Blast Beats

A fast drum technique that appeared in commercially successful metal albums as early as the 1980s.

Blast beats are a type of drum beat originating in hardcore punk and grindcore, often associated with extreme metal styles like black and death metal. While frequently linked to metalcore, the term 'blast beat' was popularized by Napalm Death's drummer Mick Harris in the late 1980s, though Harris himself has noted the term was used by others before him. The technique appeared in commercially successful metal albums well before 2001, such as Morbid Angel's 'Altars of Madness' (1989) and Slayer's 'Reign in Blood' (1986).

Quick Facts

Musical genre

Death Metal
Black Metal
Grindcore

Lore & Background

The history of the blast beat traces back to jazz and rock antecedents before crystallizing in punk. A brief section of Sam Woodyard's 1962 solo on "Kinda Dukish" with Duke Ellington is cited as an early resemblance, though it lacked modern kick drum inclusion. Another instance appeared in Sunny Murray's 1966 or '67 performance on "Holy Ghost" with Albert Ayler. Before these resurfaced in the 2010s, AllMusic contributor Thom Jurek credited Tony Williams' 1979 performance on "Dark Prince" as the true invention. In rock, some have claimed a 1969 track by Coven as an early attempt, and Coven's 1969 album 'Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls' does include a track called "Dignitaries of Hell." King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer utilized proto-versions in 1970. The modern form emerged from 1980s hardcore and grindcore scenes, with Daniel Ekeroth arguing Swedish group Asocial performed the first on their 1982 demo.

Reader's Guide

A blast beat traditionally consists of a repeated sixteenth-note figure played at a very fast tempo, divided uniformly among the bass drum, snare, and cymbals. Adam MacGregor defines it as such, while Brad Schlueter describes the "original" version as a single-stroke roll between cymbal and snare with simultaneous kick hits. In modern contexts, these are usually played at minimums above 90 bpm for 32nd notes or 180 bpm for 16th notes, often ranging from 180 to 250 bpm. There are four main variations: the traditional blast (alternating snare and kick with ride unison), the bomb blast (snare 8ths over 16th kick lines, popularized by Cannibal Corpse), the hammer blast (kick and snare in unison as straight 8ths), and the freehand or gravity blast. The gravity blast uses the snare rim as a fulcrum to double note output with one hand.

Did You Know?

The first use of metronomic blast beats is generally credited to other drummers, and there is no widely accepted canon that Pete Sandoval was the first.
The traditional blast beat is structurally very similar to the skank beat, which originated in early punk and thrash metal scenes.
The hammer blast became popular in death metal music of the early 1990s and can be played with only one fast hand.