Top 10 Songs with the Greatest Metal Drumming Performances

1. Painkiller - Judas Priest

   

   Imagine drumming the 13-minute extended version. Pain all around.

   Mind-blowing, technical, extremely fast, and skillful drumming by the greatest drummer heavy metal has ever seen: Scott Travis. He is the best, no comparison. And Painkiller is the greatest performance in both rock and heavy metal for drumming, guitar works, and undoubtedly vocals. Rob's a monster. So, Painkiller wins without a doubt.

   Mad drum intro by Scott Travis.

2. Bleed - Meshuggah

   

   Thomas Haake is not a drummer. He is an alien from another planet. He came to Earth to enlighten all drummers from this world and show them the true meaning of limb autonomy.

   If you can play this, then you are not human.

3. Honor Thy Father - Dream Theater

   

   Brilliant double bass in 3 parts of the song. The song itself has such great lyrics. The hardest song to drum played by the best drummer ever!

   Really good fill-in at the beginning. Portnoy is technically one of the greatest drummers ever!

4. Ticks & Leeches - Tool

   

   Freakish drumming by Danny Carey!

5. War Ensemble - Slayer

   

   War Ensemble has double bass nearly all the way through, crazy stuff, and Raining Blood is even faster on drums. Slipknot's Joey Jordison is great too, but I don't know why they picked Before I Forget down there, that's a pretty slow Knot song.

   This has the best drum work in the history of metal. It always sends shivers down my spine every time I play this song.

6. Hangar 18 - Megadeth

   

7. The Dance of Eternity - Dream Theater

   

8. Telos - Between the Buried and Me

   

9. Battery - Metallica

   

   Really fast, intense metal drumming by Lars Ulrich!

10. Eyeless - Slipknot

    
The Newcomers
11. ?

    Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy In Eight Parts - Manowar

    

    Once you listen to this, all other items on this list will seem wrong.

12. ?

    Run to the Hills - Iron Maiden

    
The Contenders

13. Your Betrayal - Bullet For My Valentine

    

14. Where Eagles Dare - Iron Maiden

    

    Beastly drummer, that one-foot action. One of those metal drummers who never went to double kick through principle. And Dyers Eve isn't a "drum performance", unless you count drum programming. He can't even play it live. Silly Lars.

    What the hell? Why is this song at 16th? This is genius. Amazing single bass and tom work.

    Very fast and technical abilities professionally shown by Niko McBrain.

15. Before I Forget - Slipknot

    

16. Holy Wars... The Punishment Due - Megadeth

    

    Nick Menza, though slightly underrated, can really drum even in fast songs like this.

17. The Essential Salts - Nile

    

18. Art Of Dying - Gojira

    

19. The Violation - Fleshgod Apocalypse

    

20. Four Walls - While She Sleeps

    

21. Cast Down the Heretic - Nile

    

22. Blacken The Cursed Sun - Lamb Of God

    

23. Bushpig - Anvil

    

    What an intro! It makes me smile every time I hear it. Rob Reiner is the best!

24. Never Enough - Dream Theater

    

    Mike Portnoy's drumming rhythms are really groovy in this.

25. Haunted - Annihilator

    

    Epic and skillful drumming by Mike Mangini. Awesome intro - fast and long (50 seconds).

26. Ratamahatta - Sepultura

    

27. One - Metallica