In the world of metal this guy is a LEGEND, he may have been surpassed for speed these days but that was never what dave was totally about anyway, i went to see them back in 87 in england and is speed, power and endlessly inventive fills were amazing
i'm one of dave's biggest fans however he did go through a rough patch in the early 90's, dont care what anyone says on the seasons in the abyss tour he was definately below par(couldnt nail angel of death), and i was hugely dissapointed with his performance on decade of aggression( except chemical warfare which was excellent), in fact dave has said himself recently that he was very dissapointed with his playing on that record. i also believe that according to jeff hanneman dave's double bass on the album version of war assemble was doubled up because dave couldnt pull it off.
However dave has come back and hit form with avengeance, went to see slayer last year and dave was without doubt at least as good as he was in 86-87, nailing all his early stuff and bostaphs later work perfectly, and angel of death......well not only did he not miss a beat, he at least doubled the length of the solo at the end...brilliant, just wished they would release another live album now he's back to his best.