Happy birthday to GAMMA RAY/HELLOWEEN drummer Uli Kusch, born March 11, 1967

In my opinion, drummer Uli Kusch is most known for his years with Gamma Ray (1990-1992) and Helloween (1994-2001), but he has done so much more work that I don't know, and it only takes a look at Metal Archives to see what I mean.

For metal music fans, the first notable name for Uli is drumming for cult thrash band Holy Moses from 1986 to 1990. During this time, he performed on the album Finished with the Dogs and the Road Crew EP. For the 1989 album The New Machine of Liechtenstein, he played drums, sang backing vocals, and helped write the songs. He finished his time with the band by recording the World Chaos album. Of the three albums, Finished with the Dogs is probably the most well liked, I would say. Uli played drums for Gamma Ray from 1990 to 1992. He played on the Heaven Can Wait EP and the Sigh No More album. He also appeared in the Heading for the East video. From 1994 to 2001, he was the drummer for Helloween. This was a very productive time. He played on Master of the Rings and The Time of the Oath, both albums saw the band getting back on track, especially the latter with the band embracing power metal again. He was also on Better Than Raw and The Dark Ride, two awesome albums.

In 2001, he helped start the band Masterplan. He stayed with them until 2006. During those years, he played drums on their first self-titled album and the successful follow-up, Aeronautics, this last one being a personal favorite of mine and gets a high recommendation from me. He also played on two of their EPs, Enlighten Me and Back for My Life. Uli also had a long history with the technical band Mekong Delta. Early in his career, he used the name "Patrick Duval" to play drums on the song "The Gnom" from the album The Music of Erich Zann. Many years later, he returned to the group to play drums on the 2007 album Lurking Fear.

So, yes, lots of metal music drumming! Metal Archives shows that he now lives in Norway and drums for Angels of Attack, a band that I do not know.

Holy Moses - Finished With the Dogs

Helloween - Push live (4)

Gamma Ray - Heaven Can Wait (Live) - From the 'Heading For The East' tour 1990

Masterplan - Falling Sparrow

Masterplan - Wounds