John Gerard Sankey (born 21 July 1975) is an Australian heavy metal drummer, best known as the drummer for

Devolved Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...

and Devil You Know (now known as

Light the Torch Light the Torch (formerly Devil You Know) is an American metalcore supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 2012. They are currently signed to Nuclear Blast Records and have released four albums: two under the "Devil You Know" moniker ('' The Beau ...

). He has also worked with numerous other high profile bands including

Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. ...

Divine Heresy Divine Heresy is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California by founder of Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares and Devolved drummer John Sankey. Although the band's origins trace back to 2002, Divine Heresy was officially for ...

and

Superheist Superheist is an Australian metal band, which formed in 1993. They have released two EPs, thirteen singles, one compilation/live album and four studio albums, two of which, 2001's '' The Prize Recruit'' and 2002's ''Identical Remote Controlled ...

Career

In 2001, Sankey relocated from Australia to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to begin a new band with

guitarist

Dino Cazares Dino Cazares (born in 1966) is an American musician, known for being the guitarist and one of the co-founders of industrial metal band Fear Factory. He is also the co-founder of the metal bands Divine Heresy, Asesino, and Brujeria. Cazares pop ...

which became

. Sankey and Cazares also co-wrote music for the

Roadrunner United ''Roadrunner United'' was a project organized by American heavy metal record label Roadrunner Records to celebrate its 25th anniversary. It culminated in an album released worldwide on October 11, 2005, entitled ''The All-Star Sessions''. Four ...

album, meanwhile Sankey continued to write, record and tour America with his band

. In 2012, Sankey joined forces with Howard Jones (ex-

Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbanding of Overcast (band), Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joe ...

Blood Has Been Shed Blood Has Been Shed was an American metalcore band based in Granby, Connecticut. The band came together in 1997 and has featured members of Killswitch Engage, Diecast, Light the Torch, Red Tide, Terror, Walls of Jericho, Bury Your Dead and ...

) and Francesco Artusato (

All Shall Perish All Shall Perish was an American deathcore band from Oakland, California, formed in 2002. The band was signed to Nuclear Blast and have released four full-length albums through the label. Their final album, '' This Is Where It Ends,'' was releas ...

) as co-founder and drummer of Devil You Know. In June 2016 it was announced that Sankey was no longer part of the band, for reasons unspecified and was replaced by former

Trivium The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but t ...

drummer

Nick Augusto Nick Augusto (born August 4, 1986) is an American drummer, best known as the former drummer of heavy metal band Trivium, in which he played from 2009 until 2014. He was the former touring drummer for Light the Torch from 2016 to 2017. Career ...

. In February 2017, Sankey joined Australian

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

band

as their new drummer and moved back to his homeland of Australia to pursue other career avenues. In December 2015, Sankey started a 'replacement' multi city music festival to the diminished Soundwave Festival, called Legion Music Fest, to be held in January 2017. It is speculated that Sankey cancelled Legion and sold the rights to the Download Festival. Sankey relocated temporarily to the Gold Coast where he was co-owner / creator of the Meter Maids bar in Orchid Avenue Surfers Paradise which opened doors just prior to the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Sankey has since moved onto a career in Mortuary Science.

Personal life

Sankey lived in Los Angeles, California for 16 years before moving back to his home country, Australia. He currently resides in New South Wales where he now works as a qualified Mortician and continues to write and record music, and tour as drummer for legendary Australian band

. Sankey is a fully endorsed artist with

Tama Drums Tama Drums, (from Japanese: (Kanji), (Kana), read as ) is a brand of drum kits and hardware manufactured and marketed by the Japanese musical instrument company, Hoshino Gakki. Tama's research and development of products, along with producti ...

Sabian Cymbals Sabian is a Canadian and Armenian cymbal manufacturing company established in 1981 in Meductic, New Brunswick, where it is still headquartered. Sabian is considered one of the ''big four'' manufacturers of cymbals, along with Zildjian, Meinl and ...

, Aquarian Drum Heads, Vic Firth Drum Sticks and is highly regarded as a leading drummer in the International Metal Community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sankey, John 1975 births Australian heavy metal drummers Living people 21st-century drummers