Top Ten Most Underrated Metal Drummers

The Top Ten
1 Nicko McBrain - Iron Maiden Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, which he joined in 1982.

Clive Burr is more underrated but Nicko is better that's why he's number one.
You can't be a bad drummer and be underrated because it's just you're not good enough. 'm not saying clive isa bad drummer because he's a very good oe. I'm just saying that Nicko is better.

He is underrated. The double cross is not the greatest thing. He plays in a different way and also that makes the "maiden sound". He don't need to make any fast bass drum taps like joey's. He is unique and my favorite drummer.

Nicko is honestly the greatest drummer to ever live. Iron Maiden is the best. No double bass just single. Up the Irons!

Best hasn't got any writing credit except some b side of singles yet has written so many drum tracks yet so underrated

2 Arin Ilejay - Avenged Sevenfold

Arin is not The Rev dumbass Jimmy is the Rev

How is the Rev underrated? He is #1 on the best metal drummer list haha

His beats always linger in my mind
He's quite talented guys

Arin isn't as good as the rev but he's till good

3 Michael 'Moose' Thomas - Bullet For My Valentine

This drummer is SICK! Hear songs like your betreyal, the last fight, scream aim fire and you will know that he is the most underrated drummer but joey, adler, lambardo are the best drummers atm

4 Gene Hoglan - Death, Dethklok, Testament, Death Angel 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.

Gene is by far the most active heavy metal drummer on the planet. And oh wait... He's REALLY good! Lars should be bumped way down. All rock beats now.

He was in Dark Angel, not Death Angel. Still a badass, though!

Don't forget, he was in Strapping Young Lad and Zimmer's Hole!

Gene gets planet of respect. He's not really underrated

5 Andols Herrick - Chimaira
6 Daniel Erlandsson - Arch Enemy

He is and insanely good drummer crap... he is much better than most drummers these days... for example listen to time is black by arch enemy... insanity!

Most people won't have heard of him, which is a shame because he's really good

7 Scott Travis - Judas Priest Mark Scott Travis is a Grammy Award winning American rock musician, best known as the drummer for the English heavy metal band Judas Priest and the American heavy metal band Racer X.

My god just listen to painkiller his drum solo made me cry he must take first place

Scott kicks butt. A great drummer.

Travis rocks. Very underrated

Very underrated. I remember Scott when he sold appliances at Northridge Mall Sears.

8 Mario Duplantier - Gojira Mario Duplantier is a French musician and artist best known as the drummer of technical death metal band Gojira.

Definitely the most underrated and so is Gojira in general.

He is simply awesome.
PS how is that douche from A7X on this list, he is most overrated drummer ever

French for the win

Listen to l'enfant savage intro and you will know how is this drummer one of the most underrated and less-known drummers he got awarded by Metalsucks.net best modern metal drummer and I think he deserve it!

9 Nick Menza - Megadeth Nick Menza (1964-2016) was a professional drummer best known for his work in Megadeth from 1989-1998 and in 2004. He recorded drums on four of Megadeth's albums "Rust In Peace", "Countdown To Extinction", "Youthanasia", and "Cryptic Writings".

As a drummer I can say Nick Menza is a supremely talented drummer but only drummers seem to know this as never appreciated as much as he should be Megadeth fans but any drummer will tell you Holy Wars is superb and also listen to the jazz band with whom he played. He certainly had talent in abundance and definitely underrated.

Nick Menza is the king drummer of metal, he was kicked out off megadeth by Dave Mustaine, when Dave asked him to perform with megadeth again, the other drummers that dave mustaine hired was nervous when they saw nick menza there

The forgotten king is dead... Long live the king Menza!

Rest in Peace one of the most iconic and best drummers ever.

10 Jordan Mancino - As I Lay Dying
The Contenders
11 Randy Black - Primal fear, ex-Annihilator Randy Black is a Canadian-born metal drummer and recording artist best known for his stints as the drummer for Annihilator, Primal Fear, Duskmachine, and Bif Naked. He is an ambidextrous drummer.

Fast, technical and creative. Ambidextrous.
Awesome fills and intros. Incredible musicality and versatility. He uses a wide range of beats/styles from all metal subgenres.

12 Mike Mangini - Dream Theater Mike Mangini is an American drummer. Since 2010, he has been a member of progressive metal band Dream Theater, following the departure of founding drummer Mike Portnoy.

