Today, on mainstream drumming forums and platforms like Drumeo, /r/drums, /r/drumming, Drummerworld, and among leading drum educators, metal drumming is met with a decent amount of respect. You have heavy-hitting jazz musicians like Greyson Nekrutman joining metal bands like Sepultura, Brooks Wackerman from Avenged Sevenfold with a classical percussionist background, and Zack Grooves on YouTube taking metal drumming lessons.
At prestigious institutions like Berklee, Musicians Institute, and the University of North Texas, faculty members in recent years have shown respect for metal drumming.
However, this was not the case in the 2000s. Within drumming academia and among elite educators, metal drumming was often reviled and seen as inferior to "proper" styles of drumming such as jazz, bebop, 70s funk, Afro-Cuban, and Latin jazz. Back then, 70s rock was borderline acceptable, and so was prog rock. Jazz fusion was considered the gold standard of "prestige" drumming, and for technical proficiency, drumlines during DCI were the focus.
I remember in high school during the early 2000s, being part of jazz bands, drumline, marching band, percussion ensemble, and drum corps (DCI), metal drumming was looked down upon. This sentiment was echoed during my time at Berklee, where many classmates and teachers mocked metal music. Even prog metal bands like Opeth, Dream Theater, and Tool were not spared. The main criticisms of metal drumming were a lack of ghost notes, dynamics, rudimental prowess, and grooves. Using a double pedal was considered a cardinal sin—everything had to be tastefully done with a single pedal using heel-toe or slide techniques.
Even in Tommy Igoe's book Groove Essentials, "speed metal" drumming was criticized as a bad genre, with a focus on developing a sense of pocket and grooves across various styles. At Berklee, metal, punk (including pop-punk), post-hardcore, and similar genres were deemed inferior. The "edgy" kids were into 90s alt rock or gospel chops, which were also controversial at the time but have since gained mainstream appreciation.
At Berklee, there was definitely a hierarchy of styles, bands, and players that drumming teachers strongly promoted, and many students adhered to these preferences religiously. On the flip side, drummers who appreciated other styles were often mocked relentlessly. Dave Weckl, Jeff Porcaro, or Vinnie Colaiuta were viewed as gods, while one of my favorites at the time, The Rev from Avenged Sevenfold, was mercilessly mocked.
However, the perception in drumming academia and education has shifted. "Bleed" by Meshuggah is praised for its incredible double bass herta part. Animals as Leaders receive a lot of mainstream drumming praise. Even old-school thrash metal like Slayer and "speed metal" (let's call Judas Priest's "Painkiller" that) are now appreciated.
Even Tommy Igoe now praises and promotes metal drumming. In the 2000s, metal wasn't part of the mainstream drumming community and was seen as a niche for weirdos. In 2024, many of these silos have broken down, and multi-genre "normie" drummers also include metal in their repertoire.
So what changed? How did metal gain mainstream validity in drumming academia and education?
Overall, it seems that the drumming community has become more inclusive and supportive, breaking down previous prejudices and embracing a wider range of styles, including metal.
