Blake Richardson's Drum Setup on Between the Buried and Me's Alaska (2005) | MetalForge

Frequently Asked Questions

What drums did Blake Richardson use on Between the Buried and Me's Alaska?

Blake Richardson played a DW Collector's Series kit on Alaska (2005) — BTBAM's breakthrough record. The DW Collector's Series uses North American Hard Rock Maple shells, delivering the warm, resonant tone that suited BTBAM's 73-minute progressive metal record spanning death metal, jazz, and ambient textures. The configuration featured a single 22"x18" bass drum driven by a DW 9002 double pedal, three rack toms (10", 12", 13"), and a 16" floor tom. Full drummer profile at [Blake Richardson at MetalForge](/drummer/blake-richardson).

What cymbals does Blake Richardson use on Alaska?

Blake Richardson used Meinl Byzance Extra Dry cymbals on Alaska (2005). The Extra Dry series — with controlled decay, minimal wash, and dry, focused attack — suited BTBAM's compositionally dense progressive metal arrangements where clean articulation in complex rhythmic passages was essential. His Alaska setup included 14" Extra Dry Hi-Hats, 17" and 18" Extra Dry Thin Crashes, 20" Extra Dry Ride, and an 18" Byzance China for aggressive accent accents.

Who produced Between the Buried and Me's Alaska, and where was it recorded?

Alaska (2005) was produced by Jamie King at The Basement Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Jamie King is BTBAM's longtime producer, having worked with the band across most of their catalog. The Basement Studio is King's production facility, located in the same North Carolina city where BTBAM formed. King's production approach on Alaska captured the kit's natural dynamic range, giving Richardson's performances the room to breathe that a 73-minute progressive metal record demands.

Why is Alaska important in Blake Richardson's development as a drummer?

Alaska (2005) is the first full document of Blake Richardson's progressive metal voice at scale. It established his approach to odd-time integration (embedding 7/8, 5/4, and other non-4/4 signatures so naturally they don't feel mathematical), his compositional use of double-bass (varying kick density rather than running constant eighth-note rolls), and his jazz-influenced ghost note vocabulary. The 73-minute, genre-spanning format of Alaska required a drummer who could move between death metal, jazz, and ambient textures without losing compositional coherence — a set of demands that Richardson met and that laid the technical and musical foundation for Colors (2007), The Parallax II (2012), and the rest of the BTBAM catalog. See [The Parallax II drum setup](/articles/the-parallax-ii-future-sequence-drum-setup) for how this approach evolved.