The drummer Lars Ulrich thinks is in a league of their own: “God of Gods”
In the 1980s, Metallica drove their flag assertively into the heart of the burgeoning metal scene. Despite metal’s relatively esoteric corner on the musical map, Metallica pioneered thrash metal as a globally resonant subgenre. The fact that Metallica has reached such a wide audience with its contributions over the past four decades is a testament to the band’s collective virtuosity and unbound passion for rock ‘n’ roll.
Metallica’s most apparent luminaries include classic heavy metal bands of the 1970s, such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Judas Priest and Motörhead. These acts pioneered metal as a dark, abrasive and provocative genre, capturing the imagination of James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett in 1983 as they pieced together a band for the first time.
Outside of metal, the heavier-sounding groups of the prog-rock genre also had a pivotal impact on Metallica’s thirst for compositional complexity. Queen, Led Zeppelin, and Rush were also monumental influences on Metallica as they looked to pave their own path in music.
In a 2014 interview with Guitar Center, Ulrich remembered the first time he spoke to Rush drummer Neil Peart in the 1980s. “So [he said] ‘Do you wanna talk to Neil Peart about drums?’ I was like that big [tiny] at the time. And [I was] talking to Neil, who was like the God of Gods. So I managed to sort of get enough [courage] to dial the phone number that I was given, and I called him.”
“I spoke to Neil Peart for like half an hour about Tama drums,” he added. “It was pretty amazing. The people at Tama sent me a drum kit to my specifications. So that’s 29 years, I’ve never thought of [me] playing any other drums.”
In 2020, Howard Stern asked Ulrich to name the best drummer out of Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham and Peart. As two of Ulrich’s all-time favourites, this was no easy question to answer.
“It’s fucking hard,” he replied. “Listen, I’ve been asked that question, on and off, for 40 years. I would put two additional names on that list. Deep Purple’s Ian Paice is an incredibly technically gifted drummer. [And] Phil Rudd is what gives AC/DC that incredible bounce and swing.”
“You mentioned ‘When The Levee Breaks’. I mean, that’s classic Bonham. The drums are big, thunderous, ambient. He’s a little bit behind on the snare. And it’s got that groove. He’s in the pocket. […] You can’t play drums and not love Neil. You can’t not be appreciative and respectful. Between Neil and between John, no disrespect, but I’ll have to go with John Bonham,” he concluded, suggesting that Bonham is the God of the God of Gods.
Would you dare to disagree? Across a regrettably short career, Bonham displayed all of the makings of what a drumming god should be. He was mythical in every sense of the word. His power was unparalleled, his precision ethereal, and his ability to draw gasps from the audience was unmatched. While many have dutifully been put alongside the great man, it is a really tough task not having Bonham ascend to the Mount Olympus of percussion.
However, while Bonham can easily rank as the greatest thereis perhaps some nuance in what Ulrich has said. Id we take our favourite drummers as Gods, then most of those would be pointing toward Peart as perhaps the finest technician among them. He might not be the all-powerful leader, but in his field, there was simply nobody who could come close to Neil Peart.
