Influence, Impact, Accaim, Skill, Creativity, Innovation

1. Dave Lombardo - Slayer, Testament (Angel of Death)
2. Mike Portnoy - Dream Theater (Stream of Consciousness)
3. Danny Carey - Tool (Ticks & Leeches)
4. Bill Ward - Black Sabbath (The Wizard)
5. Nicko McBrain - Iron Maiden (Where Eagles Dare)
6. Gene Hoglan - Death, Strapping Young Lad (Mentally Blind)
7. Vinnie Paul - Pantera (Throes of Rejection)
8. Cozy Powell - Rainbow (Stargazer)
9. Bobby Jarzombek - Spastic Ink, Demons & Wizards, Halford (Multi-Masking)
10. Lars Ulrich - Metallica (Dyer's Eve)
11. Hellhammer - Mayhem, Arcturus, Dimmu Borgir (The Chosen Legacy)
12. Nick Menza - Megadeth (Take No Prisoners)
13. Sean Reinert - Cynic, Death, Gordian Knot (The Space for This)
14. Matt Cameron - Soundgarden (Jesus Christ Pose)
15. Steve Flynn - Atheist (Mother Man)
16. Martin Lopez - Opeth (Deliverance)
17. Scott Travis - Judas Priest (Painkiller)
18. Clive Burr - Iron Maiden (Genghis Khan)
19. Richard Christy - Death, Iced Earth (Scavenger of Human Sorrow)
20. Brann Dailor - Mastodon (Capillarian Crest)
21. Mark Zonder - Fates Warning (Nothing Left to Say)
22. Tomas Haake - Meshuggah (I)
23. Tommy Aldridge - Ozzy Osbourne, Vinnie Moore (Saved by a Miracle)
24. Igor Cavalera - Sepultura (Territory)
25. Phil Taylor - Motörhead (Overkill)
26. Scott Rockenfield - Queensrÿche (Take Hold of the Flame)
27. Gar Samuelson - Megadeth (Bad Omen)
28. Charlie Benante - Anthrax (Schism)
29. Paul Bostaph - Slayer (Killing Fields)
30. Derek Roddy - Hate Eternal (Faceless One)
31. Vinny Appice - Dio, Sessions (Beyond the Universe)
32. Flo Mournier - Cryptopsy (Carrionshine)
33. Pete Sandoval - Morbid Angel (Maze of Torment)
34. Jason Rullo - Symphony X (Fallen)
35. Georg Kollias - Nile, Cerebrum (Pattern of Fear)
36. Sean Kinney - Alice in Chains (Sickman)
37. Tommy Lee - Mötley Crüe (Use It or Loose It)
38. Jürgen Reil - Kreator (Terrible Certainty)
39. Nicholas Barker - Dimmu Borgir (Kings of the Carnival Creation)
40. Allen Blickle - Baroness (Rays on Pinion)
41. Joey Jordison - Slipknot (Disasterpiece)
42. Mitch Harris - Napalm Death (Scum)
43. Blake Richardson - Between the Buried and Me (Ants of the Sky)
44. Mario Duplantier - Gojira (The Art of Dying)
45. Chris Adler - Lamb of God (Ashes of the Wake)
46. Matt McDonough - Mudvayne (World So Cold)
47. Aaron Harris - Isis (Not in Rivers but in Drops)
48. Ray Herrera – Fear Factory (Cyberwaste)
49. Chris Pennie - Dillinger Escape Plan (Sugar Coated Sour)
50. Proscriptor - Absu (She Cries the Quiet Lake)

Thanks 4 adding Blake

Shut up.

Cool top five.

Who's cited Bill Ward as an influence? Not nearly as many people as Nicko, that's for sure. (Or Danny and Mike, and they are fairly new.)

Actual influence > being in black sabbath. Only a few doom drummers really play like him anyway, he hasn't innovated nearly as much as Nicko and nicko is way more gifted and still remains way more popular.

Nicko > Bill by a lot.

Well, Bill had a somehow jazzy aproach which may have directly orindirectly inspired drummers such as Reinert, Flynn, Dailor and Lopez... Honestly i don't see that much influence in McBrain's style which should grant him a top 2 placement...

I don't think either deserve a top 2 placement, but Nicko probably deserves a better one than Bill. The reason not many metal drummers sound like Nicko is because Double-bass got so big... but a lot of them riff in a similar manner. That doesn't change the fact that hes still way more popular than any nwobhm drummer.

And Jazzy? I think you may have him confused with Bill-Y Ward, they aren't the same person.

Bill was the first heavy metal drummer period end of story. Him and lombardo are the chuck berrys of heavy metal drumming. He should definetely be higher than Nicko.

Chuck Berry? That's your example?

I already sorta pointed out that he was the first. But again, there was no ACTUAL innovation besides being the first guy in a heavy metal band, his style of playing never really caught on outside of Doom/Stoner metal. I have no problem with Dave being at number one, he deserves it. I just think bill is more like #6. If you go by the same criteria as the performances list, Nicko wins.

Nicko's got him in skill, popularity, "direct" influence... That counts a lot more than "He's in black sabbath and was the first to do a style no one in metal really plays."

Nicko > Cozy, that's for sure.

BTBAM fanboys are pretty common on the internet. That's the main reason I have them on my list.

What about bumping Tomas Haake up? He's pretty hot these days.

Alright, Nicko goes up, and Ward goes down (not sure if he'll go below Nicko just yet)... I really don't know about Cozy... He seems to be a great drummer who has done nothing extraordinary in the metal sense,but who's still looked upon as some kind of "early influence"... he'll definitely go down for now...