Virgil Donati Live at Stockholm (Drum Master)
by Kinger
This is one for all the speed Metal drummers out there!
A lot of folks are playing amazingly fast these days and that’s cool – as a HEAVY-ass beat or drummer is what contributes greatly to the overall “power” in Metal music (regardless of sub genre). Ever since the early pioneers such as Dave Lombardo (Slayer), Charlie Benate (Anthrax) and Gene Hoglan (ex-Dark Angel) set the standard for speed and power on their massive double bass kits in the eighties; the youngsters have tried to out do them and play catch up [laughs].
What I am about to show you is a bit different however.
Check out Virgil’s unique “L L – R R” way of playing his double kick drums in the video clip below. That takes some talent peeps! For the non-drummers out there, this is what us drummers usually do with our hands. Virgil is kickin’ it [pun-intended].
Playing single strokes on the double bass ‘has gotten a bit tired’ ~Virgil Donati
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The video was recorded live at the 2005 Bass n’ Drum Festival, where Virgil certainly rose to the occasion with a performance full of relentless energy and creative excitement. The electricity in the air after the performance was magical and this DVD revives the intense application, dynamism and drama of this special evening in Stockholm.”
Credit to: www.drummerworld.com
Double bass drumming or the use of two kick drums was not invented by the 80′s Metal drummers – far from it actually. One of the earliest known users was one Mitch Mitchell (July 9, 47′ – Nov. 12, 2008), drummer for the JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE.
I know Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge, Cactus), Cozy Powell R.I.P. (Jeff Beck, Rainbow, MSG) and Neil Peart (Rush) all manned kits with double kicks as well. There are many others, but you get the point – sh** ain’t new.
Honorable Mentions for Modern “Extreme Metal” Drummers
- Joey Jordison (Slipknot)
- Mario Duplantier (Gojira)
- Brann Dailor (Mastodon)
- Chris Adler (Lamb of God)
Virgil Donati is an Australian drummer, frequent drum clinician and a producer. He is currently playing with the band Planet X and Seven the Hardway among other projects.
Virgil is perhaps most well-known for his fast, highly technical drumming skills. He holds the drum sticks in the traditional style and is also proficient at the keyboard.
Regarding his approach to playing double beats (per foot) on the kick drum, he says that playing single strokes on the double bass ‘has gotten a bit tired,’ and so as of 1999, has managed to ‘squeeze through’ 200 beats per minute playing double beats on each foot. He has gone a long way since then.
Death to All Tour 2012
Sick Drummer Magazine/Grind Percussion LLC and Perseverance Holdings Ltd. introduce DEATH TO ALL 2012 – In benefit of Sweet Relief. This 5 city tour will feature a majority of DEATH’s amazing musicians, as well as special guests. This tour is to celebrate the life and music of Chuck Schuldiner, as well as to raise awareness of Sweet Relief Musicians Fund – a charity that provides financial assistance to career musicians faced with illness, disability or age-related problems.
This benefit for Sweet Relief is a gathering of some of the best talent in the Death metal genre. Featuring such legendary musicians as:
- Gene Hoglan
- Sean Reinert
- Steve DiGiorgio
- Scott Clendenin
- Paul Masvidal
- Shannon Hamm
- Bobby Koelble
With a vocal assault from Steffen Kummerer and Charles Elliott. These shows will pay homage to their roots and celebrate music with the fans, even some who have been behind them for decades.
DEATH TO ALL 2012 TOUR DATES:
*Fans (and ticket holders – all 10 of you in Texas and Georgia) please note:
It’s ironic that while promoting a tour to help Sweet Relief (a foundation that helps musicians in times of need), that one of the musicians on this DEATH TO ALL tour finds themselves with a health issue. Sean Reinert suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon while training for the tour a couple of weeks ago. He has had the necessary surgery and has started rehabilitation. Sean will remain a drummer on the tour, but to what extent depends on his progress. We are fortunate enough to have Gene Hoglan and tour drum-tech Danny Walker (Intronaut/Exhumed) on the team to help make the most of the situation.
From Sean: “This is a horrible injury, the pain has been off the charts but I think it’s meant to be. I think the grand plan here is to use this as an example for a reason to raise awareness & have an outlet for musicians in need. Although I am devastated that I can’t perform at 110% I am grateful that my injury is a minor one (one that will heal over time) and still allows me to be a part if this wonderful tour and cause.”
There will be guest appearances in each city and some cities may have more than one surprise in store. You never know when or where these guests will be showing up, but you can expect to be seeing the following musicians somewhere on the tour: Richard Christy of Charred Walls of The Damned (ex-DEATH), Alex Skolnick and Chuck Billy of Testament, Paul Ryan of Origin, Craig Locicero of Forbidden, Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation, Trevor Strnad and Ryan Knight of The Black Dahlia Murder and Emil Werstler of Daath/Chimaira.
CHUCK BILLY [Testament]: One Bad Mofo
Thrash air-guitar on the course?
So what does the lead singer in a Thrash band like to do on his day off? Play golf!!…who knew? I wonder who would win in a real golf match between Chuck and Alice Cooper?
Gotta’ love Chuck though, who’s quite the accomplished air-guitarist. Normally he plays air guitar on stage with his half mic stand while playing live with TESTAMENT. And who can blame him? When you’ve got choice riffs flying all over, song-after-song from guitarist Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson!
Hopefully you were able to catch them on tour this year or the last few months of 2011. They played quite a few dates all over the U.S. co-billing with thrashers Anthrax and Death Angel. For old school thrash-mavens, you couldn’t ask for a better concert bill. This tour pretty much destroyed every venue they played at.
