Masayuki Suzuki (drummer)


Masayuki Suzuki, nicknamed "Ampan", has been the drummer for the heavy metal band Loudness since 2009, a year after the death of their original drummer, Munetaka Higuchi.
Suzuki was born in Sapporo, Hokkaido. His first recording with Loudness was the song "I Wonder" on the album The Everlasting, released in May 2009. The rest of the drum tracks on the album were recorded as demos by Higuchi before his death.
Suzuki first played live with Loudness in May 2009, followed by an appearance at the Bang Your Head!!! festival in Germany in 2010, and a short tour of Europe. His American debut was in May and June 2011, for the band's 30th anniversary tour. Suzuki's first full album with Loudness was King of Pain.
He also appears on the soundtrack for the anime OVA Mazinkaizer SKL.
Before Loudness, Suzuki was in the bands Galatea, Negarobo, RDX, Ubigun and Hard Gear.
On February 8, 2018, Suzuki was hospitalized with a mild stroke, thus was unable to tour in support of Loudness' Rise to Glory album, which had been released nearly two weeks earlier. For the tour, Ryuichi Nishida from RA:IN stepped in, while Suzuki recovered. On August 11, 2018, he announced that he fully recovered from his stroke and returned to touring with Loudness on September 24, 2018.