Well-known as one of the leaders of extreme metal drumming, George Kollias remains at the top of today’s metal scene and goes way beyond that. Born in Korinthos, Greece, George got his first drum kit and joined his first band at the age of 12. During studies with Greek jazz master Yannis Stavropoulos, George started to explore new elements in music. Very soon, he started teaching drums in a local music school in Korinthos.
In 2000, George moved to Athens and joined Nightfall, with whom he recorded 2 albums: I Am Jesus and Lyssa-Rural Gods and Astonish Punishments, following which the band played shows and big festivals such as Wacken Open Air and Rockwave Festival. At the same time, George formed an extreme death metal band, Sickening Horror, and played on recording sessions for many other bands in order to get more studio experience in different styles of music. With Sickening Horror, he recorded their debut When Landscapes Bled Backwards. George’s drumming was already known for his technical approach, precision, speed and musicality.
In August 2004, George joined US death metallers Nile and moved to the States in order to record their album Annihilation of the Wicked. Nile toured worldwide, including Europe, North and South America, Australia, Japan and more. Not much later, George started doing drum clinics, revealing his teaching method and drumming approach to drummers worldwide. In 2006, George joined the faculty of Athens’ Modern Music School and started the Extreme Drumming Department, a groundbreaking step in bringing extreme drumming into the school and legitimatizing it. This turned out to be a big success.
In the spring of 2007, Nile recorded their album Ithyphallic and were invited to play on the Ozzfest tour—the first extreme metal band to play this important festival. Ithyphallic met with worldwide success, and Nile hit the road for headlining shows all over the world, under the flag of their new label, Nuclear Blast. In the meantime George started jamming with various well-known musicians and started his own jazz/fusion project with Greek guitarist Mike Papadopoulos.
One year later, George released his first instructional drum DVD, Intense Metal Drumming, a three-and-a-half hour program documenting his methods and approach to extreme drumming, which received great reviews worldwide—from both fans and press like Modern Drummer magazine. At the same time, George launched his official drum forum on GeorgeKollias.com and his online lessons, where drummers from all around the world have the opportunity to study with him. Nile’s latest album, Those Who the Gods Detest, contains George’s best performance to date. Released in 2009, the album set new standards for extreme metal music, and the official video debuted on MTV, where it stayed for 11 weeks.
Today, George is an active touring musician, member of Nile, drum instructor at Modern Music School, and a worldwide clinician. He has also started his own musical project, writing and playing all the instruments himself, and released his second instructional drum DVD,Intense Metal Drumming II, on the Hudson Ltd. label of Hudson Music.
George endorses/plays exclusively:Â Pearl Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Vic Firth Drumsticks, Evans Drumheads, Axis Pedals, Extreme Headphones.