Ghost – Griftwood

The new Ghost album, Impera, is just killer! Many people on YouTube have covered some of the popular songs already but this one right here (as of May 13th) has been only covered twice; so I need to put my mark on it!

I really dig the slow break down section in the middle of the song which I think might of been inspired from Journey’s “Mother, Father” track on the album “Escape”. In fact, many of the tunes on Impera have to be direct inspirations from the 80’s; I can totally hear some Bon Jovi & Def Leppard influences on some songs..

This kit was built from the Hunter’s Moon kit but I changed up some of the cymbals finally going into the Rooms of Hansa SDX for the ride cymbal.  The crash cymbals on the original track had a weird trashy almost china sounding, so I layered some with ones from the NY Studios Vol. 2 SDX.  I also had to expand on the kit, using the tom rim triggers for high rack toms from the Rock Foundry SDX (just like I did with Hunter’s Moon).

Drums Only Sample

Drum Cover

Type O Negative – We Hate Everyone (Reprise)

Here we are again, 1 year later, another year without Peter. If you are unaware, today is the anniversary of us losing one of the most eclectic frontman, Peter Steele. This drum cover is from their critically acclaimed Bloody Kisses album, however, I did only the middle section of the song; hence the “reprise”.

I am no double bass player and the ending is about all I could do. Listen closely, you’ll probably hear some mistakes. ?? I’ve heard so many times from you guys in the comments of how spot on my timing is, well this one, the tempo fluctuates so much from beginning to end. While practicing this song, I would get to the end then immediately start it over to do another run through and was amazed at how slow it feels. I can actually feel the tempo change about three quarters of the way through the first verse. Definitely no click when they recorded this one!

Nothing is crazy different with the kit either.  Used the Sabian Ozone crash from the NY Studios Vol 2 SDX for riding on, the Sabian 15″ Artisan hi-hats from the Rock Foundry SDX, and a cowbell!

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Drum Cover

Ghost – Square Hammer

Going back to where it all started for me with using drum sampling software on my Roland electronic kit.  I initially did a drum cover of this song back in March 2017 using Steven Slate Drums 4 and for it’s 5 year anniversary, I decided to replay it using Superior Drummer 3.  Not only will it sound better, but I also played it more accurately to the original song, whereas previously the chours parts were not correct.

As for the drumkit itself, I started with my typical Ghost preset and focused on the snare the most.  The snare is really unique with a higher pitch tuning and a really dead wirey sound.  It was tough and I came as close as I could stacking in two snares from the Death SDX library to fit the bill.  The toms are the same, just cleaned up some eq’ing, and dynamics.  The kick I keep going back and stacking in the Ayotte ‘no resonance head’ to give it a great low-end sub bass sound.  Hope you like this one, I think it came out great.

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Drum Cover

Less Than Jake – Look What Happened

Not many people know that I am a huge Less Than Jake fan, thanks to my good friend Bruce. He introduced me to all the ska/punk stuff -Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger, Less Than Jake, Blink 182, & Kemuri to name a few. This album right here from LTJ is probably one of my favorites; so many awesome songs on this one! This song that I am covering today is the one that brings back all the memories for me. Sitting in my parents basement during the fall of 2000, working on my Online Gaming Leage (OGL) team website for Day of Defeat, all while listening to this album. Even to this day, I sing the chorus loud & proud when it comes up on my playlist. Enjoy and have a great New Year everybody! 

Nothing crazy with this kit except I used a little shaker element for the bridge section with the Latin Percussion EZX.

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Drum Cover

Megadeth – Captive Honor

I took my Foreclosure of a Dream preset and tweaked it some more; mainly in the kick drum area.  I added an Ayotte Classic kick with no resonance head for a really deep punch.  It added an amazing deep element to my already stacked kick drum.  Because of this, I made this my default project file to start from.  I am super happy with all the elements of this kit, until I start tweaking again and find something new I like.  This is nothing like the Countdown to Extinction drum kit so keep that in mind.

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Drum Cover