#22: PAUL BOSTAPH

MetalSucks recently polled its staff to determine who are The Top 25 Modern Metal Drummers, and after an incredible amount of arguing, name calling, and physical violence, we have finalized that list! The only requirements to be eligible for the list were that the musician in question had to a) play metal (duh), b) play drums (double-duh), and c) have recorded something in the past five years. Today we continue our countdown with a drummer who has seemingly played with half the legendary thrash bands out there — Paul Bostaph.

A few foolish fans still think of Paul Bostaph as little more than the guy who kept Dave Lombardo’s drum stool warm for more than a decade. To do so is to miss the many reasons he’s one of the best drummers on the planet.

Let’s start with the proposition that playing Lombardo’s parts – and adding your own flavor – would be the musical achievement of a lifetime for most drummers. Bostaph did that every day for years. Then look at Bostaph’s recorded work with Slayer, which includes the underrated Divine Intervention, the punk cover album Undisputed Attitude, God Hates Us All, and the bad Slayer record. He never sounds like a Lombardo clone, yet the music is unmistakably Slayer.

Listen to the way his drums engulf “Killing Fields,” and make it as aggressive as anything from the classic Slayer era. Check out the fills on “Divine Intervention.” Put on headphones and hear the bass drums completely engulf you on “Disciple,” a concert staple to this day. Bostaph’s drumming was one of the few noteworthy things on the Slayer lowlight Diabolus In Musica.

We haven’t even touched on his other gigs : Forbidden, Testament (The Formation Of Damnation), Exodus (Shovel Headed Kill Machine) and Systematic. Bostaph could conceivably claim to be the house drummer for the thrash metal genre.

-JN

THE LIST SO FAR:

#23: Phil Dubois-Coyne (Revocation)
#24: Jade Simonetto (Hate Eternal)
#25: Mike Portnoy (Adrenaline Mob)