Or less awful?

Music Radar is taking votes for its annual best-metal-drummer award. Crowning a “best” musician in any genre is always a thankless, ultimately fruitless, and sometimes downright dangerous endeavor, but none of us semi-evolved simians can resist a list for long. MR’s candidates are more hit than miss at least, a good mix of legendary and new(ish) shredders, so we tip our sticks to that.

Did your fav player make the cut? I voted for Brann Dailor…because I’m quite old I suppose but also because he’s super amazing and I’ve lately been thinking quite a lot about Mastodon, the namesake band of a certain decentralized Twitter alternative. Voting ends on November 20, 2022.

Candidates for Best Metal Drummer of the Year

• Art Cruz – Lamb of God
• Ben Gordon – Parkway Drive
• Brann Dailor – Mastodon
• Casey Grillo – Queensrÿche
• Charlie Benante – Anthrax
• Charlie Engen – Five Finger Death Punch
• Christoph Schneider – Rammstein
• Dan Searle – Architects
• Daniel Erlandsson – Arch Enemy
• Danny Carey – Tool
• Dave Turncrantz – Russian Circles
• Dirk Verbeuren – Megadeth
• Eloy Casagrande – Sepultura
• Fabio Alessandrini – Annhihilator
• Jay Weinberg – Slipknot
• Jon Larsen – Volbeat
• Marco Von Allmen – Zeal & Ardor
• Mario Duplantier
• Matt Alston – Machine Head
• Matt Garstka – Animals as Leaders
• Max Portnoy – Tallah
• Michel “Away” Langevin – Voivod
• Mike Wengren – Disturbed
• Nicko McBrain – Iron Maiden
• Ray Luzier – Korn
• Thomas Haake – Meshuggah
• Thomas Hedlund- Cult of Luna
• Zack Simmons – Goatwhore
• Zyon Cavalera – Soulfly

Word of warning: under each category, the name presented in caps is the official winner; all the subsequent names under a category are considered by DRUM! to be “runners-up,” not necessarily “second,” “third,” “or “fourth” place winners. Why? We haven’t a clue…

I. DRUM SET CATEGORIES

Drummer of the Year
NEIL PEART
Stanton Moore
Mike Portnoy
Jimmy Sullivan

Rising Drum Star
THOMAS PRIDGEN
Cody Hanson
Matt Smith
Spencer Smith

Best Progressive Drummer
MIKE PORTNOY
Neil Peart
Gavin Harrison
Danny Carey

Best Metal Drummer
CHRIS ADLER
Jason Bittner
Joey Jordison
Brann Dailor

Best Jam Band Drummer
CARTER BEAUFORD
Stanton Moore
Matt Abts
Jim Donovan

Best Jazz Drummer
STEVE SMITH
Peter Erskine
Billy Hart
Billy Kilson

Best Funk Drummer
CHAD SMITH
Stanton Moore
Zoro
Aaron Spears

Best Urban Drummer
?UESTLOVE
Aaron Spears
Trevor Lawrence Jr.
Teddy Campbell

Best Mainstream Pop Drummer
TAYLOR HAWKINS
Neil Peart
Chad Smith
Travis Barker

Best Alternative Rock Drummer
SAM LOEFFLER
Brooks Wackerman
Atom Willard
Travis Barker

Best Punk Drummer
TRAVIS BARKER
Tré Cool
Brooks Wackerman
Bill Stevenson

Best R&B/Blues Drummer
ZORO
Stanton Moore
Aaron Spears
Teddy Campbell

Best Country Drummer
JIM RILEY
Paul Leim
Eddie Bayers
Ben Sesar

Best Drum Clinician
THOMAS LANG
Jojo Mayer
Stanton Moore
Mike Mangini

Best Studio Drummer
VINNIE COLAIUTA
Steve Gadd
Josh Freese
Rodney Holmes

Best Live Drumming Performer
NEIL PEART
Stanton Moore
Jimmy Sullivan
Mike Portnoy

II. PERCUSSIONIST CATEGORIES

Percussionist of the Year
LUIS CONTE
Giovanni Hidalgo
Fausto Cuevas
Taku Hirano

Rising Percussion Star
CESAR ESPINOZA
Carlos Maldonado
A.B. Bermudez
Eric Velez

Best Latin Percussionist
RICHIE FLORES
A.B. Bermudez
Giovanni Hidalgo
Poncho Sanchez

Best Jazz/Fusion Percussionist
SAMMY FIGUEROA
Richie Flores
A.B. Bermudez
Cyro Baptista

