Lars Ulrich

A galloping short-short-long right-hand eighth pattern that drives early thrash riffs.

Practise: Loop the gallop rhythm on a closed hat for two minutes, keeping every repetition identical.

Comes out of: Stage 1 — Foundations: the thrash gallop

Heard in: Hit the Lights · Whiplash · Creeping Death

Kick drum patterns that mirror a syncopated guitar riff hit-for-hit.

Practise: Sing or hum the riff rhythm while playing the exact same rhythm on the kick alone.

Comes out of: Stage 1 — Foundations: the thrash gallop

Heard in: Hit the Lights · Whiplash · Creeping Death

Short double kick bursts used to punctuate accented riff hits, not continuous double bass.

Practise: Practise two, three, and four-note double kick bursts on a click, isolating each burst length.

Comes out of: Stage 3 — Signature techniques: double kick sections

Heard in: Fight Fire with Fire · Hardwired

An exact, memorised tom fill used consistently at the same point in a song's arrangement.

Practise: Write out a four-tom fill and drill it until it's identical every single time.

Comes out of: Stage 4 — Fills & transitions: composed tom fills

Heard in: Creeping Death · Battery · Master of Puppets

Driving eighth notes on the ride bell instead of hi-hat, giving thrash sections a harder edge.

Practise: Play a straight groove switching the eighth pattern from hi-hat to ride bell every four bars.

Comes out of: Stage 5 — Advanced coordination: ride-bell thrash

Heard in: Blackened

Dropping to a heavy half-time feel under a slow, crushing riff, as in One's final section.

Practise: Play a fast thrash groove for four bars, then drop straight into half-time for four bars.

Comes out of: Stage 1 — Foundations: the thrash gallop

Heard in: Hit the Lights · Whiplash · Creeping Death

A continuous wall of double kick sixteenths under sustained riffing, as in Battery or Damage Inc.

Practise: Play continuous double kick sixteenths against a steady hi-hat quarter note for one minute sets.

Comes out of: Stage 3 — Signature techniques: double kick sections

Heard in: Fight Fire with Fire · Battery · Master of Puppets

A single accented crash hit marking the exact moment a riff section changes.

Practise: Loop a riff section change and drill landing a single crash exactly on the new riff's downbeat.

Comes out of: Stage 1 — Foundations: the thrash gallop

Heard in: Hit the Lights · Whiplash · Creeping Death

A slower, heavier groove with big open backbeats, developed for the self-titled album's sound.

Practise: Play a mid-tempo groove focusing on maximum backbeat weight rather than speed.

Comes out of: Stage 1 — Foundations: the thrash gallop

Heard in: Hit the Lights · Whiplash · Creeping Death