Full Review by The Riff Report Blog – July 5, 2025
Stage: Back To The Beginning Main Stage
Event: THE DRUM-OFF – YES. A literal drum war. Only in metal.
Time: Somewhere between “soundcheck” and “someone summon the gods of thunder” ⚡

🥁💣 “THIS ISN’T JUST A SOLO… IT’S A BATTLEFIELD!” – VILLA PARK HOSTS METAL’S MOST UNHOLY DRUM WAR ⚔️

You thought you’d seen madness? You thought the pits were wild? You thought Lamb of God and Gojira were the loudest things at Villa Park?
WRONG.

What came next wasn’t a set. It was a DRUMMING BLOODBATH. Five kits. Five gods. No rules. No mercy. No seatbelts.

Welcome to THE DRUM-OFF: The world’s loudest, fastest, sweatiest, most over-the-top display of rhythmic violence ever witnessed on UK soil. It was so metal, even the crash cymbals screamed for help. 😵‍💫🔥

🥁 THE WARRIORS ENTER THE RING…

🧠 Mario Duplantier (Gojira) – The Precision Monster

Played blast beats like Morse code from an alien mothership. Threw sticks behind his back and still landed fills tighter than your ma’s purse string.

🧨 Arejay Hale (Halestorm) – The Showman

Entered wearing a cape, wielding drumsticks the size of cricket bats. Jumped ONTO his stool mid-solo and did a 360. Crowd went ballistic. He is chaos incarnate.

🐙 Jay Weinberg (Slipknot) – The Demonic Octopus

Strapped into a rotating kit. Face paint dripping. Looked like he was battling demons mid-air. Crowd started a pit during his solo. That’s new.

⚡ Brann Dailor (Mastodon) – The Jazz Wizard of Doom

Started with a shuffle. Ended with a time-signature-defying blast that gave everyone maths headaches. Basically Neil Peart’s chaotic cousin on acid.

🥷 Dave Grohl (Supergroup A) – The Smiling Assassin

Jumped behind the kit with a pint in one hand, destroyed everyone’s expectations. Switched from death metal to disco grooves to Slayer-style fills in 30 seconds. Legend.
When the crowd chanted “ONE MORE TIME!” he just smirked and dropped into “Smells Like Teen Spirit” at 220BPM. People wept.

🎤 COMMENTARY? YES. FROM OZZY BLOODY OSBOURNE.

Projected onto the screen mid-battle, Ozzy pops up, absolutely loving it.
“This is mental. I love it. I can’t hear nuffin’. Proper f*in’ loud, innit?!”**
Then he dropped his mic and walked off laughing. Icon.

🎵 HIGHLIGHT MOMENTS THAT BROKE THE LAWS OF PHYSICS

  • Arejay Hale played a mini kit made entirely of beer cans – and made it sound GOOD.
  • Mario did a one-handed blast beat while holding a GoPro in the other. Expect full POV madness online soon.
  • Brann Dailor played a 7/4 solo… while reciting Shakespeare. Don’t ask. It slapped.
  • Jay Weinberg started a silent drum solo – no sound, just motion – and the crowd beatboxed it themselves.
  • *Grohl and Arejay tag-teamed a Slayer fill, back to back, like WWE but with snare drums.

🧷 THE CROWD? ABSOLUTE MAYHEM

Some sat cross-legged in awe. Some moshed. Some meditated. One lad tried to air drum all five solos at once and passed out.

A kid on their dad’s shoulders screamed “DRUMS FOREVER!” and we’re now legally adopting them into The Riff Report.

The security guards had earplugs, wide eyes, and thousand-yard stares. PTSD = Post-Tempo Stress Disorder.

🧨 THE GRAND FINALE – FIVE KITS. ONE BEAT. APOCALYPSE. 💀

The final 60 seconds: All five drummers synced up for a mind-melting rhythmic explosion that made the entire stadium rumble.
Bass drums firing like cannons. Cymbals exploding like fireworks. Crowd counting down, fists raised. And when it ended?

SILENCE.
Then: A SCREAM SO LOUD IT REGISTERED ON A WEATHER SATELLITE.

🎯 FINAL VERDICT: LOUDER THAN HELL. COOLER THAN ANY SOLO YOU’LL EVER SEE.

This wasn’t just a drum-off.
It was a drum reckoning. A kit-based crusade.
A percussion purge for the soul.

Score: 12/10 Snare-Rattling Showdowns 🥁🔥
Mood: Deaf, delirious, and DESPERATE FOR A REPLAY.

Diolch to every skin-hitting, stick-flipping, face-melting maniac on stage. That was glorious insanity. 🙏