Picking up the sticks in the long wake of one of the most legendary drummers of all time is an act of courage that borders on masochism, especially when said legend not only defined a genre, but died far too young, breaking the hearts of fans who will spend the rest of their lives exercising comparison as an act of love. This is why Led Zeppelin stunt-casted drummers for the handful of performances they've given since the 1980 death of John Bonham--Phil Collins first, and later, Bonham's own son, Jason--placing cultural brackets around the role as if to say "there is no way to actually do this." It's a thankless job--sacrificial, almost--where the best case scenario is that the fans just sort of accept it and focus on other things.
It helps if you get to wear a mask. Or so I would think--but you wouldn't know it to see Eloy Casagrande, who took Joey Jordison's throne from third-best Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg earlier this year, take on popular drum-teaching platform Drumeo's challenge to learn Mastodon's "Blood and Thunder" as quickly as possible on camera--sans mask, of course.
Watch below as Casagrande, the 33-year-old Brazilian who formerly beat skins for Sepultura, laughs, curses, and grinds his way through the sludge metal classic--appropriately, the first song from an album based on Moby Dick--until he slays the beast. His time? Just under 42 minutes. It's hard to imagine Bonham and Jordison looking down from up there on Mt. Drummore and not being at least a little impressed.
Catch Casagrande on the road with Slipknot on their Here Comes The Pain tour.