Nobody could have replaced Portnoy any better. He is incredibly fast and insanely technical. A truly great drummer that lives in the shadow of his predecessor.

I have nothing but admiration for this guy. I honestly think he's even better than Portnoy but still doesn't get the credits he deserves.

He's probably the best I know

13 Charlie Benante - Anthrax

This guy has one of the best double kick techniques on the planet. It's so tough to be super-fast and super-accurate at the same time, but this guy does it effortlessly. Without him, god knows where Anthrax would be right now!

14 Clive Burr - Iron Maiden Clive Burr was an English drummer. He was a member of Iron Maiden from 1979 to 1982. Previously a member of Samson, Burr joined Iron Maiden in 1979 (coincidentally at about the same time Bruce Dickinson joined Samson).

Definitely more underrated and had more of a feel and creativity to his drumming compared to Nicko. Nicko has a few good tracks on Piece of Mind, and some amazing drumming all throughout Powerslave; nothing really good outside of that.

Listen to the first 2 albums. He's simply a better and more creative drummer than Nicko, and has a better feel. Just cause Nicko is more technically efficient doesn't mean he's better.

Can't forget the guy who helped start Maiden off. R.I.P. clive, such an amazing drummer

One of the most underrated drummers ever!

15 Flo Mounier - Cryptopsy 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.

He's a beast (technical death metal).

16 Jason Rullo - Symphony X

Rullo rocks! Symphony X is AWESOME!

17 Jerod Boyd - Miss May I
18 Jimmy The Rev Sullivan - Avenged Sevenfold

Some will tell you he is all about speed, but he isn't. he's about the technicality, and the style. The speed is just a bonus. We all miss ya Jimmy. foREVer

He's underrated because people think he is talentless, and all about speed. He's not, he's the best metal drummer

People underrate him because Avenged Sevenfold fans overoveroverrate him.

The rev is overrated as hell!

19 Bobby Jarzombek - Halford, Riot, Sebastian Bach Bobby Jarzombek is a heavy metal/progressive metal drummer and best known for his work with Halford, Sebastian Bach and Riot.

This guy is amazing!

20 John Dolmayan - System of A Down John Dolmayan is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American songwriter and drummer. He is best known as the drummer of System of a Down. During System's hiatus, he made a solo album based solo on covers called These Grey Men, which featured vocal performances from Serj Tankian, M. Shadows, Franky Perez, Jonathan Dorr, Jonah Perry Nimoy, and Sirusho. Tom Morello provided guitar work on Street Spirit. Dolmayan and Serj have argued on social media, due to their drastically different political beliefs.

Seriously I think it's because he's so quiet but people don't realize that this guy is as great a drummer as anyone. He doesn't miss a beat

Just listen to Deer Dance, Toxicity, Radio/Video, etc.

This guy is one of the most creative drummers ever

Underrated even in underrated drummers' list.

21 Thomas Stauch - Blind Guardian Thomas ("The Omen") Stauch, also known as Thomen Stauch, is a German metal drummer best known as the drummer for the metal band Blind Guardian (1984-2005) and one of the founding members. He worked with various bands and is the current drummer for Serious Black.

Blind Guardian's early speed metal years years proved The Omen to be a extremely fast drummer, and his absolutely jaw-dropping work on A Night at the Opera proved him to be just as technical and complex. His work is truly something special in all its facets.

22 Jeremy Spencer - Five Finger Death Punch

Jeremy Spencer is definitely one of the best metal drummers out there. He deserves way more attention!

His groove is incredible and his double bass is better than most others.

23 Alex Pelletier - Despised Icon
24 Mike Portnoy - Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment Michael Portnoy is an American drummer primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and a co-founder of the progressive metal/rock band Dream Theater. Known for his technical skill as a drummer, Portnoy has won 30 awards from the Modern Drummer magazine.

It's weird how no one has a "halfway" opinion about Mr. Portnoy. Everybody either hates him or worships the ground he walks on, but neither group can really say why they feel the way they do. Has anybody noticed this or is it just me?

One of the most underrated and one of the greatest in last years but joey and chris adler are the most underrated

He's not really underrated.

25 Inferno - Behemoth

Genuinely the only one out of these people who I think is not only super speedy, but can do atmospheric drumming like religious beats etc

Intense, fast and technical and everything you can ask for in a drummer

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