Randy Black (born November 17, 1963) is a Canadian drummer known best for his stints as the drummer for

Bif Naked Beth Nicole Torbert (born June 15, 1971) is a Canadian singer best known by her stage name Bif Naked. Between 1996 and 2016, she was among the top 150 selling Canadian artists in Canada. She charted #1 on Billboard Canada for the single Spacema ...

, Annihilator, Primal Fear, and

Destruction Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger * Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism * Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kin ...

. Although Black's actual acoustic drum configuration is not unique to the field of drumming, his playing style is notable for his ability to play ambidextrously with a symmetrical set of

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

s, specifically a dual set of remote hi-hats and

ride cymbal The ride cymbal is a cymbal of material sustain used to maintain a beat (music), beat in music.Schroedl, Scott (2001). ''Play Drums Today!'', p.7. Hal Leonard. . A standard in most drum kit, drum kits, the ride's function is to maintain a steady ...

s to his right and to his left respectively.

Biography

Black is a native of

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the List of cities in Saskatchewan, fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina, Saskatchewan, Re ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. He got his first professional start in 1980 with a band called "The Edge". He did not start touring to any large degree until he joined the band "The Kaotics" in 1982. He then joined the band Click in 1984, who were known for their covers of material by bands such as Journey and Rush. The four members of Click stayed together and toured for nine years without a personnel change. In 1993, Black moved to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and joined Annihilator. Black's bandmates were astonished at his technical precision and even dubbed him the "human

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

". In 1998, Black did some recording work with

on the album '' I Bificus''. It was shortly after this that Black moved to Germany. He also did some more recording with Annihilator. In 2003, Black joined the German heavy metal band Primal Fear, replacing original drummer Klaus Sperling. In June 2011, Black announced that he would be officially endorsing

Pearl Drums , simply known as Pearl, is a multinational corporation based in Japan with a wide range of products, predominantly percussion instruments. History Time! Pearl was founded by Katsumi Yanagisawa -who began manufacturing music stands in Sumida, T ...

. On August 11, 2014, Primal Fear announced that due to irreconcilable differences between lead singer Ralf Scheepers and him, Black departed the band after their performance at Summer Breeze Festival on August 15. In late 2015, Black officially joined American heavy metal band W.A.S.P. as their touring drummer after the departure of their previous drummer Mike Dupke. In 2017, Black left W.A.S.P. Later in 2018, he joined German thrash metal band

References

External links

Official Primal Fear siteOfficial Randy Black siteSabian Cymbals – Randy Black profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Randy Canadian rock drummers Canadian male drummers Living people 1963 births Primal Fear (band) members Annihilator (band) members