Chris Adler

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American drummer

title: "Chris Adler" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1972-births", "grammy-award-winners", "drummers-from-washington,-d.c.", "living-people", "american-heavy-metal-drummers", "lamb-of-god-(band)-members", "nitro-(band)-members", "virginia-commonwealth-university-alumni", "20th-century-american-drummers", "american-male-drummers", "megadeth-members", "blotted-science-members", "21st-century-american-drummers", "thrash-metal-musicians"] description: "American drummer" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Adler" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American drummer ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

FieldValue
nameChris Adler
image2015 RiP Lamb of God - Chris Adler by 2eight - 3SC5483.jpg
captionAdler in 2015
birth_nameChristopher James Adler
birth_date
originWashington, D.C., U.S.
instrumentDrums
genre{{flatlist
occupationMusician
current_member_ofFirstborne
past_member_of{{flatlist
website
::

| name = Chris Adler | image = 2015 RiP Lamb of God - Chris Adler by 2eight - 3SC5483.jpg | caption = Adler in 2015 | birth_name = Christopher James Adler | alias = | birth_date = | origin = Washington, D.C., U.S. | death_date = | instrument = Drums | genre = {{flatlist|

Christopher James Adler (born November 23, 1972) is an American musician, best known as a founding member and the longtime drummer of heavy metal band Lamb of God from 1994 to 2019.

He was also a Grammy Award winning member of Megadeth from 2015 to 2016, appearing on their fifteenth album, Dystopia.

Early life and influences

His influences include former Wrathchild America and former Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin, and Stewart Copeland of The Police. Other influences are John Bonham, Dave Lombardo, Gar Samuelson, Lars Ulrich, Billy Cobham, and Gene Hoglan.

In an interview with DRUM! magazine, Adler describes his first drum kit as a disaster:

::quote "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."

::

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. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Lamb_Of_God_-Rock_am_Ring_2015-9876(cropped).jpg" caption="Adler performing with Lamb of God at [[Rock am Ring]] 2015"] ::

On February 12, 2017, Dystopia won the Best Metal Performance award at the 59th Grammy Awards.

In early May 2025, Adler revealed that his dismissal from Lamb of God was partly due to "developing Musician's Dystonia, a neurological condition that causes nerve deterioration in limbs most frequently used by musicians", in Adler's case his right foot. After years of growing tensions within the band, particularly after his time serving as Megadeth's drummer and in tandem with his condition, Lamb of God eventually told Adler "that his services were no longer required" despite being aware of his MD.

Personal life

In February 2019, Adler announced his engagement to his longtime girlfriend. Adler is interested in animal rights and is a vegetarian.

Accolades

Adler won the following Modern Drummer magazine Reader's Poll awards:

  • Best Metal Drummer 2007, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2019.

In 2012 Adler was nominated for best drummer at that years Revolver Golden Gods Awards, then in 2016 he won drummer of the year at the 2016 Revolver Golden Gods Awards for his work on Dystopia.

He was nominated for 5 Grammys as a member of Lamb of God and finally won one as a member of Megadeth for Best Metal Performance at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.

Equipment

Current tour kit

  • Drums - Mapex Saturn in Satin Black Maple Burl
    • 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 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
  • 8" Byzance Traditional Splash
  • 12" Soundcaster Custom Distortion Splash
  • 14" Soundcaster Custom Medium Crash
  • 8" Classics Custom High Bell
  • 14" Soundcaster Custom Medium Crash
  • 16" Mb8 Medium Crash
  • 8" Byzance Traditional Splash
  • 18" Byzance Traditional Medium Thin Crash
  • 24" MB20 Pure Metal Ride
  • 17" Byzance Traditional China (Prototype)
  • Drumheads - Evans
    • Toms: EC2S Clear - G1 Clear
    • Bass: EMAD Heavyweight - Custom Resonant
    • Snare: Heavyweight snare batter - 300 snare side
  • Hardware
    • Trick Pro V pedals
    • Monolit Czarcie Kopyto Custom Drum Pedals
    • Gibraltar Rack System and Clamps
    • Mapex Cymbal Boom Arms
  • Other
    • Roland TD-7 Electronic Percussion Module and Single Trigger Pad
    • Roland trigger modules
    • Pro-Mark TX5AXW Chris Adler Signature Sticks

Discography

;With Calibra

  • Demo Tape (1989, independently released)

;With Cry Havoc

  • Demo Tape (1993, independently released)

;With Jettison Charlie

  • Hitchhiking to Budapest (1994, Turn of the Century)
  • Legions of the Unjazzed / I Love You, You Bastard EP (1996, Peas Kor Records)

;With EvilDeathInc.

