Sam McCandless played drums in Jacksonville, Florida metal act Cold.



Drummer Sam McCandless will tell you straight, Cold was never part of the nü-metal thing. "We always thought we were more of an alternative band, like Jane’s Addiction," he explains. The drummer’s powerful, yet intricate, and tribal drumming, which permeates the band’s latest release, Year Of The Spider, certainly supports that view.



"We’re all influenced by ’70s bands like AC/DC and Led Zeppelin," the drummer notes. "We wanted to make a classic-sounding record of thirteen really great songs. I can do the programming thing, but this album is more natural—more rock ’n’ roll—so we didn’t do a lot of that this time."



McCandless’s main objective for Year Of The Spider was to "go big" with his drum sound. "I wanted to sound bigger than Bonham," he jokes. "Bay 7 Studio, where we recorded, is really dialed-in, so the drum sounds on this album are really insane—especially the toms. The drum sound is the best I’ve had on any of our records."



After they disbanded in February 2006, Sam McCandless teamed up with former Cold vocalist Scooter Ward and founded a new project named The Witch.



Previously, during his time with Colf, he had formed a side band called Dambaby.