Among the Living Thrash Groove — Charlie Benante (Anthrax) Drum Lick | MetalForge
Learn the Among the Living Thrash Groove drum lick by Charlie Benante of Anthrax. From I Am the Law (Among the Living (1987)). "I Am the Law" from Anthrax's 1987 album Among the Living is one of the great drum performances in t...
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1. Charlie Benante's Signature Licks — "I Am the Law" from Anthrax's 1987 album Among the Living is one of the great drum performances in the thrash metal canon, overshadowed only by the album's more widely covered tracks but no less accomplished or instructive. Inspired by the Judge Dredd comic and built around one of Scott Ian's most relentless riffs, the song is a seven-minute epic that demands sustained excellence from the drummer across multiple sections and tempos. Benante drives it across every passage with a mastery of pacing and groove that keeps the listener locked in despite the extended running time — the mark of a drummer who thinks architecturally about a song's structure rather than just executing one pattern after another. The main thrash groove is quintessential Benante: a driving, riff-locked kick pattern at approximately 190 BPM, a snapping backbeat that gives the track its urgency, and tight hi-hat work that binds the kit into a single, relentless rhythmic machine pushing the song forward without pause. What distinguishes this groove from the more syncopated or breakdown-driven patterns elsewhere on Among the Living is its pure forward-driving momentum: Benante plays it straight and powerfully, leaning into the riff's galloping quality with a kick pattern that mirrors the guitar's picking without being enslaved to it. Fills arrive sparingly but with devastating placement, announcing the song's numerous section changes and each time lifting the energy rather than disrupting the flow. The song also showcases Benante's efficient double-bass technique from this era: short, purposeful bursts that add velocity to the riff rather than a sustained carpet of kick. For drummers, "I Am the Law" is a complete lesson in sustained thrash groove across a long arrangement: it develops foot control, kick-riff locking, the ability to sustain a demanding groove through multiple sections without losing intensity, and the fill vocabulary and placement judgement that comes from deep study of how great thrash drummers serve their songs.2. Charlie Benante Profile — Drive the galloping riff with a forward-momentum kick pattern that mirrors the guitar without copying it exactly Hold a snapping backbeat that gives the groove its urgency and keeps the band locked in Use tight hi-hat work to bind the kit into a single relentless rhythmic machine Deploy double-bass bursts purposefully — short, accented figures that add velocity rather than a constant carpet Place fills sparingly and with devastating precision to mark the song's section changes
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