George Kollias

≈ 170 · 4/4 with syncopated accents

Prep with: Stage 1 — Foundations — ankle control and single-pedal speed

Primary technique:

Riff-locked groove under dense technical death metal

Also trains:

Accent control, Ride patterns, Kick variations

Key groove:

A driving groove tightly matching syncopated Egyptian-scale riff accents

Signature fill:

Fast tom-snare fill launching into the chorus riff

Transition:

Sharp crash-led transition from verse groove into a faster chorus

Listen for:

How every accent lines up precisely with the riff's syncopation

Training:

Locking a groove tightly to a syncopated, non-obvious riff

Challenge:

Play the whole song matching every accent exactly to the recorded riff

• Intro: Establishing the groove under the main riff
• Verse: Tight riff-locked groove with syncopated accents
• Chorus: Faster groove with crash accents
• Fill: Fast tom-snare fill into the chorus
• Outro: Groove returns to close the song

≈ 190 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 3 — Signature techniques — extreme-speed double bass

Primary technique:

Sustained extreme-speed double bass

Also trains:

Kick bursts, Heel technique switching, Endurance

Key groove:

A relentless 16th-note double-bass pattern that never lets up through the verse

Signature fill:

Sudden 32nd-note kick burst punctuating a riff change

Transition:

Groove holds steady through the transition with a brief kick burst as the only marker

Listen for:

How articulate each kick note stays even at extreme tempo

Training:

Sustaining extreme-speed double bass with clean articulation throughout

Challenge:

Play the full double-bass verse without any audible loss of articulation

• Intro: Establishing the fast double-bass pattern
• Verse: Sustained extreme-speed double bass under the riff
• Bridge: Kick burst punctuating a riff change
• Outro: Groove sustained to the final bar

≈ 160 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 4 — Fills & transitions — brutal, exact fills

Primary technique:

Exact fill resolution under a dense riff

Also trains:

Crash punctuation, Linear fills, Groove-to-fill transitions

Key groove:

A driving groove punctuated by fast fills that always land exactly on the downbeat

Signature fill:

Rapid linear fill spanning snare and toms, resolving perfectly on beat one

Transition:

Clean cut from groove to fill and back with no dropped time

Listen for:

How precisely each fill lands despite its speed and complexity

Training:

Building fills that resolve exactly on the beat no matter how fast

Challenge:

Play the whole song and confirm every fill lands exactly on beat one

• Intro: Establishing the groove under the main riff
• Verse: Driving groove with syncopated riff accents
• Fill: Rapid linear fill resolving on the downbeat
• Chorus: Fuller groove with crash accents
• Outro: Groove sustained to the final hit

≈ 210 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 3 — Signature techniques — extreme-speed double bass

Primary technique:

Blast-beat mastery with articulation at extreme tempo

Also trains:

Gravity blast, Hammer blast, Four-limb independence

Key groove:

Sustained blast beats switching between traditional, gravity and hammer variations

Signature fill:

Blast-beat variation switch used as a fill in itself, changing texture mid-phrase

Transition:

Seamless switch between blast types without any change in tempo

Listen for:

How each blast variation has a distinctly different texture despite the same tempo

Training:

Switching blast-beat types cleanly while maintaining tempo and articulation

Challenge:

Play the whole song switching blast types exactly where the recording does

• Intro: Establishing the traditional blast beat
• Verse: Blast beat driving the main riff
• Bridge: Switch to gravity blast for a different texture
• Climax: Hammer blast under the heaviest riff
• Outro: Return to traditional blast to close

≈ 175 (shifting) · Mixed 4/4 and odd groupings

Prep with: Stage 3 — Signature techniques — extreme-speed double bass

Primary technique:

Full-song stamina across shifting blast and groove sections

Also trains:

Odd groupings, Crash punctuation, Endurance

Key groove:

Alternating blast and groove sections stitched together without a drop in intensity

Signature fill:

Extended fill bridging a blast section into a slower groove

Transition:

