Neil Peart
The poster-boy for prog rock since the ’70s, Neil Peart's incredible chops, disciplined, metronomic and powerful playing has pushed rock power trio Rush to greatness.
Neil beat the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith comprehensively, polling a mighty 78% of the vote to take him through to the semi-finals!
Mike Portnoy
He's got plenty of new projects on the go, but undoubtedly it is Mike Portnoy's incredible playing with Dream Theater for 25 years that has made him a massively popular name amongst drummers and music fans.
It was a close run contest, with thousands of votes cast for both drummers, but in the end Portnoy beat Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan to clinch the victory.
Matt Halpern
In the biggest shock of the tournament so far, underdog Matt Halpern of tech metallers Periphery beat Slipknot's Joey Jordison by a massive majority.
Again, thousands of votes were cast in the poll, but in the end it was Matt's popularity with a very vocal and very vibrant modern metal scene that secured his passage to the semi-finals.