;With Burn the Priest

;With Grouser

  • Demo tape (1996, independently released)

;With Lamb of God Main article: Lamb of God discography

;Solo

  • Drum Nation Volume 3 (2006, Magna Carta) feat. Ron Jarzombek
  • Chris Adler and Jason Bittner: Live at Modern Drummer Festival 2005 DVD (2006, Hudson Music)

;With Testament

;With Protest the Hero

;With Megadeth

;With Thaikkudam Bridge

  • Namah (2019)

;With Firstborne

  • Firstborne EP (2020, Firstborne Records)
  • Lucky (2025, M-Theory Audio)

References

References

  1. "Chris Adler Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More".
  2. "Lamb of God's Chris Adler Talks Drums (w/ Audio) – in Interviews". Metal Underground.com.
  3. Linda Friedel. (March 16, 2011). "Drum clinic rocks local music store – Wednesday Sun News Story – Kansas City". Kccommunitynews.com.
  4. Phil Freeman. (February 24, 2012). "Lamb of God's Chris Adler's Five Favorite Drummers". wonderingsound.com.
  5. (2009). "Chris Adler: Working Man's Metal". [[DRUM! Magazine]].
  6. (August 14, 2014). "LAMB OF GOD's CHRIS ADLER: 'I Have No Involvement' In SLIPKNOT's New Album". BLABBERMOUTH.NET.
  7. "Chris Adler | GRAMMY.com".
  8. LOADED RADIO. (2025-05-07). "Chris Adler Reveals the REAL Reason He Was Fired From LAMB OF GOD".
  9. "Chris Adler on Instagram".
  10. [https://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=28042 "Lamb Of God's Chris Adler Is Proud Vegetarian"]. Metalunderground.com. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  11. [https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/content/248413/lamb-of-god-drummer-chris-adler-speaks-up-for-animals/story/ "Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler speaks up for animals"]. Gmanetwork.com. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  12. "Modern Drummer's Readers Poll Archive, 1979–2017 {{!}} Modern Drummer Magazine {{!}}".
  13. (2019-02-28). "Porter and Davies Artists Recognised {{!}} MMR Magazine".
  14. Blabbermouth. (2016-12-14). "METALLICA, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX, SLIPKNOT Among Winners At 'Revolver Music Awards' (Video)".
  15. Blabbermouth. (2012-02-15). "2012 Edition Of 'Revolver Golden Gods': Complete Details Revealed".
  16. "Chris Alder Grammys.com".
  17. "Chris Adler".
  18. (August 2017). "MEINL cymbals 2008.pdf".
  19. "Drummerworld video showing Adler talk about his pedals and bass drum technique". Pearl Drummers Forum.
  20. "DRUMHEAD Magazine". Drumheadmag.com.
  21. "Testament: New Album Title Revealed; Tour With Anthrax, Overkill, Death Angel Planned".
  22. [http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3337975/lamb-gods-chris-adler-officially-drummer-megadeths-new-album/ Lamb Of God's Chris Adler Is Officially The Drummer For Megadeth's New Album]
  23. Shefeek, Afrin. (November 30, 2019). "Namah, saluting the luminary".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1972-birthsgrammy-award-winnersdrummers-from-washington,-d.c.living-peopleamerican-heavy-metal-drummerslamb-of-god-(band)-membersnitro-(band)-membersvirginia-commonwealth-university-alumni20th-century-american-drummersamerican-male-drummersmegadeth-membersblotted-science-members21st-century-american-drummersthrash-metal-musicians