I know it’s hard to believe that these three bands are still alive and kickin’ in 2012 after almost three decades. Kudos to all three for giving us much enjoyment and such killer music through the years. As a matter of fact, TESTAMENT is about to drop their new album this year as well, which is entitled The Dark Roots of Earth.
Concert goers were in for a unique treat for some of the shows in the Midwest, as Joey Vera (Armored Saint) temporarily replaced Anthrax bassist Frank Bello. Unfortunately, Frank and [his uncle] Charlie Benante both had to leave to spend time with family due to Charlie’s mother [Bello's grandmother] becoming ill and passing. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Bello and Benante and their family during this difficult time.
As they say in show business, the show must go on, and so for the fact the band was able to carry on [albeit with fill-ins] is why I considered this a treat. Drummer Gene Hoglan (who was filling in for TESTAMENT) sat in for the Anthrax set as well! Being a major Hoglan fan, this was a kick-ass line up and once in a lifetime event. Well, technically that is not 100% accurate as all true Testament fans will know that Hoglan appeared on the Demonic record in 1997 with the Bay Area thrashers.
*So is Gene a replacement for Paul Bostaph now and or do you think he will come back permanently?
“Well, Paul has recovered but he is not coming back to the group. He has decided to start a new band, I guess. So, we had Gene do the record, and the touring for the record. Well we’d love it if he decided to [come back] but we haven’t really got that far yet. We just have to get through this tour and see where we’re at. Gene kills it.” Chuck states.
Andy Sneap is producing it; did you go to England to record?
“We did it at our place in Oakland and at Trident Studios and Andy came out and did all the recordings with us—as much as he could—and then we finished off some vocals and guitars at Trident studios. I think over the years Andy really knows the sound of this band, and kinda knows what we want. We’ve mixed stuff with Andy, so I think he knows without has having to be there physically with him what we are looking for. And I just haven’t heard anybody in metal come out with any better mixes! Honestly!”
Tell us about some of the songs on the album?
“Well, there’s a song called “Native Blood”, which is basically a song about my Native heritage. It’s almost like a protest song, that the Native Americans have a voice that needs to be heard—that’s the chorus of the song. There’s another called “True American Hate”, which was kinds inspired by when we sent all our troops overseas there, and we were just seeing in the news when all that was going on a lot of young kids, under 10 years old, out there with their families burning American flags. And that was a pretty shocking thing to see, to see that generation, a kid that young being taught to hate that much. It makes you think what’s going to happen, 10 to 15 years from now when the majority of these kids have just been raised to hate? It struck me as a little odd. There’s a song called “Cold Embrace”, which we kinda hoped we’d be able to pitch the song into one of the Twilight series movies; it’s a song about a girl becoming a vampire and never being able to see the sun again. “The Dark Roots of Earth” is kind of a play on the band we have together, just like a metaphor, like Testament is a tree and all of us in this group are really embedded in the planet, in the earth, the environment and our surroundings. It was kind of a play on that. “Rise Up for War” is more of a war song, like you’re preparing yourself for war, going into battle. There is a lot of cool stuff there.”
Congratulations go out to Chuck Billy – He is the first Native American entertainer to be permanently displayed at the Hard Rock Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico! Chuck made an appearance last Jan. [2012]. There was a special unveiling ceremony and autograph session that followed.
*Excerpt Deciblog by permission
Enjoy this live in studio performance until the new album drops!
Enjoy some live photos and review
GENE HOGLAN: Is an Industry now!
“King of the drums? Gene Hoglan…<—The guy is a total badass on the drums.” — The Metal Files Blog
I ran across the following info during my usual perusing of worthy Metal News that seems to arrive in my “in-box” every day. So, Gene Hoglan, the legend, the man, the myth is now an “industry”? Read on…
It appears that Gene decided to create and release a kick-ass DVD entitled “The Atomic Clock”.
The release of this might just be what the [drum] doctor ordered and or it might just put you out of your misery as well.
What do I mean by that?
You see, Gene’s skillz will either inspire the hell out of you or make you just give up and quit right there on the spot!
So beware, aspiring young future skinsmen – you have been forewarned…
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Here is a very brief FAQ for everyone’s short attention-span:
- The trailer for his drum studio DVD is fast paced and informative.
- It’s available from HoglanIndustries.com
- According to the website: Gene Hoglan is “The Atomic Clock”…and the worlds fastest drummer?
*I’m not so sure about all of that — and how could something as ridiculous as that be checked anyhow? Perhaps someone will make an “app for that” and host “The World’s Fastest Drum Off” in the future.
Until then, let’s just leave it at:
- Gene is [one of my all-time fav.'s and] one of the most respected Metal drummers alive today!
- In case you are wondering, the song in the vid. is by Gene’s band Mechanism, the title: I Love AC/DC.
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- Last but not least, once and for all: Which damn pedals and beaters does Gene use?
“I use Camco Chaindrives (single chain) with Danmar wood beaters.” ~Gene H.
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Gene Hoglan – King of the Drums (The Metal Files)
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*Now I want to go dig in the Vaults and find my [unreleased] interview with Gene from back in the day. BITD = the late 80′s youngsters, whippersnappers & modern Metal hipsters. Back when there was no such thing as a “blast” drum beat. It was simply the act of playing thy Metal drums with much skill + power — as it should be!
Stay tuned…
Kinger (ex-SLEEPY TRIP, KURU-AMA drummer), Demolish Mag. Editor/Owner/Publisher etc.
