DRUM! Magazine recently posted CHRIS ADLER of LAMB OF GOD’s 'Resolution' cover feature for fans to read online. This interview pulls out all the stops—featuring diagrams of his full drum set in 3-D, as well as transcriptions and analysis of four drum parts from the NEW album. This cover feature is the fifth post in CHRIS ADLER’s cover artist series. DRUM! Magazine unveiled the first CHRIS ADLER cover story post of the series in February of this year.
Internationally viewed as one of the most standout players of the past
decade, LAMB OF GOD’s CHRIS ADLER is not only regarded as one of the top
drummers in the industry for one of the most popular metal bands of all
time, but is consistently praised for his poise and passion for
interacting diligently with this fans. DRUM! Magazine has undoubtedly
noticed these qualities in the last several years, which in turn has
resulted in Chris being featured on their covers repeatedly. Here a few excerpts from the interview.
It took an awfully long time to get through basic tracking, Adler admits. But for a mid-career musician, it is pleasure, not pain.
“It’s not lost on me that when we started this, the drums were done in ten hours. I’m still ready to knock it all out in one day, but our producer insists that you do two a day and go home and refresh. The studio is a luxury for me [now]. It makes for more creativity on the spot. If anything’s different than previous records, it’s that. When you get to the studio, you have to perform perfectly right away. There’s no time for overdubs. Get it right, or it will live on the recording. This is the first time that I came in and realized that I don’t have to kill myself that hard — I know 99 percent of what I’m going to do, but I can improve a fill along the way.
“I didn’t start playing drums until I was 21. There’s this period of time where you’re a teenager and you fall in love with music and an instrument. I fell in love with Heavy Metal, but I was huge into guitar — early Megadeth, Testament, Forbidden, because it was really technical compared to some of the more dumbed-down Punk Tock stuff. These were guys that took a lot of time practicing their instruments. It’s not something everyone can do. It made it more elite, if you will. But the guy who really set [the drums] in motion for me was Shannon Larkin [Godsmack, Amen, Glassjaw, Stone Sour] — the most entertaining drummer I’ve ever watched. Watching him play, I knew I wanted to be that good at anything in my life.”
By the Sacrament album in 2006, the band was being mentioned in the same breath as metal legends Slayer and Pantera, each new release further solidifying Lamb Of God’s place atop the metal food chain. More Grammy nominations followed, Billboard chart records were broken and live shows were quickly sold out across the globe — all this at a time when metal was supposed to be irrelevant.
“A couple of years ago, it was very cool to like Metal. That’s fading away — now there’s a generation of kids who really aren’t going to live that lifestyle. At the same time, there are a lot of guys like myself that — where my career started to blow up at 22, 23 — a lot of guys approaching 40 who took on responsibility and fell out of the time frame to listen to this music. The last time they looked there was a bunch of hair Metal and guys with jumpsuits and masks on. They’re getting back into it and finding us.”
The band, currently on tour in Europe, begins the North American tour for Resolution on August 1st in Seattle, WA along with co-headliners Dethklok and special guest Gojira.The dates are as follows:
- 8/1: Seattle, WA @ WaMu Thater
- 8/2: Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theater
- 8/4: Calgary, AB @ Big 4
- 8/5: Edmonton, AB @ Shaw Conference Centre
- 8/7: Winnipeg, MB @ Convention Centre
- 8/9: Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
- 8/10: Columbus, OH @ LC Pavilion
- 8/11: Toronto, ON @ Heavy TO
- 8/12: Montreal, QC @ Heavy MTL
- 8/14: Grand Rapids, MI @ Delta Plex
- 8/15: St. Louis, MO @ Family Arena
- 8/19: Kansas City, MO @ Midland Theater
- 8/21: Chicago, IL @ Congress Ballroom
- 8/22: Detroit, MI @ Compuware Arena
- 8/23: Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
- 8/24: Charlotte, NC @ Time Warner Cable Uptown Amphitheater
- 8/25: Norfolk, VA @ Constant Convocation Center
- 8/26: Baltimore, MD @ Pier 6 Pavilion
- 8/29: New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom
- 8/30: Lowell, MA @ Tsongas Arena
- 8/31: Wallingford, CT @ Toyota Presents Oakdale Theater
- 9/1: Philadelphia, PA @ Outside at the Electric Factory
- 9/2: Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Park Convention Hall
- 9/4: Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
- 9/5: Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
- 9/7: Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
- 9/8: San Antonio, TX @ Sunken Garden
- 9/9: Dallas, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theater
- 9/11: Denver, CO @ The Fillmore
- 9/13: Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theater
- 9/14: Los Angeles, CA @ Gibson Amphitheater
- 9/15: San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic
*Schedule is subject to change.
Stay tuned for more updates on the features and future news about LAMB OF GOD!
Related links:
Lamb Of God's Official Site
- 8/1: Seattle, WA @ WaMu Thater
- 8/2: Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theater
- 8/4: Calgary, AB @ Big 4
- 8/5: Edmonton, AB @ Shaw Conference Centre
- 8/7: Winnipeg, MB @ Convention Centre
- 8/9: Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
- 8/10: Columbus, OH @ LC Pavilion
- 8/11: Toronto, ON @ Heavy TO
- 8/12: Montreal, QC @ Heavy MTL
- 8/14: Grand Rapids, MI @ Delta Plex
- 8/15: St. Louis, MO @ Family Arena
- 8/19: Kansas City, MO @ Midland Theater
- 8/21: Chicago, IL @ Congress Ballroom
- 8/22: Detroit, MI @ Compuware Arena
- 8/23: Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
- 8/24: Charlotte, NC @ Time Warner Cable Uptown Amphitheater
- 8/25: Norfolk, VA @ Constant Convocation Center
- 8/26: Baltimore, MD @ Pier 6 Pavilion
- 8/29: New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom
- 8/30: Lowell, MA @ Tsongas Arena
- 8/31: Wallingford, CT @ Toyota Presents Oakdale Theater
- 9/1: Philadelphia, PA @ Outside at the Electric Factory
- 9/2: Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Park Convention Hall
- 9/4: Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
- 9/5: Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
- 9/7: Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
- 9/8: San Antonio, TX @ Sunken Garden
- 9/9: Dallas, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theater
- 9/11: Denver, CO @ The Fillmore
- 9/13: Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theater
- 9/14: Los Angeles, CA @ Gibson Amphitheater
- 9/15: San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic
*Schedule is subject to change.
Stay tuned for more updates on the features and future news about LAMB OF GOD!
Related links:
Lamb Of God's Official Site
