MISC. DRUMMER NEWS: VINNY APPICE NOT IN BLACK SABBATH YET, MIKE HELLER JOINS FEAR FACTORY

Drummers! Y’know we love ’em. Let’s have a looksee at some interesting drummer-related news that’s developed in the past day, shall we?

• Vinny Appice has been one of the most-rumored replacements for Bill Ward in Black Sabbath, and with good reason — he’s taken Ward’s place with both the Ozzy and Dio versions of the band, and was part of Heaven & Hell. But in a recent interview, he said that “I haven’t heard a peep.” This might mean the band is considering other drummers, or it might mean that, for whatever reason, they just haven’t reached out to Appice yet. Guess we’ll wait and see.
• Mike Heller from Malignancy and System Divide has been announced as Gene Hoglan’s replacement in Fear Factory. I know there are some Malignancy fans amongst the MS readership, and I know plenty of you enjoy Fear Factory more than I do, so you should be all-around pleased by this news. But in case you’re not familiar with Heller and the idea of anyone replacing Hogan makes you nervous, here’s some footage of him playing with Malignancy to reassure you:

-AR