Eloy Casagrande , one of the greatest metal drummers of today, commented in a recent interview with Modern Drummer that he still practices the lessons he learned from Aquiles Priester at the beginning of his career (transcriptions via Igor Miranda ).
Early in his career, the current Slipknot Angra drummer and current WASP for two years.
In an interview, Casagrande described Priester as a true "genius," acknowledging his contribution to creating a unique style that influenced an entire generation of drummers.
Even after so many years, Eloy continues to practice some of the exercises he learned during that period. In a statement to the magazine in the January 2025 issue, he recalled his relationship with his mentor.
“When I started taking lessons with Aquiles, I didn’t even know what a rimshot was. He taught me a lot about drumming applied to rock and metal. All my knowledge about double bass drumming comes from him. Even today, I practice some exercises that he taught me about 15 or 16 years ago,” said Casagrande.
During the conversation, Eloy highlighted some key lessons he learned from his former teacher, especially regarding the use of the double pedal. The main lesson was to focus on control before prioritizing speed:
“In learning the double bass drum, the most important thing was always control, not speed. Achilles never pressured me to play faster. He insisted on the idea of feeling comfortable and secure. Speed without control or groove is meaningless. First, you need to be a steady and consistent drummer, then, with time and practice, speed will come naturally.”
Another important point highlighted by Casagrande was learning how to truly feel the music. He recalled a situation involving songs by Angra and Journey , a band featuring Deen Castronovo , one of Aquiles's influences:
“I remember wanting to learn really fast speed metal songs. I asked if I could study an Angra song. He replied, 'Before that, let's play a more relaxed rock track.' Then he suggested 'Ask the Lonely' by Journey, which has a simple and straightforward groove. I thought it would be too easy, but he insisted that I needed to master that before moving on to something more complex.”
He continued: “I practiced all week and, when I played for him, Achilles said it still wasn’t good, that the groove didn’t sound like it should. He explained that I was overthinking, focusing only on technique, and not really feeling the music.”
This approach left a deep mark on Eloy, who later applied the same thinking when teaching his own students:
“Aquiles taught me to be more musical and not to be so rigidly focused on technique. This learning was very important during adolescence. Later, when I started teaching, I realized that many of my students faced the same challenge of not being able to connect emotionally with the music,” the drummer concluded.
With this trajectory full of learning and achievements, Eloy Casagrande continues to stand out; the drummer even won the award for best metal drummer of the year in 2024 from Modern Drummer magazine.
READ ALSO: Eloy Casagrande on joining Slipknot: “It was always the place I wanted to be”
