10 Times Chris Adler Was the Best Drummer on Earth

Sadly, we now must call Chris Adler the former drummer for Lamb of God and Megadeth. For two decades, Adler has been one of the tightest, cleanest and most creative percussionists in metal, so we’ve put together these 10 unforgettable moments from the musician.

Chris Adler is a master of fills, beating his toms like they owe him money. Adler shows his incredible precision on tracks such as “Pathetic” and “Hourglass.” If you’ve ever watched Lamb of God’s set from Download 2007, you know how incredible Adler is in front of a gigantic crowd, so we made sure to include that classic footage. By the way, if you know the sound engineer from that show, buy them a beer for us.

Adler’s double kick technique is also immaculate, right up there with Tomas Haake and Mike Portnoy. Songs such as “Ruin” and “Black Label” are especially brutal on the feet, with the former needing a bit of improvisation during live shows. As Adler once explained, when concert adrenaline was running through his body, he couldn’t quite get “Ruin” right, until he started using his heel to compensate. What a legend.

Megadeth also benefited from Adler’s work on the Dystopia album. The man’s drumming is one reason why Dystopia is considered to be one of Megadeth’s best modern albums, but for this list, we included a clip of Adler crushing “Holy Wars” with the thrash legends.

Check out these 10 Times Chris Adler Was the Best Drummer on Earth in the Loud List above.

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