You don’t have to be a drummer to appreciate the musicianship displayed here by some of modern metal’s heaviest hitters. The proceedings get kicked off with Jordan Mancino from AS I LAY DYING, who is joined by the band’s guitarist Nick Hipa for the ferocious “Ahh-The Fade Out”. Most of the songs are heavy-as-balls metal instrumentals, and as a result, the pace rarely slows down or gets the feeling of being too long. It’s over sixty minutes long, no vocals; this is usually the formula for boredom, but I was pleasantly surprised. Other bands whose drummers are featured here are KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, UNEARTH, and STEVE VAI. And although this is an album intended to shine the spotlight on the oft-ignored men behind the kit, the guitarwork shreds and even threatens to steal the attention from the drums on tracks such as “The Near Dominance of 4 Against 5" with Chris Adler from LAMB OF GOD and the obviously titled “Instr.” with Jason Bittner from SHADOWS FALL.
Kenneth Schalk from the jazz-influenced metal/hardcore band, CANDIRIA, displays his knack for off-rhythms and time signatures on “Out of Nowhere”. The most straight-ahead assault here is most definitely Joe Nunez from Soulfly’s “Grounded”. One of the few missteps here is DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN's Chris Pennie on “YMCA or TCBY”, where he plays all the instruments and uses some wacky electronics to make an industrial freakout just shy of seven minutes. This is very little to complain about due to the crisp production and serious chops of both the drummers and guitarists.
