Colin Brittain has taken Drumeo‘s “For The First Time” challenge, working out a drum part to Iron Maiden‘s “Hallowed Be Thy Name” having never heard the song before.
The format gives the drummer a version of the track with the percussion stripped out and no advance listen. The Linkin Park drummer works through it on camera before committing to a final take.
Brittain said he had not come across the song, or much of the band’s catalogue, despite two decades in and around rock music as a producer and songwriter.
The drumming on “Hallowed Be Thy Name” is Clive Burr‘s, not Nicko McBrain‘s.
The Number Of The Beast, released in March 1982, was Burr‘s third and last album with Iron Maiden. He left at the end of that year and McBrain replaced him in December 1982, debuting on Piece Of Mind the following year. Burr was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the 1990s and died in March 2013 at 56.
The song closes the album, runs past seven minutes and shifts tempo repeatedly, moving from a slow opening into the gallop the band is known for.
Born Colin Cunningham in Pensacola, Florida and raised in Nashville, Brittain started out drumming in Oh No Fiasco, who released one EP before splitting in 2013. He spent the following decade behind the desk instead, writing, producing, engineering and mixing for Papa Roach, A Day To Remember, 311, One Ok Rock, All Time Low, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Dashboard Confessional and Story Of The Year, among others. His work on Papa Roach‘s Crooked Teeth in 2017 became his best-known credit.
He met Mike Shinoda at a writing session in 2021, and was announced as Linkin Park‘s drummer on September 5, 2024, alongside singer Emily Armstrong. Founding drummer Rob Bourdon had chosen not to take part in the band’s return. Brittain also co-produced From Zero.
This is not his first Drumeo appearance. In March he played the whole of From Zero for them, running through the deluxe edition front to back and talking about the kit, the electronics and how his production background feeds his playing.
Linkin Park‘s concert film “Unshatter“, directed by Joe Hahn, opens in cinemas on September 30.
