Lars Ulrich - Style

Style

Ulrich's drumming style has changed throughout his career. During the 1980s he was known for his fast, aggressive and, more or less, basic thrash beats. He would often utilize the double bass technique in Latin breakbeats (which is influenced greatly from the song Overkill by Motorhead), which has become highly popular among heavy metal drummers. The best examples of this are "Metal Militia" (Kill 'Em All), "Fight Fire with Fire" (Ride the Lightning), "Battery" (Master of Puppets), "Damage, Inc." (Master of Puppets), "Blackened" (...And Justice for All), "One" (...And Justice for All), "That Was Just Your Life" (Death Magnetic), "All Nightmare Long" (Death Magnetic) and, arguably his most extreme, "Dyers Eve" (...And Justice for All), among others. Ulrich uses groove in his drum style, including clean and fast double bass beats in many songs and heavy drum fills. He has been known to drum in sync with the rhythm guitar played by James Hetfield. However, during the 1990s and early 2000s he simplified his drum rhythms in order to fit the simplification in Metallica's overall musical style. This started with Metallica, and very roughly ended with St. Anger. With Metallica's ninth album, Death Magnetic, Ulrich returned to his style from the 1980s, in which he played more complex and fast rhythms. Ulrich has also named other heavy metal drummers such as Ian Paice, Roger Meddows Taylor and Bill Ward as influences on his playing.