Also check out anything from a drummer named Alex Rudinger.... he's my favorite metal drummer to watch

My neighbor dragged me to a Megadeth show a few years ago............the drummer that night was Jimmy DeGrasso............I loved his playing even though I'm not a huge fan of metal or Mustaine.

The guy had a good night -- he was on fire -- very good chops.

[SpazApproved]

My neighbor dragged me to a Megadeth show a few years ago............the drummer that night was Jimmy DeGrasso............I loved his playing even though I'm not a huge fan of metal or Mustaine.

The guy had a good night -- he was on fire -- very good chops.

I have his limited edition signature Ride Cymbal...

It's a 10lb BEAST! Definitely for metal.

[Ricardo]

I have his limited edition signature Ride Cymbal...

I'd love to own one...............big bell.............I like heavy rides.

[marko138]

I agree with the OP. That kind of drumming, and that kind of metal for that matter, doesn't really interest me. And yeah, using dbl kick sparringly and tastefully is super effective and making your work stand out.

[Midnightmadness]

I have studied jazz, funk, latin, Brazilian, linear drumming etc that I try to bring into my drumming.

What really inspired me to start this thread is the last few new albums I've goten from new metal bands really sound the same, as well as the drumming. It's made finding.new bands in the genre harder because Im looking for bands that really have their own thing going on. Same for the drummers.

I love death metal, groove metal etc. I just like to hear when drummers approach it differently.

[drummer]

I like blasts and fast double bass. But hearing both so much has gotten me really board of it most of the time

bored, not board

(unless it really fits the song).

This is the crux of it right here. We are mature as a musician when we play for the song first and foremost.

[Ricardo]

yeah, using dbl kick sparringly and tastefully is super effective and making your work stand out.

This is the crux of it right here. We are mature as a musician when we play for the song first and foremost.

The combination of these two answers is spot on.

[metallitroy]

While I agree with you that modern metal drumming has become a LITTLE staid, I would ask you to listen to an old Testament or Metallica record (the Legacy or Ride the Lightning), then compare it to a metal band from today. The difference is night and day to my ear. We have really come a long way in the sound we try to convey in these 30 or so years. However, it also seems that every band now is trying to outdo the last in terms of; tempo of blast beats, speed of double bass, articulation of long tom fills, etc.. As a metal fan, I appreciate it when a very talented drummer shows off his chops in a recording, but i can still appreciate the simple excellence of Louis Clemente playing traditional single bass in thrash, and killing it!!

[NPYYZ]

I listen to a lot of different types of music, my favorite however is Progressive Metal. The drummers in these bands just amaze me.
Check out:

Pagan's Mind - Celestial Entrance , Enigmatic: Calling, God's Equation , Full Circle Live from Center Stage Atlanta 2014 - out on October 16th. I was at this show, amazing. I also Have the audio early sent to my from the band. I was a funder in the making of the Cd and DVD set. This is pure live no overdubs excellent musicianship.

Trailer - https://youtu.be/kcHBlbqVClw

DGM - Frame , Momentum

Circus Maximus - All 3 of them

Withem - Point of you

Symphony X - Iconoclast , Underworld - One of the top ten best albums of all time, my opinion of course.

Ghost Ship Octavius - Debut

Ethernity - Obscure Illusions


That will get you started.

[SpazApproved]

^ I love your list.

Lets be friends. haha

[JoePasko]

Do you know of Jason Bittner ? He's originally from Schenectady like me, and played in bands in the Albany NY area for years, and I guess now he's made it big time on the metal scene. I met him a few times, he played drums in my friend Paul's band for a while. He'll do a drum clinic around here from time to time. Local boy does good !

[SpazApproved]

^I'm not a huge fan of Bittner.
Saw a couple interviews was super arrogant
Then saw a drum solo where he played to a metronome live and got off.. wasn't horrible but wasn't pretty

[slinky]

I played in an all original metal band for three years and two cd's but never did any of that double bass kind of stuff. The main reason being i'm not good enough to do it . We did a lot of shows where the 2 or sometimes 3 other bands playing the same night would just sound all the same.

One of my favorite metal drummers is Bobby Jarzombek. He played on this solo Halford album. I clarify that because a lot of people think it's Priest. But this one is always in my top 10 metal rotation

[marko138]

^I'm not a huge fan of Bittner.
Saw a couple interviews was super arrogant
Then saw a drum solo where he played to a metronome live and got off.. wasn't horrible but wasn't pretty

I like Shadows Fall but I'm not a huge fan of him either. Very talented but I always felt like his drumming was very calculated and sort of clinical. Kinda boring in a metal way if that makes sense.

[JoePasko]

It's probably going on 20 years since I've seen him play, and I think that was after he joined Karyn Crisis's band. I am pretty sure he was still playing in my friend's band, China White, when Crisis lured him away.

I dunno, I am open to all kinds of music, can't say I am a huge fan of today's metal'. When I was a teenager, Black Sabbath, Ted Nugent, etc. was considered heavy metal. But I do hear modern stuff I like. To be honest, the only
thing that really turns me off (and I give away my age, I suppose), is where the "singers" do that throat-farting thing. Is that still popular ? Sorry, just never really got what that was all about. I am okay with some screaming -- but not so much the gurgling. Maybe it reminds me too much of puking !!

[Ricardo]

To be honest, the only thing that really turns me off (and I give away my age, I suppose), is where the "singers" do that throat-farting thing. Is that still popular ? Sorry, just never really got what that was all about.

Are you talking about CMVs ?
(Cookie Monster Vocals)

[JoePasko]

Are you talking about CMVs ?
(Cookie Monster Vocals)

Yeah that describes it !

[SpazApproved]

I like Shadows Fall but I'm not a huge fan of him either. Very talented but I always felt like his drumming was very calculated and sort of clinical. Kinda boring in a metal way if that makes sense.

exactly!!
Makes perfect sense to me because I fully agree.