Best Death Metal Drummers

The Top Ten
1 George Kollias - Nile Georgios "George" Kollias is a Greek heavy metal drummer and music teacher best known for his work with American technical death metal band Nile.

I've known him since our teenage years, and I have only one word for him: "Hardworker." This guy practices everywhere - even on walls or tables! All day with drumsticks...

I love his drumming, man. I am a death metal drummer, and I have nothing on him. His blast beats are insane.

Godlike hand speed, insane blast beats, and double bass faster than a machine gun. His solo album is pure awesomeness.

2 Gene Hoglan Eugene "Gene" Victor Hoglan II is an American drummer. He is acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including use of odd devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms.

Not only is he incredibly technical, but his immense footwork is probably the best in the industry. I think people forget how creative and diverse he can be. There's no mistaking his playing - when you listen, you know it's him behind that set. His style varies significantly when playing for Death, Testament, and especially with Fear Factory. He's also a great dude to talk to - modest and very humble. I got the chance to see him live with the great Chuck Schuldiner back in the day with Death, Devin Townsend's Strapping Young Lad, and, of course, one of my all-time favorites, Fear Factory, twice with Burt, Dino, and Byron. He blew my mind live! He makes it look so easy. Salute!

3 Paul Mazurkiewicz - Cannibal Corpse Paul Mazurkiewicz is an American drummer best known as a member for death metal band Cannibal Corpse. Mazurkiewicz was originally the drummer for the band, Tirant Sin, alongside two other future Cannibal Corpse members Chris Barnes and Bob Rusay.

Technically not the best, but he has a recognizable style that is one of the things that makes Cannibal Corpse sound different from any other death metal band. He's also one of the pioneers in this genre.

He should be at the top of the list. He has the best timing in the world, never misses a note, and plays live exactly like on the CD.

Cradle of Filth and Suicide Silence are not death metal, laugh out loud. Cannibal Corpse is one of the best.

4 Nils Fjellström

Played in Aeon, Sanctification, and Dark Funeral. Now in Nordjevel. Just a great drummer for death metal and black metal.

5 Francesco Paoli - Fleshgod Apocalypse Francesco Paoli is the drummer for the Italian technical death metal band Fleshgod Apocalypse, formed in 2007.

God-tier drummer! Just listen to his insane blast beats in "The Violation" or the precision in "Minotaur."

6 Krimh - Decapitated

Great drummer. Just check out his YouTube channel!

7 Mike Smith - Suffocation

Talking about Mike Smith is not only about his career with Suffocation but also his contribution to death metal and extreme drumming techniques. God sent him to the world to invent death metal drumming.

Who's the master? Of course, Mike Smith. With his multi-instrumentalist background, he's able to approach the "art of drumming" proportionally. He's the best drummer ever.

You have to commend any drummer with wrists like Mike's. Crazy stuff.

8 Flo Mounier Flo Mounier is the drummer of technical death metal band Cryptopsy. He has toured Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia and the United States as a headlining act over the last 24 years, and combined record sales have reached over 300,000 copies to date.

Utterly insane drummer. His talent hasn't gone unnoticed, but he still deserves more recognition!

9 Dave McGraw - Cattle Decapitation

This is the level I want to reach. Dave is nearly untouchable as a drummer.

Cattle Decap is one of the heaviest bands around, and this guy is one of the reasons.

An absolute beast on the skins.

10 Pete "The Feet" Sandoval - Morbid Angel
The Contenders
11 John Longstreth - Origin, Skinless, Gorguts

No questions asked, by far one of the most technical and fastest drummers, and he still manages to make it catchy.

12 Hannes Grossmann - Necrophagist, Obscura Hannes Grossmann is a German drummer who plays for the US death metal band Hate Eternal, German progressive band Alkaloid, and for U.S. technical extreme metal supergroup Blotted Science. He was also the drummer during Necrophagist's Epitaph era and played with Obscura for their first two albums.

I was about to vote for George Kollias until I scrolled down a bit and saw Hannes. An absolute monster, his work for Necrophagist, Obscura, Blotted Science, and Alkaloid is incredible.

He's a beast. His work for Blotted Science is also remarkable.

13 Richard Christy - Death

Only on one album of Death, but he was the best one in my opinion.

This guy is an absolute monster. Way underrated. Super quick feet.

14 Lyle Cooper - Absvrdist, The Faceless, Abhorrent

Shawn Cameron?!?!? But no Lyle Cooper? Listen to his work with Abhorrent and then look me in the face and tell me even a quarter of this list is on his level. Disgraceful.

Planetary Duality is a piece of art because of his work. What a creative and cool drummer!

15 Spencer Prewett - Archspire
16 Zbigniew "Inferno" Promiński - Behemoth

Great double bass drum work and a variety of blast beats. When he's playing live, he uses different kinds of tempos for the blast, making the live set diverse. Also, great technique.

17 Steve Asheim - Deicide

Steve is one of the founding drummers of technical death metal. As a founding member of Deicide, he has also become one of the defining death metal drummers. His blast beats are insane, especially in his early works (e.g., Deicide and Legion), which were groundbreaking for their time. The producers at Morrisound Studios were dumbfounded by how to clearly handle a blast beat like that. He is ranked the 14th fastest blast beat drummer of all time (according to Guinness), and that alone makes Steve a drumming god. Not to mention that he can play the rack toms and cymbals so fast and fluently that I sometimes prefer just listening to Deicide's drum tracks rather than the whole song. He may not be as fast as George Kollias or some other drummers, but he is a musical genius and will always be my top drummer.

18 Fabio Ramirez - Internal Suffering, Christ Denied
19 Romain Goulon - Necrophagist

These top ten are based on how famous they are. Technically, Romain Goulon blows Gene Hoglan clear out of the water.

20 Derek Roddy

Derek is the mastermind. He is best known as Derek "ONETAKE" Roddy. Hails to this flawless lunatic.

By far the best drummer in the death metal scene right now. He's up there with George Kollias, but he plays so well that he's done every single recording in one take - hence the nickname Derek "One Take" Roddy.

He is the best. No question about that.

21 Ken Bedene - Aborted

Damn, this dude's drum parts go hard. Really creative in what he writes as well.

Insane speed and power. His technique is flawless, and he is one of the cleanest players in death metal.

22 Darren Cesca - Deeds of Flesh, Goratory, Arsis
23 Krzysztof Raczkowski - Vader
24 Sean Reinert Sean Reinert was the drummer of Æon Spoke. He was also the drummer and founding member of Cynic, until leaving the band in September 2015.

How the hell is Reinert not higher?

25 Shawn Cameron - Carnifex
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