The Five Best Death Metal Drummers, Chosen by The Black Dahlia Murder’s Alan Cassidy

Who are the best death metal drummers? The Black Dahlia Murder‘s Alan Cassidy is here to make his picks!

The 34-year-old Cassidy has been behind the kit with the death metal icons since 2012, making his debut on 2013’s Everblack. As a widely respected drummer in his own right, we had to know more about the others in the scene he admires the most and why. And he doesn’t disappoint, making some outstanding selections, which you can see below.

But first…

What You Need to Know About The Black Dahlia Murder

From: Detroit, Michigan (originally)

First Album: Unhallowed (2003)

New Album: Servitude (out Sept. 27)

For more than two decades, The Black Dahlia Murder have been leaders in the 21st century era of death metal. Coming up amid the rise of metalcore and deathcore, the band was often lumped in there as well, despite playing an obvious and inarguable brand of melodic death metal.

The legendary shrieks of late vocalist Trevor Strnad, alongside his twisted macabre storytelling, helped separate The Black Dahlia Murder from other melodeath groups as well. Admirably, in the face of this tragic loss, the band welcomed back guitarist Ryan Knight as founding guitarist Brian Eschbach has risen to the challenge as frontman. Keeping it in the family and not bringing in any new first-time members was well-received by fans also reeling from the 2022 loss of the lovable Strnad.

READ MORE: The Best Death Metal Albums of 2024 (So Far)

Servitude (out Sept. 27 on Metal Blade) is more than an album — it’s a pillar of strength and resilience. The Black Dahlia Murder are understanding of their unique place in death metal and what this band means to their fans. To deliver at a level such as this one, in the wake of such tragic circumstances, is simply remarkable.

“More than pressures or expectations from the fanbase, I feel their trust and support,” guitarist Brandon Ellis comments. “We’ve always done what we do for them, and they’ve appreciated our consistency over the years. The global outcry following Trevor’s passing has shown us how important the band’s music has been to so many people, and how important it is that we continue in his honor. Under all that weight, I think we all knew what needed to be done.”

Watch the music video for “Aftermath” below. “It’s about a meteor that fucks up the whole planet,” Eschbach says of the song, “but there’s still people living. Kind of like The Walking Dead, but with no zombies—so you get right to how people deal with it. And by the end, they’re eating each other.”

See Alan Cassidy’s picks for the five best drummers in death metal further down the page.

Get your copy of ‘Servitude’ at the Metal Blade webstore. Follow The Black Dahlia Murder on Instagram, X, Facebook and Spotify and visit the band’s website to see all tour dates.

The Black Dahlia Murder, “Aftermath” Music Video

The Five Best Death Metal Drummers, Chosen by The Black Dahlia Murder’s Alan Cassidy

Mike Heller

Bands: Malignancy, Raven, Beneath (studio), Abigail Williams, ex-Fear Factory, ex-System Divide, ex-Success Will Write Apocalypse Across the Sky

Mike is one of the hardest working drummers I’ve ever met. He never stops learning, practicing and finding new projects. He was a graduate of “The Collective” in NYC where he honed his percussive knowledge and chops at a young age and has continued to build upon them since.

Two of my personal favorite examples of his work are his releases with Beneath and Malignancy. He takes the already insanely complex brutality of Malignancy and intensifies it with a ceasless, spastic, barrage of technical stickings and patterns for his fills, blasts and drum beats that feel almost impossible to learn by ear.

With Beneath’s 2017 album Ephemeris, he lays thick grooves down with guitar accentuating fusion fills and blast beats inter-spliced between.

Overall, whichever band he performs for, he plays parts that any advanced drummer would admire.

“Brutal” Dave Billia

Bands: ex-Putridity, Beheaded, Vomit the Soul, ex-Hour of Penance, ex-Septycal Gorge, Antropofagus, Xenomorphic Contamination

If you’ve ever listened to any of the listed bands and his releases with them, you’ll know why they call him “Brutal Dave”.

Davide’s discography and session history shows that he lives and breathes death metal. A lot of his album’s feature mind-melting blasting and kick runs at near 300BPM static tempos as well as head-spinning riffs and song structures.

His relentless hammering and stamina command your attention the entire song or album with his inhuman abilities.

George Kollias

Bands: Nile, ex-Contrarian

When I first saw and heard the music video for “Sacrifice Unto Sebek” at 15 from Nile’s Annihilation of the Wicked, I was immediately floored by his precision and ability to play insane speeds I didn’t think were possible for anyone at the time.

After that, I knew I wanted to take my playing more seriously. I bought his DVD Intense Metal Drummer and learned his swivel technique for playing fast double bass drum and practiced it religiously.

Kollias’ unique and brutal approaches to death metal continue to inspire me and his work with Contrarian shows that he has no shortage of ideas when it comes to his playing.

Lille Gruber

Bands: Defeated Sanity, Ingurgitating Oblivion

Lille’s drumming can be described by his band’s appropriately chosen name Defeated Sanity. When you hear one of their songs for the first time you quickly become mentally exhausted with all the twists and turns of his extremely technical and groove-oriented playing.

His diverse drumming influences and knowledge are shown every moment throughout his discography, but especially on the band’s 2016 release Disposal Of the Dead // Dharmata. The first half of the album is a technical brutal death metal album and the second half is much more progressive inspired material.

I believe he and the band have always recorded their albums in the studio together in one room, at the same time. If that’s not a testament to the man’s precise technical abilities, I don’t know what is.

John Longstreth

Bands: Origin, ex-Angelcorpse, Dim Mak, Gorguts (studio)

Aside from George Kollias, John was the other extreme death metal drummer that I was introduced to while going further down the rabbit hole of death metal. His almost ceaseless 240+BPM kick runs, blasting, kick and snare bursts, and black metal-esque hi hat clasping accents further motivated me to push the limitations of my playing.

A few years later when I first joined TBDM, Trevor showed me one of John’s other bands, Dim Mak. Hearing his approach to a different death metal band with more groove-focused parts was an enjoyable surprise. That same year, Colored Sands by Gorguts was released, showcasing an even more uncommon side of his playing that I hadn’t heard before. It was filled with slower, more dynamic and restrained rhythms that gave the songs added heaviness.

Even today, John’s drumming continues to be some of the most intense and demanding in the genre.