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10. Łukasz Wszołek – Sublunar

Łukasz has a calcuating drum style. I love how he rumbles and thunders, and yet is so intricate, too.

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9. Kyle Fenton – Cosmograf

Speaking of thundering, Kyle provides Cosmograf with a tight, hefty style that accentuates everything else. I love his cymbal work especially.

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8. Guillaume Remih – Hartlight

Blast beats are the name of the game with Guillaume, glorious blast beats. I love how incredibly heavy he plays and yet he never drowns out the rest of the music. His work is tight and technical.

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7. Tom Jackson – The Emerald Dawn

Tom is an incredibly intricate and often reserved drummer. The more you listen, the more you pick out what he does, and the more you realize what an impact he makes. I love how he creates rhythms with ease.

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6. Matthew Kerschner – Lux Terminus

Matt is so much fun to watch. He seems truly happy while he’s drumming, he and that big smile on his face. I love his sweaty, busy style that creates such a wall of sound.

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5. Rory Faciane – Cea Serin

Rory brings Cea Serin a bold and powerful drum performance. He hits the double bass hard when he needs to, but is an intricate and effective drummer across the board.

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4. Henry Rogers – Mostly Autumn

Henry has been one of my favorite drummers for a decade, at least, especially his work with DeeExpus. This time, he’s behind the kit with Mostly Autumn, and he still brings that readily-recognizable style, that creative use of blast beats and almost Gavin Harrison-esque control of everything. I love his style.

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3. Billy Rymer – Moron Police

My initial reaction to Billy’s performance on Pachinko was, “Oh…my…God!” His rumbling, thundering, never-silent work on that album is simply incredible.

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2. Ashley Doodkorte – Primrose Path

You may recognize Ashley from Voyager, and, while he isn’t behind the kit on every song on the debut Primrose Path album, he’s the primary drummer now and the songs he does perform on have such a hefty, almost joyful drum style. Can a drummer truly be that infectious and technical at the same time? Ashley is.

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1. Pat DeLeon

– Imminent Sonic Destruction

Every time my brother and I go see ISD live, we both mention that we can’t wait to see Pat play. His work on Floodgate is just like his live performances: precise and perfectly time with powerful beats and fantastic cymbal-play. He is one of the best drummers in progressive music, I truly believe.

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