Eloy Casagrande Lopes is a professional drummer from Brazil well known as the former drummer of the band Sepultura. He is the current drummer for Slipknot, taking the place of Slipknot's former drummer Jay Weinberg.
Early Life[]
Casagrande started playing at the age of seven, when he received a toy drum from his mother, and after a year he received a conventional-sized one. In 2004, at the age of 13, he was the big winner of the Batuka! International Drummer Fest, promoted by Vera Figueiredo. Soon after, he also won the Modern Drummer’s Undiscovered Drummer Contest 2005, in New Jersey, and, the following year, toured the United States.
He was the drummer for the bands AcllA, Iahweh, 2ois, as well as being a member of singer Andre Matos' backing band. In 2011, at the age of 20, he became the drummer for the band Gloria. Despite having only spent a few months in the band, Eloy participated in important moments in the band's history, such as the show at Rock in Rio in 2011 and the recording of the CD "(Re)Nascido", released in 2012. At the end of 2011, Eloy joined Sepultura and recorded three albums. For a few years, even in Sepultura, Eloy continued to occasionally perform with the Christian metal band Iahweh.
On February 6, 2024, on the eve of the first rehearsals of Sepultura's Farewell Tour ("Celebrating Life Through Death"), Casagrande announced his departure from the band to dedicate himself to another project. The band announced their departure on the 27th of the same month, through their official Instagram page, as well as their replacement by drummer Greyson Nekrutman.
Slipknot[]
After Weinberg's dismissal, many speculated about a new drummer to take over the position. During early 2024 (and after Eloy's departure from Sepultura), a teaser was posted on Instagram showing broken drumsticks, accompanied by the caption "Rehearsal.". The drumsticks were identified by fans and were the same as Eloy's signature drumsticks, fueling a huge doubt about his presence in the band.
Just before the band's first live show in April 25th, 2024, many others music bands members said that Casagrande was indeed the new drummer. A few hours before the event that took place at California, A TAMA drum kit was installed on the stage, which is the same brand that sponsors Casagrande's drum kit, burning away doubts that he was really the new drummer.
After the band performed at Sick New World (Las Vegas), a photo was posted on the band's official Instagram, marking almost all the members, including Casagrande, thus providing official confirmation. This photo also featured a more reformed variation of Casagrande's mask, although it wasn't as noticeable.
Due to the great hype surrounding the member, an official announcement was made on April 30, 2024 welcoming Eloy Casagrande to the band.
Masks[]
- "The idea of the headshot was mine. In the end, it was because I had some designs here on the lower part of the eyes, right? The mask was a bit unbalanced, its volume was all down, nothing up. They said, why don’t we put a circle on the forehead? I said, man, put a bullet shot on my forehead. They said, wow, is that okay for you? I said, yeah. So, I started to bring some philosophical questions with this, right? I read a lot about a philosopher, Albert Camus, about absurdism, nihilism too, about denial, right? Like, having a shot, it's like, “man, I have a bullet in my forehead, I’m already dead, nothing can affect me anymore."
- —Eloy talking about his mask
Eloy was first seen with a white face mask covering only the front of his head. His mask features a bullet hole centered on his forehead and engraved lines painted in black coming from his eyes and the center of his nose.
On April 30, 2024, the official announcement photo features a slightly remodeled mask, containing an eye mesh and a zipper in the mouth. This variation was also present before but was not as noticeable.
Gallery[]
Masks[]
Trivia[]
- Casagrande's unfinished mask variation only lasted 4 days since his debut before being partially redesigned.
- Eloy Casagrande is the first non-english person to be part of the band.
- He already played drums in a Brazilian talent show on "Domingão do Faustão" when he was younger. You can see the recording here.
- He was chosen by Modern Drummer magazine as the best metal drummer of 2021 and by the Drumeo website as the best metal drummer of 2022.
- He is the first member in Slipknot history who has received an official announcement.
- He designed his mask with Shawn (and made by Jim Ojala). The mask is part Slipknot and part Eloy's personality.[1]
- During his first show with Slipknot, the protective sticker on his bass drum fell off during the 4th song, effectively causing his beater to stick to the drum. He had to smush dirt on it.
External Links[]
Eloy Casagrande on Wikipedia- Eloy Casagrande on Instagram
- Eloy Casagrande on Twitter
- Eloy Casagrande on YouTube
[]
| Slipknot | |
|---|---|
| Current Members: | #0 Sid Wilson • #4 Jim Root • #6 Shawn "Clown" Crahan • #7 Mick Thomson • #8 Corey Taylor • (V) Alex Venturella • Michael Pfaff • Unidentified sampler • Eloy Casagrande |
| Former Members: | Anders Colsefni • #4 Josh "Gnar" Brainard • #2 Paul Gray • #1 Joey Jordison • Donnie Steele • Kun Nong • #3 Greg "Cuddles" Welts • #3 Chris Fehn • #5 Craig "133" Jones • (J) Jay Weinberg Live Only: (ᗺ) Brandon Darner |
References[]
- ↑ The first big change, when wearing a mask, is mental. It's another person there. The mask has life. If someone else put it on, it won't be the same. I created it together with Shawn, we were developing the design together, so it's a property of Slipknot and my personality. But when you wear a mask, I still don't know how to explain that it heats up, because it's full of foam, so I get very sweaty. breathe Before the first performance, I was already rehearsing with a mask made for athletes, which simulates having several valves, and covering the nose and mouth, restricting breathing. Whiplash. Retrieved May 27th, 2024.