Demanufacture Drum Setup: Raymond Herrera's 1995 Fear Factory Kit Breakdown | MetalForge

Frequently Asked Questions

What drums did Raymond Herrera use on Fear Factory's Demanufacture?

Raymond Herrera used a Pearl Reference Series drum kit on Fear Factory's *Demanufacture* (1995): two 22" x 18" bass drums in a double kick configuration, rack toms at 10" and 12", and floor toms at 16" and 18". Every drum — kick, snare, and toms — was fitted with a ddrum or Roland trigger, the electronic layer that defines Fear Factory's hybrid drum sound. His snare was a Pearl Custom 14" x 6.5" steel-shell model, also triggered. He drove the kit with a Pearl Eliminator double bass pedal and cut through the mix with Zildjian Z Custom cymbals. Vater Power 5B sticks completed the setup. For the full gear breakdown across Herrera's career: [Raymond Herrera at MetalForge](/drummer/raymond-herrera).

How fast is Raymond Herrera's double bass drumming on Demanufacture?

Herrera's double-kick patterns on *Demanufacture* — most notably on "Replica" and the title track — run in sustained sixteenth-note grids at tempos in the 190–210 BPM range, executed with a machine-gun consistency that made the kick drum function almost like a rhythmic sequencer beneath the riffs rather than a simple accent. What set the performance apart from other fast metal drumming of the era wasn't raw speed alone — plenty of death metal drummers were playing double bass at comparable tempos by 1995 — but the sustained precision: each stroke fired its ddrum trigger with near-identical velocity and timing, so the pattern locked into the same mechanical grid for entire song sections. That combination of speed and metronomic consistency, driven by the Pearl Eliminator's cam-adjustable action, is what made the *Demanufacture* double-kick sound directly influential on the generation of industrial and groove metal drummers who followed. For technique context: [double-bass drumming at MetalForge](/techniques/double-bass).

What defined Fear Factory's sound on Demanufacture?

Two elements defined *Demanufacture*'s sound: the collision of death metal aggression with groove metal riffing on guitar, and Raymond Herrera's hybrid acoustic/electronic drum kit underneath it. Herrera's Pearl Reference Series drums, triggered throughout with ddrum and Roland sensors, produced a mechanical, processed drum sound that matched the album's lyrical themes of industrial dehumanization — a sonic idea that had no direct precedent in metal production up to that point. Producer Colin Richardson, working with co-producer Rhys Fulber at Indigo Ranch Studios after scrapping an earlier attempt with Ross Robinson, sculpted that hybrid drum signal into the tight, robotic sound that became industrial metal's production template. Robb Flynn has cited *Demanufacture* as a key influence on the industrial/groove metal crossover, and the album remains the reference point cited by drummers building hybrid triggered kits three decades later.

Who produced Demanufacture and where was it recorded?

*Demanufacture* was recorded at Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu, California, and produced by Colin Richardson, with additional production and electronic programming from Rhys Fulber of Front Line Assembly. The album's sessions originally began with producer Ross Robinson, but that material was ultimately scrapped and the album was re-recorded under Richardson's production — a decision that shaped the tighter, more mechanically precise final drum sound. Fulber's background in electronic programming gave the triggered drum signals an industrial sheen that became the template for the genre. Roadrunner Records released the album on June 13, 1995; it went on to achieve Gold certification (RIAA) in the United States.

What are the most important drum tracks on Demanufacture?

The title track "Demanufacture" and "Replica" are the essential Herrera performances on the album — both built around sustained machine-gun double-kick grids that became the industrial metal drumming reference point. "Zero Signal" and "Self Bias Resistor" showcase the triggered snare's mechanical crack against tight, structured verse-chorus arrangements. "H-K (Hunter-Killer)" features prominent china cymbal work driving its most aggressive sections. "A Therapy for Pain" and closer "Dog Day Sunrise" demonstrate the hybrid kit's range at slower, more atmospheric tempos, proving the triggered setup wasn't built for speed alone. For the next chapter in Herrera's Fear Factory arc: [Obsolete drum setup](/articles/obsolete-drum-setup).