Scott Travis's Drum Setup on Judas Priest's Angel of Retribution (2005) | MetalForge

Frequently Asked Questions

What drum kit did Scott Travis use on Angel of Retribution?

For the 2005 Angel of Retribution sessions, Scott Travis played a Pearl Reference Series shell pack — a hybrid maple/birch/mahogany shell pack in Piano Black that he'd moved onto after leaving the Tama Artstar II he used on Painkiller and Jugulator. The configuration featured dual 22 inch by 18 inch bass drums, 10 and 12 inch rack toms, and 14 and 16 inch floor toms. It's the same Pearl platform that would carry through Nostradamus and Redeemer of Souls before Travis's next gear change arrived with Firepower in 2018.

Did Scott Travis switch drum brands by 2005?

Yes — Travis switched from Tama drums and Paiste cymbals to Pearl's Reference Series and a new Sabian HH/AA hybrid cymbal setup around the time of the Halford reunion. The move gave him a warmer, more versatile hybrid shell pack better suited to Angel of Retribution's dynamic range, and it's the platform documented on the album alongside a Pearl Reference Brass snare, Pearl Demon Drive pedals, and Vic Firth sticks. Travis stayed on this Pearl/Sabian setup through Nostradamus (2008) and Redeemer of Souls (2014) before switching again for Firepower (2018).

What cymbals did Scott Travis use on Angel of Retribution?

Travis had just moved to Sabian, and his 2005 setup combined the hand-hammered HH line with the machine-hammered AA line. The rig included 14 inch HH Hi-Hats, HH and AA crashes from 16 to 20 inches, a 22 inch HH Power Ride, and an 18 inch AA China for trashy accents on tracks like Hellrider and the Lochness section of the closing epic.

How does Angel of Retribution fit between Painkiller and Firepower in Scott Travis's career?

Angel of Retribution closes a 15-year arc gap on the Judas Priest timeline: Painkiller in 1990, Angel of Retribution in 2005, Nostradamus in 2008, and Firepower in 2018. For Travis specifically, it's the album where he stops being purely the speed-metal phenom of Painkiller and becomes the long-arc Priest drummer — and where he switched from his Painkiller-era Tama/Paiste setup to a new Pearl Reference Series kit and Sabian cymbals. That Pearl/Sabian platform, and a more restrained song-serving approach, both point toward the mature drumming he'd bring to the band's later work. It's also Rob Halford's first studio album back with Judas Priest after a 13-year departure, making it as much a comeback record for the band as a maturation point for Travis's playing.

What is significant about the 'Eulogy/Lochness' track for drum performance?

Eulogy/Lochness is a 13-minute closing epic that gives Travis more long-form space than almost any other Priest track. Eulogy opens as a slow, brooding ballad with minimal kit work, then Lochness detonates into a doom-paced epic that builds through tom pulses, china accents, and a climactic double-kick section. It's drumming as long-form arrangement, and it foreshadows the orchestral ambitions Priest would pursue on 2008's Nostradamus. For a 2005 reunion record that needed to prove the band still had reach, it's the showcase track.