George Kollias is known as one of the leaders of Extreme Metal Drumming.

George Kollias was born on 30 August 1977 in Korinthos, Greece. He got his first drum kit at the age of 12 having already a 2-year background in music as a guitar player. His first drum studies started in 1990 with Vasilis Mpaxevanakis and he continued later on with jazz master Yannis Stavropoulos.

“Extremity Obsession” was the first official band where Kollias participated and he recorded two demos with them, doing also duties of lead singer and producer, while at the same time he had a big part into writing songs for the band.

A few years later, the drummer moves to Athens to join “Nightfall” and records two albums with them: “I Am Jesus” and “Lyssa-Rural Gods And Astonish Punishments”. He also forms an extreme metal band, “Sickening Horror” and records a promo cd and their debut album “When Landscapes Bled Backwards”. Playing with “Nightfall” and “Sickening Horror”, Kollias started getting the attention of drummers and gained his own crowd in the local Greek scene.

His several studio or live sessions during his career also helped him to establish his name as an all around player and multistyle drummer.

In August 2004, he joins “Nile” and moves to the United States to start working on the band’s new album “Annihilation Of The Wicked” which was recorded two months later.
Right after that, the Greek drummer kicks off his first World Tour with the band and getting the chance to play all around the world, including most of Europe’s biggest Metal Festivals as Wacken, Graspop, Hellfest etc. as well as Japan’s Loudpark and the legendary Ozzfest in the United States.

Kollias remains the drummer of “Nile” to this day and he has also recorded the albums “Ithyphallic”, “Those Whom The Gods Detest” and “At The Gate Of Sethu” establishing himself as one of the top metal drummers.

His passion about drumming led him to start getting involved with Drum Clinics and Workshops around the world, while also joined Modern Music School in Athens/Greece starting the Extreme Drumming Department.

He has performed in several countries for individual drum clinics and workshops and also some of Europe’s biggest Drum Festivals as is London Drum Show, Adams Drumfest, Internation Percussion Festival and others.

He also did several Clinic Tours in Europe, Australia and Japan, took part as a main performer in big Expo shows like Frankfurt’s Musikmesse in Germany or Palm Expo in Mumbai-India and took part in big drum camps like the SickDrummer Camp and Thomas Lang’s Big Drum Bonanza. He also got many features and cover stories in well known drum magazines as Drum!, Le Batteur, Modern Drummer, Top Drummer etc.

Kollias’s two DVDs “Intense Metal Drumming” and “Intense Metal Drumming II” were released in summer 2008 and fall 2012, both getting incredible reviews and feedback. With these two DVDs he also reveals his skills as an instructor while at the same time he launches his Official Online Lessons through his website with big success.
The famous drummer takes part in other online lesson websites as well as in applications such as Drum Guru from Hudson Music.

In 2013, Kollias announces his first Book who comes out as a Trilogy under the name “The Odyssey Of Double Bass Drumming (The Beginning, The Journey, The Arrival)” with the first part scheduled for a January 2014 release. His book comes to cover any level of drumming.

His official products include his Vic Firth SGK Signature sticks as well as his Axis George Kollias Special Edition pedals.