Will Carroll - Drums

Will Carroll was born on May 13, 1973, in San Francisco, California. A lifelong member of the Bay Area metal scene, he began playing drums at the age of ten and started performing with bands during the late 1980s.

Over the following decades, Carroll developed into a highly experienced drummer whose career has included numerous thrash, death and heavy metal bands. He is best known today as the drummer of Death Angel, a position he has held since 2009.

Early Career

Carroll began playing in bands during his teenage years in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Among his earliest documented bands was Armament, where he played drums during the late 1980s. He subsequently became involved with Warfare D.C., performing both drums and backing vocals.

During the early and mid-1990s, Carroll continued performing with underground Bay Area bands and projects, including Brood.

These early years established him within the same Bay Area metal community that included bands such as Machine Head, Death Angel, Exodus and numerous other thrash and underground metal acts.

Machine Head

In 1995, Machine Head were touring extensively in support of their debut album, Burn My Eyes.

Following problems with original drummer Chris Kontos, the band initially recruited Walter Ryan as a temporary drummer for shows in Australia and Europe.

Machine Head still needed a drummer for their subsequent North American touring commitments, and Will Carroll was brought in as another temporary replacement.

Carroll joined Robb Flynn, Logan Mader and Adam Duce behind the drum kit and performed with Machine Head during the Burn My Eyes touring cycle.

Like Walter Ryan before him, Carroll was a touring replacement rather than a permanent member of the band and did not appear on a Machine Head studio recording.

Machine Head continued searching for a permanent drummer throughout 1995. Former Sacred Reich drummer Dave McClain eventually auditioned in December and was officially offered the position on December 26, bringing Carroll's brief period with the band to an end.

Although his time in Machine Head was short, Carroll helped the band maintain its demanding touring schedule during the transitional period between Chris Kontos and Dave McClain.

Old Grandad

Carroll subsequently became closely associated with San Francisco death metal band Old Grandad.

He performed drums and vocals on the band's 1997 album Vol. 666 and continued working with the group on later releases.

His recordings with Old Grandad include Hocus Corpus in 2005 and the band's self-titled album in 2019.

Old Grandad has remained one of Carroll's recurring musical projects throughout his career.

Vicious Rumors

In the early 2000s, Carroll joined veteran Bay Area heavy metal band Vicious Rumors.

He served as the band's drummer primarily between 2001 and 2003 and returned for additional activity around 2004.

The position added another established Bay Area metal band to Carroll's growing résumé and further demonstrated his ability to move between traditional heavy metal, thrash and more extreme styles.

Scarecrow and Other Projects

Carroll continued working with numerous Bay Area bands during the 2000s.

In 2006, he became involved with the San Francisco thrash/death metal band Scarecrow, alongside musicians including Exhumed guitarist and vocalist Matt Harvey.

Scarecrow initially operated between 2006 and 2008 before eventually being reactivated in 2020, with Carroll once again behind the drum kit.

He has also performed or recorded with bands including Warning S.F., The Cutthroats 9, Ulysses Siren and Serpent Crown, among numerous other projects.

Death Angel

The most significant chapter of Carroll's career began in 2009 when he joined Bay Area thrash veterans Death Angel.

Original drummer Andy Galeon left the band that year, and Carroll was initially brought in as his replacement for upcoming touring commitments.

The position subsequently became permanent.

Carroll made his Death Angel studio debut on Relentless Retribution, released in 2010.

He subsequently appeared on The Dream Calls for Blood (2013), The Evil Divide (2016) and Humanicide (2019).

The title track from Humanicide received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance, giving Death Angel their first Grammy nomination.

Carroll has remained Death Angel's drummer ever since, performing extensively around the world with the band.

Hammers of Misfortune

Alongside Death Angel, Carroll continued participating in other Bay Area projects.

He joined progressive metal band Hammers of Misfortune during the 2010s and performed drums and percussion on their 2016 album Dead Revolution.

The project provided another example of Carroll working outside the traditional thrash metal style most closely associated with his career.

Recent Projects

Carroll has remained exceptionally active outside Death Angel.

He returned to Scarecrow following the band's reactivation in 2020 and has also performed with Hellhunter, initially as a live drummer before continuing with the group under the name "Bleeding Priest".

His more recent projects include Tales of a Therion and Nefarious, further extending a career involving a large number of bands from throughout the Bay Area metal underground.

Despite these numerous projects, Death Angel has remained Carroll's primary band since 2009.

Current Career

More than three decades after his brief period touring with Machine Head, Will Carroll remains an active member of the Bay Area metal scene.

His career has included Machine Head, Old Grandad, Vicious Rumors, Scarecrow, Hammers of Misfortune and numerous underground projects, but his longest and most prominent position has been behind the drum kit for Death Angel.

What was only a short chapter in Machine Head's history in 1995 ultimately became an early part of a career that would see Carroll establish himself as one of the Bay Area metal scene's most experienced drummers.