Great metal bass players...

[Whiplash71]

Who were they? Growing up in the 80s, metal has always been my top catagory in the realm of Rock n Roll. I listen to it all, but Metal is my go to. We all grow up in an era that is our foundation and forever sticks with us, and that just happened to be what was going on when I came up.

Yes, there were a lot of one note riding wonders in the genre, but who were the truly great ones?

Geezer Butler - the Grand Daddy of it all! Needs no explanation.

Steve Harris - The sickest right hand to ever play.

Bob Daisley - I've beaten this topic to death in the Daisley thread.

Frank Bello (Anthrax) - under rated as hell, but was definitely a mini Steve Harris. The guy was a phenominal bass player and never got his due as such. Sadly a lot of his work ended up buried in the mixes, but the guy can play with the best of them.

Cliff Burton - died too young. The guy would of just gotten better and better.

Robert Truijillio - long before Metallica he was doing some great things in Suicidal Tendencies. If anything he has taken it down a notch in Metallica.

Martin Mendez of Opeth - if you never heard the guy...trust me, he is simply amazing. The whole band is. Especially thier albums Deliverence and Damnation.

Who do you have to list? Honestly, some of the most dumbed down bass lines in music come from Hard Rock/Metal...but it did have its short list of elite talent.

I just like this sort of conversation.

 

[A.K.]

I would add the following:

Roger Glover: Totally different from Butler, but had a driving, aggressive style with a gnarly tone

David Ellefson: Super precise pick playing with a powerful and unique style

Jimmy Bain: Heavy, relentless, and precise, with positively killer tone

Ian Hill: Not a technical player, but watch the "Live Vengeance '82" concert and tell me he isn't a key part of that band's power--he drives them without mercy the entire time!

Peter Baltes: Accept might be the most underrated metal band ever, and Baltes combines huge P-bass tone with lots of power and finesse

 

[DocShocker]

Rex Brown. Always meat on the bones of his parts, good pick discipline, never sloppy.

Lemmy. Because he's Lemmy.

 

[NoiseNinja]

If Mr. Bungle and Tool can be counted as metal, which I am not sure of (I guess Tool is more of a hard/experimental progressive rock band and Mr. Bungle is more of an experimental/avant-garde outfit than they are specifically metal, although both uses elements in their music that unmistakable can be pointed back to metal), my vote goes to:

Trevor Dunn (Outstanding bassist who would be able to handle all genres well, he is even quite adept at playing upright bass)

Justin Chancellor (Iconic riffs, superb tone and admirable musicianship)

 

[Gluvhand]

Markus Grosskopf from Helloween is a very good player as well. Plays both pick and fingers and is a big part of Helloween's sound.

 

[Bodeanly]

Frank Bello

+1

Trevor Dunn

+1

Justin Chancellor

+1
And I'll add David Ellefson, simply for the line from Peace Sells...

 

[Jloch86]

Steve DiGiorgio is the greatest metal bass player on earth followed by Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse.

 

[lostreality]

Chuck Schuldiner, from Death.

I'm not trolling, he actually did play bass on their first album if I remember correctly and didn't sound half bad. More importantly, as a guitarist he didn't step all over the bass parts on later recordings

 

[billgoodwin]

Jean-Yves "Blacky" Theriault of Voivod.

 

[CaseyJ]

Greg Christian from Testament had some cool lines.

 

[seang15]

Rush is Progressive METAL. So, Geddy Lee.

Robertino "Pags" Pagliari from Ohm!

 

[leegreenman]

Cliff, Steve Harris, Lemmy, and Geezer

 

[A.K.]

People slam Steve Harris for his isolated live tracks, but Frank Bello's isolated STUDIO tracks are some of the most shockingly sloppy to be found anywhere. Like, so bad he wouldn't even be considered for a respectable Anthrax cover band in Bismarck, North Dakota.

I don't say that to slam him, but he ain't on the level of Burton or Ellefson.

 

[Ethan117]

He's a little more modern than the theme so far, but Nolly simply can't be left out of this thread. My current favorite.

 

[Mike N]

Tim Hansen - Mercyful Fate / King Diamond

 

[Obese Chess]

Newsted belongs here, too. A true inspiration to all of us who beat the hell out of our strings.

 

[AdamR]

So many of my favorites listed already. I'll add Rachel Bolan of Skid Row to the list. Some great little fills on the Slave to the grind album and a killer tone.

 

[colantalas]

Lots of great people and personal heroes mentioned so far. I'll add a few.

Joe Lester is a great jazz fretless bassist who made the crossover to metal. Great upright player too. He and Danny Walker make up the best rhythm section in metal today IMO.


Jean-Michel Labadie of Gojira isn't super flashy, but adds a lot of heft and weight to their power. I consider him a prominent P-Bass player in metal, but I think he switched to a Jazz for the new album.


Colin Marston, of Dysrhythmia/Gorguts, is a truly extraordinary talent of skill and arrangement. I saw him with Dysrhythmia in a tiny club a few years ago, and he showed me how little I really knew about my instrument. Super positive guy too, I told him he made me want to give up the instrument after and he was super positive and talked about the importance of perseverance and inspiration.


If you ever want to just stare in awe at crazy fretless chops, Forest Lapointe is your guy. No longer in this band but still active.

 

[AdamR]

Jean-Michel Labadie is still using P basses. I love Gojira, Never heard of them till I started dating my Fiance. She's a huge fan.

 

[Volunteerk9]

Ill weigh in with my 3 faves in no particular order:

Justin Chancellor of Tool
D.D Verni of Overkill
Eddie Jackson of Queensryche

I love the tone of all 3 of these guys.