Opinions on Martin Lopez

[Elohim Meth]

What do you think of Martin Lopez's abilitys as a musician...I guess it doesnt take a trained ear to catch a good drum beat but I was wondering what actual drummers thought of him since Ive heard various remarks saying he's one of the best or the worst.

 

[MasterOLightning]

I am a drummer. He's probably in the second tier of great drummers. The top is guys like Richard Christy, Brann Dailor, Mike Portnoy. Lopez is on par with Sean Reinert, Trym, Horgh.

 

[deliverance]

he's hot

 

[Shadows Skulk]

whatever happened to the guy who had about a thousand lopez>portnoy arguments

 

[coolsnow7]

Sean Reinert

Umm...you're fucking joking right? Are you and I thinking of the same person? (played with Death for Human, Cynic for Focus)

 

[NFU]

Umm...you're fucking joking right? Are you and I thinking of the same person? (played with Death for Human, Cynic for Focus)

.


i was thinking the same thing. Sean Reinert plays circles around richard christy and the like.

 

[katatonic_fear]

I'm a drummer, and I've always thought Lopez was a fantastic drummer. Not only can he go full speed with the best of the blasters, he is quite good at slower more technical stuff. He's up there with Gene Hoglan and Horgh.

 

[Justin S.]

Hey Elohim, you going to NAU? I spent a year up in Flag and always loved the weather.

About your question... Martin Lopez is a good, solid drummer who has a very "musical" approach considering his genre. His work on Still Life especially is quite good, and ranks highly. How highly is pretty subjective. If your standard for "great drumming" is the science of rythm taken to an extreme, then he is very average at the professional level. But if you view it as a mix of technique and musicality than i think he is a very respectable musician. To compare him to someone like Bozio or Portnoy is hard because they have such a different approach. Its really the same as trying to comparing Mike to Vai or Malmsteen; songwriters versus virtuousos is the never ending internet battle.

 

[cthulufhtagn]

i'm a big fan of lopez's style, in addition to his irresistible good looks
anyone have an opinion on tomas haake, from meshuggah? some passages on "i" really floor me, and while i realize he may not be up there with portnoy, hoglan, et al, the drums play a larger role in meshuggah than in other bands i think

 

[Justin S.]

Haake is a good drummer, and is very creative. I like him a lot. Too tired to post more... im sure you all are so sad

 

[katatonic_fear]

Haake is a good drummer. My favorite right now is Chris Adler of Lamb of God. That guy is fucking nuts behind a set. Martin Lopez, Chris Adler, Paul (however you spell his last name) of Cannibal Corpse, and the guy from God Forbid (i'm not referring to him in this rant, I don't think he's that good) were all in a recent Modern Drummer issue. It's hard to put these people all together because their styles vary greatly. Martin get more into the music, giving it a special vibe with his playing, not really doing a bunch of really fast stuff (some double bass, though.) Adler is very intricate with his double kick, and very energetic. He often keeps his bass drums doing the same rythm as the guitars, while doing extra stuff with his hands. As for Paul of CC, he's just freaking fast.

 

[The Grimace]

Thoughts:

Martin is, in my humble opinion, the most creative drummer in heavy music today. Coincidentaly, Just a few hours ago I listened to 'Damnation' and paid really close attention to the drums. There are so many amazing pickups and cuts and insanity going on, like nothing I've heard outside of... actually, like nothing I've heard. It's really astonishing at times, like when he's doing these off-time snare rolls and hi-hat work in the middle of all his tom-fills, WHILE keeping the count on the ride the whole way through.

And I'd say Haake is at least up there with Portnoy and surpasses Hogland, Christy, and the others in terms of his technical ("math") skills. I have yet to have ANY drummer explain the beat in the middle 2 or 3 minutes of 'I'. Where he's doing eigth notes on the hi-hat and snare, but each hand at a slightly different tempo, while rolling double bass underneath. What the fuck is that? Can you do that?

 

[Agalloch]

I'm a drummer and I think no other drummer would fit Opeth's style as good as Martin. He has AMAZING foot speed considering he doesn't trigger or use Axis pedals. I've been behind his kit liveand it's all the real deal in terms of his feet. He's pretty impressive.

 

[George]

No Lopez is the drummer, the bass player is Mendez.
As for Lopez, he adds great feeling into his playing, which a lot of bands today don't really pay attention to, that's why he definatly stands out among the crowd. Not only that but he has very creative beats he uses in songs, one such example is Deliverence, that beat at the end riff is excelent and I'm sure any drummer would be caught tapping to it at one point or another.

 

[FUBAR]

also, Mikeal is the vocalist/guitarist

and

Peter is the second guitarist

I just thought I better clear things up

 

[Elohim Meth]

Hey Elohim, you going to NAU? I spent a year up in Flag and always loved the weather.

Nope Im a resident =)

 

[TehLeperAffinity]

It's not like Lopez uses his full abilities during Opeth songs. I really want to hear the best drumming he can do.

 

[Timmeth]

Best drummer in music right now.

 

[deliverance]

My favorite right now is Chris Adler of Lamb of God. That guy is fucking nuts behind a set.

agreed, adler is a fucking excellent drummer. he's underrated.

 

[cthulufhtagn]

@katatonic fear: chris adler is the man, i'm a big lamb of god fan...i saw them live about a month ago, he blew me away just as much live as he does on the album.

:hotjump: :hotjump: :hotjump: i'm seeing slayer tonight :hotjump: :hotjump: :hotjump: