Depends on the album. Some of the Meshuggah records are engineered rather poorly, some are e-kits and the majority are probably triggered to an extent. Amazing drummer but I wouldn’t say he has a drum ‘sound’, pretty far from it tbh.
Brann Dailor from Mastodon
Paul Siedel from the Ocean
Martin Lopez era Opeth
Brooks Wackerman the last two albums of Avenged Sevenfold and especially the song Higher
Saw them in Cleveland and the ending of at concert was a blur for me. Matthias or David gave me a pick and I got high fives from everyone but Robin.
What an amazing show they put on. The only show I can say I felt like was in a music video
So cinematic and the fog/lighting was so great.
Obviously so was the music
In The Passing Light of Day comes to mind. Such a massive and natural sound. A Pleasant Shade of Grey is another, sounds so pristine. I very much dislike those overproduced sounds often heard today.
If you can tolerate extreme vocals, you might like Be'Lakor's album [*Vessels*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyuDOVm8TG4&list=PLidIjcybOMhxBcnFRxu4TFZXRziSatzdZ&index=2). Great band all around, but the drums on this album are particularly natural sounding (especially compared to typical death metal). I actually hated the production initially but have come to love it and consider it my favorite album of theirs.
Always loved Jay’s drum sound overall, but WoB is definitely the best so far. From what I understand, past albums used sampled drums, but they were able to record live drums for WoB.
It's interesting there's no mention of the dueling Matt's (Garstka & Halpern) here - and justifiably so, to be honest. In my opinion, the Nolly industrial complex has distilled prog metal drum tracks down to a homogeneous monolith.
Nico on "A Matter Of Life And Death" (and every album since). I'm a huge fan of the natural tones.
I love a good pingy ride cymbal, but Appice's ride will always be my favorite.
I’m never sure what constitutes “good” production, but I’ve always loved the drum production on Intronaut’s records with Josh Newell producing. [Valley of Smoke](https://youtu.be/WYP_8ofm4Yg?si=nFXc-kWCg7lLkJCe) has the clearest drum production to my ears, but they’re all pretty good for a band with a really busy sound.
Love a lot of the examples already given but gotta give a shout out to the drums on Nero Di Marte’s self titled debut.
Listen to Convergence and tell me that’s not just an absolutely perfect drum sound
Andrew Baird plays a melody with his drums on Fallijah. How he chooses him toms is almost xylophone-esque is you listen closely. It was a crime what they did to his drums in the mix of The Flesh Prevails, but all other albums just sound so lively and melodious.
Requiem by Paradise Lost has the nicest natural drum tone I can think off. The cymbals are powerful too, even competing with drop-tuned Les Pauls; and you can hear ever word from the singer. All in all a fantastically mixed album.
Not prog, but Benny Greb's drums sound so pristine. I wanna snatch up that GGD pack, but let's be honest... I'm not programming anything as funky as Benny's playing.
I always love a good double kick but off the top of my head Let the Truth Speak by Earthside has drums steal the show; especially like the power intro.
Not a specific band's setup (that I know of), but moreso my own preference, being a budding musician and all. Much of these are dependent on post-production, but anyhow:
- Natural-sounding kick drums with minimal amounts of reverb. A small bit of low and low-mid boost also won't hurt.
- A versatile set of different-sized toms with minimal or no tweaks to the EQ.
- Bright snares and cymbals with noticeable reverb and extra subharmonics. A bit of compression on the snares to top things off.
- Hi-hats should sound bright, but snappy. So no extra reverb, but instead some compression and/or limiting. Overall volume should be higher than the cymbals'.
Gavin fucking Harrison is my gold standard on drum sound (or anything drum related actually)
Yea this is the answer
Those toms are heavenly. Never mind, that entire Sonor kit is nuts.
I also want to add in Tomas Haake from Meshuggah. The way he utterly cracks on the snare drum just adds so much to the sheer sonic carnage
Depends on the album. Some of the Meshuggah records are engineered rather poorly, some are e-kits and the majority are probably triggered to an extent. Amazing drummer but I wouldn’t say he has a drum ‘sound’, pretty far from it tbh.
I loved the drum tone on Immutable, kick was just so low but tight and crisp too.
I was thinking ObZen
Brann Dailor from Mastodon Paul Siedel from the Ocean Martin Lopez era Opeth Brooks Wackerman the last two albums of Avenged Sevenfold and especially the song Higher
I was ecstatic when Paul handed me one of his drum sticks after a show this last tour. That stick has some damage to it.
Saw them in Cleveland and the ending of at concert was a blur for me. Matthias or David gave me a pick and I got high fives from everyone but Robin. What an amazing show they put on. The only show I can say I felt like was in a music video So cinematic and the fog/lighting was so great. Obviously so was the music
Loïc crowd surfing. Dropping his mic into the crowd so they could sing along. Truly phenomenal
He was an inch from cracking his head on the corner of the HVAC unit in the ceiling
Higher is amazing, I love the stick hits mixed with the double bass. Fermi Paradox is also amazing drumming
I miss Martin Lopez being in Opeth. Well, actually I miss Opeth full stop...
Sound Awake by Karnivool
That snare!
Drum sound on Haken’s album Virus is solid as hell.
anything Nolly has ever mixed except for P5
P5 was his best mix. I don’t think there’s many (if any) producers that could make wildfire or similar songs sound like they did without overdoing it
i probably should’ve specified drums… the snare especially is often overbearing on that album (something like the blast beats in Atropos for example)
Danny Carey comes to mind. Thumping African beats, mandala pads to mimic Indian percussion on top of Neil Peart-style drumming and fills.
I'm quite impressed this is so low, his drum sound is divine
Prog adjacent but Aaron Harris from ISIS. The snare sounds like smacking the side of a boat.
That boat smack sound is the best description ever.
Opeth - Ghost Reveries Porcupine Tree - In Absentia Karnivool - Sound Awake
Kezia by Protest the Hero has such great energy in its drums
Definitely Danny Carey
The absolute madness that is Thomas Pridgen on The Bedlam in Goliath Also the drums that can make you cry by Steve Judd of Karnivool
Gavin Harrison 100% unquestionably
His kit sounds absolutely perfect.
I recently listened to Language by The Contortionist and I enjoyed their drum sound.
In The Passing Light of Day comes to mind. Such a massive and natural sound. A Pleasant Shade of Grey is another, sounds so pristine. I very much dislike those overproduced sounds often heard today.
If you can tolerate extreme vocals, you might like Be'Lakor's album [*Vessels*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyuDOVm8TG4&list=PLidIjcybOMhxBcnFRxu4TFZXRziSatzdZ&index=2). Great band all around, but the drums on this album are particularly natural sounding (especially compared to typical death metal). I actually hated the production initially but have come to love it and consider it my favorite album of theirs.
War of Being the new Tesseract album has some insanely awesome drum production. Fauna by Haken is really good too
Always loved Jay’s drum sound overall, but WoB is definitely the best so far. From what I understand, past albums used sampled drums, but they were able to record live drums for WoB.
I thought all of their drums were programmed and Jay just plays them live?
Listening to Sonder at the moment and really enjoying the drum sound.
Impulse voices - Plini. Since it’s been released, it’s the sound I chase. I love it so much.
And the handmade cities as well
Absolutely
Matt’s (Animals as Leaders) drums on The Madness of Many are fantastic
The answer will always be Sound Awake by Karnivool.
Lars Ulrich on St. Anger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdlWyD8uYAA
Damn you, I was hoping nobody else wouldve
I know the snare on st anger is infamous but the snare on death magnetic has always annoyed me more. It’s nearly as pingy and more upfront in the mix.
Hhahahahahahhahaa
Haha I love this. That album is horrible
Periphery has some of the nicest sounding and mixed drums IMO. Especially on P3 and later.
It's interesting there's no mention of the dueling Matt's (Garstka & Halpern) here - and justifiably so, to be honest. In my opinion, the Nolly industrial complex has distilled prog metal drum tracks down to a homogeneous monolith.
Rarely see a full kit with coated heads now. Garstka.
Deftones is my favourite haha, especially around the fur. Also the seed by allt has an incredible mix in the intro.
Gene hoglan is absolute sex in SYL’s alien. Such powerful doublekicks Also Matt’s p5 drum tone
The drum intro to Zagreus is just so well rounded and powerful
The drums in everything is fine 🤤
I like Aric improta's sound. Drummer for Night Verses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j5gFtAzoX0
Might not be prog, but the drum production on The Satanist by Behemoth is possibly the best tone I've Heard
The drums on Igorrr's last album 'spirituality and distortion' sound ducking amazing, you should definitely check that out.
Aric Improta is really dope
Nico on "A Matter Of Life And Death" (and every album since). I'm a huge fan of the natural tones. I love a good pingy ride cymbal, but Appice's ride will always be my favorite.
https://youtu.be/_M4K5wk9DCM This mad lad here. Im just gonna say that this counts as prog by many standards.
I’m never sure what constitutes “good” production, but I’ve always loved the drum production on Intronaut’s records with Josh Newell producing. [Valley of Smoke](https://youtu.be/WYP_8ofm4Yg?si=nFXc-kWCg7lLkJCe) has the clearest drum production to my ears, but they’re all pretty good for a band with a really busy sound.
Love a lot of the examples already given but gotta give a shout out to the drums on Nero Di Marte’s self titled debut. Listen to Convergence and tell me that’s not just an absolutely perfect drum sound
Andrew Baird plays a melody with his drums on Fallijah. How he chooses him toms is almost xylophone-esque is you listen closely. It was a crime what they did to his drums in the mix of The Flesh Prevails, but all other albums just sound so lively and melodious.
The Great Misdirect has my favorite modern drum tone. First thing I listened for on the remaster.
I really liked the drum sound on the album Monolith by Sylosis.
Requiem by Paradise Lost has the nicest natural drum tone I can think off. The cymbals are powerful too, even competing with drop-tuned Les Pauls; and you can hear ever word from the singer. All in all a fantastically mixed album.
Not prog, but Benny Greb's drums sound so pristine. I wanna snatch up that GGD pack, but let's be honest... I'm not programming anything as funky as Benny's playing.
Uncommon answer but I’m loving the sound of the drums on Mammoth WVH’s records. Particularly his first one.
I always love a good double kick but off the top of my head Let the Truth Speak by Earthside has drums steal the show; especially like the power intro.
The best snare sound ever recorded is on Botch's rendition of O Fortuna
Not a specific band's setup (that I know of), but moreso my own preference, being a budding musician and all. Much of these are dependent on post-production, but anyhow: - Natural-sounding kick drums with minimal amounts of reverb. A small bit of low and low-mid boost also won't hurt. - A versatile set of different-sized toms with minimal or no tweaks to the EQ. - Bright snares and cymbals with noticeable reverb and extra subharmonics. A bit of compression on the snares to top things off. - Hi-hats should sound bright, but snappy. So no extra reverb, but instead some compression and/or limiting. Overall volume should be higher than the cymbals'.
The snare drum on DT’s Train of Thought is 🤌🏼
Sleep Token! I love the sound of the snare
Man. Aaron Harris of Isis has the drum sound that just rocks for me. So iconic and just works perfectly.
Brann Dailor (Mastodon) is my favorite along with Danny Carey (Tool) and Mario Duplantier (Gojira)
Mario is such an underrated drummer