Christopher James Adler (born November 23, 1972) is an American musician, best known as the founder and longtime drummer of heavy metal band Lamb of God from 1994 to 2019, and Grammy Award winning member of Megadeth.
Adler was a member of Megadeth from 2015 to 2016, appearing on their fifteenth album, Dystopia, and performed some touring dates in support of that album, as well as the touring and creative obligations with Lamb of God. Adler played in several local bands including Calibra, Jettison Charlie, Grouser and Darker Days before founding Lamb of God in 1994.
Adler is well recognized for his open-handed technique, his use of the heel-toe technique, and his unusual approach to the drum kit as a left handed player on a right handed kit.
In an interview with DRUM! magazine, Adler describes his first drum kit as a disaster:
"The bass drum legs were different lengths so they wouldn't touch the ground at the same time. Every time I would hit it, it would wobble from left to right. The cymbal stands were duct taped together, and I think after two or three times playing the kit, the pedalboard actually broke in half because it was made of that crappy old fake metal."[5]
Career
In 2014, he contributed several drum tracks to the Testament album Dark Roots of Earth. The same year, he said that he could neither "confirm nor deny" whether he had performed on the Slipknot single "The Negative One". He dismissed this in a later interview.[6]
Adler performing with Lamb of God at Rock am Ring 2015
On July 19, 2019, after a year in which he did not tour with the band, Adler parted ways with Lamb of God. Art Cruz later became his permanent replacement.[8]
In September of 2019, Adler took a job at The Home Depot in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia. Chris is an Associate Store Manager, providing warehouse and store management services.[9]
Personal life
In February 2019, Adler announced his engagement to his longtime girlfriend.[10] Adler is interested in animal rights and is a vegetarian.[11][12]
Equipment
Current tour kit
Drums – Mapex Saturn in Satin Black Maple Burl[13]
10"x9" Tom
12"×10" Tom
16"×16" Floor Tom
18"×16" Floor Tom
22"×18" Bass Drum (×2)
12"×5.5" Mapex Warbird (Chris Adler Signature)
Cymbals – Meinl[14]
Current:
18" Byzance Traditional China
14" Pure Alloy Medium Hihat
8" HCS High Bell
8" Byzance Traditional Splash
16" Pure Alloy Medium Crash
16" Pure Alloy Custom Medium Thin Crash
10" Byzance Traditional Splash
18" Byzance Traditional Medium Thin Crash
14" Byzance Dark Hihat
24" Byzance Brilliant Pure Metal Ride
18" Byzance Traditional China
Cymbals circa 2016:
14" Generation X Filter China
16" Generation X Filter China
14" Soundcaster Custom Medium Soundwave Hihat or 14" Byzance Dark Hihat
^"Chris Adler Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic.
^"Lamb of God's Chris Adler Talks Drums (w/ Audio) – in Interviews". Metal Underground.com. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
^Linda Friedel (March 16, 2011). "Drum clinic rocks local music store – Wednesday Sun News Story – Kansas City". Kccommunitynews.com. Archived from the original on March 26, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
^Phil Freeman (February 24, 2012). "Lamb of God's Chris Adler's Five Favorite Drummers". wonderingsound.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
^"Chris Adler: Working Man's Metal". DRUM! Magazine. Archived from the original on September 14, 2010.
^"LAMB OF GOD's CHRIS ADLER: 'I Have No Involvement' In SLIPKNOT's New Album". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. August 14, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
^"Chris Adler | GRAMMY.com". Archived from the original on February 22, 2017. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
^Hammer, Alice Pattillo2019-07-19T22:21:48Z Metal (July 19, 2019). "Lamb of God officially part ways with drummer Chris Adler". Metal Hammer Magazine. Retrieved July 28, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^"Chris Adler Professional LinkeIn". LinkedIn. April 28, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
^"Chris Adler on Instagram". Archived from the original on December 24, 2021.
^"Lamb Of God's Chris Adler Is Proud Vegetarian". Metalunderground.com. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
^"Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler speaks up for animals". Gmanetwork.com. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
^ a b"Chris Adler". Chris Adler. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
^"MEINL cymbals 2008.pdf" (PDF). Retrieved October 1, 2011.[permanent dead link]
^"Drummerworld video showing Adler talk about his pedals and bass drum technique". Pearl Drummers Forum. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
^"DRUMHEAD Magazine". Drumheadmag.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
^"Testament: New Album Title Revealed; Tour With Anthrax, Overkill, Death Angel Planned". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.
^Lamb Of God's Chris Adler Is Officially The Drummer For Megadeth's New Album
^Shefeek, Afrin (November 30, 2019). "Namah, saluting the luminary". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to Chris Adler.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chris Adler.
Official website
Official Lamb of God website
Interview with musician Chris Adler on ink19.com Archived June 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
Interview with musician Chris Adler on Rockdetector.com
Video clips, pictures and information about musician Chris Adler.