2. Lars is a pretty good drummer; anyone who doubts it should try getting through Master of Puppets without going into cardiac arrest.
3. The entire band does the lurch in unison on the record, and they do it live. It's clearly on purpose.
That said, I’ve watched some comparison videos of his drumming vs more expressive and I can understand where people are coming from :,)
All that being said, I think this timing strangeness could absolutely have started because that's how Lars played it (intentional or not), and everyone adapted to him because it's cool.
TBF, they are all talented, but they are really something else entirely as a band.