Best Percussion Clinician
JESUS DIAZ
Giovanni Hidalgo
Alex Acuña
Valerie Naranjo

Best Rock/Pop Percussionist
LUIS CONTE
Fausto Cuevas
Raul Rekow
Jim Donovan

Best Worldbeat Percussionist
VALERIE NARANJO
Zakir Hussain
Taku Hirano
Cyro Baptista

Best Percussion Ensemble
HIP PICKLES
Blue Man Group
San Jose Taiko
Blue Devils

Best Drum Circle Facilitator
JIM DONOVAN
Valerie Naranjo
John Scalici
Chet Doboe

Best Studio Percussionist
LUIS CONTE
Lenny Castro
Emil Richards
Robert Vilera

Best Live Percussion Performer
MARC QUIÑONES
Alex Acuña
Hip Pickles
Jim Donovan

III. INDUSTRY AND PRODUCT CATEGORIES

Best Drum Kit
DW COLLECTOR’S TWISTED EXOTICS
Pearl Masters MCX
Tama Starclassic Perfomer Bubinga/Birch
Ludwig Legacy

Best Snare Drum
BLACK PANTHER THICK FLAME MAPLE
Tama 13″ Warlord Limited Edition
Pro-Mark 50th Anniversary
Yamaha 14″ x 5.5″ Kabuto

Best Custom Drum Maker
SJC CUSTOM DRUMS
Pork Pie Percussion
The Craviotto Drum Company
Orange County Drum & Percussion

Best Cymbal
ZILDJIAN ARMAND SERIES
Sabian 20″ HHX Evolution O-Zone Crash
Paiste Twenty Series
Zildjian 22″ K Medium Dark Ride

Best Drumhead
EVANS EC1
Remo Powerstroke X snare head
Remo Vintage A snare head
Aquarian Super-2

Best Drum Stick
VIC FIRTH DANNY CAREY NYLON TIP SIGNATURE
Vater Limited Edition 2007 Stewart Copeland Standard
Zildjian Backbeat Series
Pro-Mark Chris Adler model

Best Hardware
DW 8000 SERIES PEDALS
Tama Iron Cobra Rolling Glide Pedals with Cobra Coil Speed Spring
Pearl 900 Series
Tama Stage Master

Best Percussion
LP JOHN DOLMAYAN MINI-TIMBALE
Pearl Travel Conga
LP More Cowbell Ridge Rider Bell Pack
Remo Key-Tuned Djembe

Best Drumming Accessory
ZILDJIAN TRAVIS BARKER ARTIST SERIES CYMBAL AND DRUMSTICK BAGS
Vater Safe ‘N Sound Earplugs
SKB Roto-X cases
Aquarian Super-Thin Kickpads

Best Electronic Percussion
ROLAND HD-1 V-DRUMS LITE
Yamaha DTXpress IV
Roland PM-01 Personal Monitor
Alesis DM5 Pro

IV. MEDIA CATEGORIES

Best DVD
SECRET WEAPONS FOR THE MODERN DRUMMER (Jojo Mayer)
In Constant Motion (Mike Portnoy)
Ultimate Realistic Rock (Carmine Appice)
Billy Cobham Live At 60 (Billy Cobham)

Best Drumming Book
ON THE BEATEN PATH (Rich Lackowski)
Drumming Out Of The Shadows (Jason Bittner)
Hands, Grooves and Fills (Pat Petrillo)
Jimi Hendrix: Smash Hits Drums Play-Along

Best Drumming Album
HELLYEAH (HellYeah)
Obzen (Meshuggah)
Avenged Sevenfold (Avenged Sevenfold)
Echos, Silence, Patience & Grace (Foo Fighters)

Best Hand Percussion Album
THE MAGICIAN (Sammy Figueroa)
Global Drum Project (Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju and Giovanni Hidalgo)
Con Alma (Mark Weinstein)
Raise Your Hand (Poncho Sanchez)
Marimbula (Luis Conte)

Best Web Site
DRUMMERWORLD.COM
Pearldrum.com
drumsmith.com
drumbum.com

Best Print Ad
PEARL’S “CHAD SMITH GRAMMY MAGNET / REFERENCE SERIES” AD
DW’s “My Name Is… And This Is My Custom DW Kit” campaign
Pro-Mark’s “Say It With Your Music” campaign
Tama’s “Uncharted Rhythmic Terrain / Blue Man Group” ad