The Genius Of Joey Jordison

Joey Jordison was one of the most influential drummers in metal history. And he was arguably one of the top drummers of all time.

As the founding sticksman of Slipknot, he inspired thousands of metalheads around the world to learn the drums.

His insane skills, his showmanship, his masks, his gear…he was just cool.

In this video, Ash Pearson of Revocation talks about why Joey Jordison was, truly, number one.

0:00 -- Intro
1:26 -- Inventive drum beats
Joey didn’t just pull ideas from metal. For example, in the chorus of “Wait And Bleed”, he created a groove with the snare and rack tom – not a common choice in the genre, but a great one. The iconic intro from “Duality” is one of the most recognizable metal drum parts out there. The kick pattern fits the riff perfectly. In “All Hope Is Gone”, the double kick matches the guitar part nicely and the fills carry over the bar line (a very Ulrich move).

3:59 -- Creative drum fills
Check out how he built these fills in “Eyeless” off the drum & bass sample. He loved using hand to foot combinations like this example from “Tattered & Torn”:

5:25 -- Playing with large bands
It’s tough enough to coordinate playing styles, creativity, and personalities in a three or four piece band. With nine members in Slipknot, Joey knew how and when to simplify his parts to elevate his bandmates’ parts.

Not every musician is willing to put aside the ego and do what’s best for the music, but check out “Liberate”, “My Plague,” and “Duality” for examples of how he’d leave breaks in the drumming where it made sense.

There’s a lot every drummer can learn from Joey Jordison.

6:54 -- Technical drum parts
Joey played at blazing tempos with precision. He’d also combine a lot of ideas in a short period of time when the song called for it, like the combo of thrash beats, blast beats, fills, and double bass in “Disasterpiece”. He also nailed the fast tom patterns in “Tattered & Torn”.

8:54 -- Final thoughts
His body of work can be summed up with this sentence (said by Joey himself regarding Slipknot):

“It’s extremely sick and brutal but it’s all within the realm of being controlled and having fun and everyone leaves with a positive experience.”

Learn more about Joey Jordison's genius in our latest Beat article:

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[DrumeoOfficial]

In memory of Joey Jordison † July 26th, 2021🖤

What's your favorite Joey moment?

[radamtv]

The intro of "Eyeless" is one of the most iconic moments in Metal-Drumming history. R.I.P. Joey ❣

[rileyholata]

His drumming is so technical while he hits the drums super hard and I have no idea how he did it throughout his whole life. RIP Joey

[lefsow]

The man's movements were so clean it made him look like a robot. As a drummer, Joey's passing was the most difficult celebrity death that actually affected me emotionally. R.I.P.

[pgrove]

And he did it all with a mask, a long sleeve shirt, and long pants. That's all I can think about when I watch him drum. It makes me sweat just watching.

[Project_Future]

Joey was my cousin. I didnt even know until I was 12 listening to Slipknot and just got curious about who was who in the band. The drummer looked a lot like my dad during his rock band days. I mentioned that we had the same last name to my dad and he filled me in that yes, in fact we are closely related. I never met Joey, but I was a huge fan like all of you. Even now when someone asks for my name and they hear the last name, they are shocked and let me know I am related to the best drummer to ever live, sometimes with tears in their eyes. Its a huge honor to have the connection and I only wish I could have had a conversation with him once. It might sound weird to say here, but I want to thank all you metal heads for your love for Joey, its obvious that this music community really does love the music and artists like no other.

[STAYHIGHTV]

ive never seen a drummer headbang as hard as he did while sounding so clean. RIP Joey

[leokimvideo]

The greatest drummers in history are the ones who are pulling off what sounds like the impossible while being able to play without destroying the song. Just about every great band who's climbed to the top of their music style has had a drummer who has led the way.

[schopenhauer]

I will NEVER FORGET what it felt like listening to Eyeless for the first time, I just kept hitting rewind with chills all over my body

[shadowhogg]

It's crazy to think we lost this absolute legend a year ago but in my heart he's happy with what he's done and he's together again with Paul

[KLAP_TV]

The Eyeless intro will always be one of my very favourite drum fills ever, ever. Rip Joey, you inspired a generation

[Charharr]

As a teenager, I couldn't work out why Joey always sounded different to me than a lot of other drummers. I think it's because he had a musicality to his playing that you don't often see.

[seanclements]

Eyeless was what got me into Slipknot, in large part to Joey’s playing… of course Disasterpiece is also just a freaking feat! The guy set a high bar for drummers in heavy metal

[yuvalwh]

The king, the monster, one of the best drummers of all time, joey was untouchable 🤘🏻🔥🤘🏻

[bradleyrader]

Saw him live 3 times with slipknot. One show he played a complete solo with his drum set lifted in the air, inverted, and spinning around. Another show they were playing SIC and his drum kit once again went way up in the air and spun around inverted. Amazing drummer and an amazing person.

[millenwagon]

One thing I loved about joey was how he never went over the top. Some drummers take it too far just for the sake of showing off. Joey kept things just right for the song, everything was in context. Brilliant

[ItCantRainAllTheTime_]

What I admired the most about Joey is the fact that he stayed humble. He stayed looking out for other bands on a big and small scale. Dude had so much knowledge and passionate for music. Quiet spirit with such a bright light…excuse me…😭🤧❤️

[G_Grv]

With how much people talked about Joey's blistering fast feet, you forget how great of a groove drummer he was

[Quelxaxas]

Watching him play Disasterpieces live while spinning around on the pentagram. Followed by the "not until I say, Jump the fuck up" If you've ever been in the Zero Bullshit, you know what I'm talking about. Going to a Slipknot concert in the 2000s was a life changing experience. He's the reason I started drumming and started listening to heavier metal. It was heartbreaking to hear he died on my birthday man... I'll never forget when he threw his drumstick to me in Toronto. Your spirit lives on through us all! Us maggots never truly die, because one simple fact. You cannot kill what you did not create. Stay (sic) everyone.

[some_hippies]

Joey and The Rev are what got me into taking drums more seriously when I was a teenager and it's such a bummer to realize that the guys you looked up to musically and helped you discover a life-long love are both gone