Deliberate tempo and feel change requiring careful pacing of energy

Listen for:

How consistently intense the playing stays across very different sections

Training:

Sustaining full intensity across a long, structurally varied song

Challenge:

Play the whole song start to finish with no drop in intensity at any section

• Intro: Establishing the blast-driven main riff
• Verse: Blast beat under the primary riff
• Bridge: Shift into a groove-based section
• Fill: Extended fill bridging back to the blast
• Outro: Blast beat returns to close

≈ 150 · Exotic scale-driven riff with irregular accents

Prep with: Stage 2 — Core grooves — technical death metal riff-locking

Primary technique:

Odd-meter riff tracking

Also trains:

Snare-tom accents, Crash punctuation, Double kick

Key groove:

A groove precisely matching an irregularly grouped, exotic-scale riff

Signature fill:

Tom-led fill that mirrors the riff's irregular grouping

Transition:

Clean pivot between differently grouped riff sections

Listen for:

How the groove's accents map exactly onto the riff's unusual groupings

Training:

Tracking and matching irregular riff groupings precisely

Challenge:

Count and notate the riff's actual grouping, then play the groove from that notation

• Intro: Establishing the exotic-scale riff and groove
• Verse: Groove matching the irregular riff grouping
• Fill: Tom-led fill mirroring the riff's grouping
• Outro: Groove returns to close the song

≈ 185 (shifting) · Constantly shifting meters

Prep with: Stage 5 — Advanced coordination — blast beat mastery

Primary technique:

Constant tempo and meter shifts at full intensity

Also trains:

Blast beat, Odd groupings, Endurance

Key groove:

Rapid-fire changes between blast, groove and odd-meter sections

Signature fill:

Fast fill bridging two different meters mid-phrase

Transition:

Instant switch from one meter to another with no loss of intensity

Listen for:

How confidently each meter change lands exactly on the beat

Training:

Fast recognition and execution of meter changes back to back at high tempo

Challenge:

Play through the full chart of meter changes at half tempo, then build to full speed

• Intro: Establishing the shifting-meter groove
• Verse: Blast beat under a shifting riff
• Bridge: Odd-meter groove section
• Fill: Fast fill bridging two meters
• Outro: Resolves back to the main theme

≈ 200 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 3 — Signature techniques — extreme-speed double bass

Primary technique:

Endurance-testing sustained blast sections

Also trains:

Double kick bursts, Linear 32nds, Stamina pacing

Key groove:

Extended blast sections requiring careful stamina pacing to stay clean throughout

Signature fill:

32nd-note fill inserted mid-blast without breaking the pulse

Transition:

Sustained intensity through the transition, paced rather than forced

Listen for:

Whether the final blast section is as clean and fast as the first

Training:

Pacing stamina across a demanding song so the ending is as strong as the start

Challenge:

Play the whole song and compare recording quality between the first and last blast sections

• Intro: Establishing the blast-driven riff
• Verse: Sustained blast beat under the riff
• Fill: 32nd-note fill inserted mid-blast
• Bridge: Brief groove section for recovery
• Outro: Blast beat returns at full intensity to close

≈ 200 · 4/4 with technical fills

Prep with: Stage 3 — Signature techniques — extreme-speed double bass

Primary technique:

Peak technical density at extreme tempo

Also trains:

Four-limb independence, Kick bursts, Fast riff tracking

Key groove:

A dense, technical groove requiring total four-limb independence at speed

Signature fill:

Compound fill combining kick bursts and linear 32nd-note hand patterns

Transition:

Complex compound pattern held through the transition without any hitch

Listen for:

How each limb maintains its own independent pattern despite the extreme tempo

Training:

Playing complex compound patterns at extreme tempo without fatigue-driven errors

Challenge:

Play the full compound pattern at performance tempo without any limb dropping out

• Intro: Establishing the dense technical groove
• Verse: Four-limb independent pattern under the riff
• Fill: Compound fill combining kick bursts and linear hands
• Outro: Groove sustained to the final bar