Digimortal Drum Setup: Raymond Herrera's 2001 Fear Factory Kit Breakdown | MetalForge

Frequently Asked Questions

What drum kit did Raymond Herrera use on Fear Factory's Digimortal?

Raymond Herrera used a Pearl Reference Series drum kit on Fear Factory's *Digimortal* (2001), consistent with the setup he had used on *Demanufacture* (1995) and *Obsolete* (1998): two 22" kick drums in a double bass configuration, rack toms at 10" and 12", and floor toms at 16" and 18". All drums were fitted with ddrum and Roland triggers — the electronic layer central to Fear Factory's hybrid drum sound. Producer Rhys Fulber integrated the triggered signals more extensively with programmed electronic elements on *Digimortal* than on previous Fear Factory records, creating the most electronically processed drum sound of the Herrera era. Herrera also used his Pearl Custom 14" x 6.5" steel-shell snare with trigger, Zildjian Z Custom cymbals, and Pearl Eliminator double bass pedals. For the full context: [Raymond Herrera at MetalForge](/drummer/raymond-herrera).

How does Digimortal's drum sound compare to Demanufacture and Obsolete?

All three albums — *Demanufacture* (1995), *Obsolete* (1998), and *Digimortal* (2001) — used the same core kit: Pearl Reference Series with full ddrum/Roland triggering. The differences are entirely production-based. *Demanufacture* (produced by Colin Richardson, after initial Ross Robinson sessions) has the rawest, most physically driven drum sound — the triggered signals reinforcing rather than dominating. *Obsolete* (produced by Rhys Fulber and Bill Gould) is more electronically polished — Fulber's electronic music background shaping the triggered signals into a cleaner, more processed sound. *Digimortal* (produced by Rhys Fulber) goes furthest: triggered signals integrated with programmed electronic drum elements, the boundary between acoustic performance and programmed production deliberately blurred. The progression across three albums is from raw hybrid to polished hybrid to explicitly programmed integration — all with the same acoustic core driving the system. See [Obsolete drum setup](/articles/obsolete-drum-setup) for the intermediate step.

Why was Digimortal controversial and how did that affect the drum production?

*Digimortal* was controversial within the Fear Factory fanbase primarily for its incorporation of nu-metal influences — shorter song lengths, simpler structures in some tracks, and the collaboration with rapper B-Real of Cypress Hill on "Back the Fuck Up." For Herrera's drumming, this meant adapting his industrial metal hybrid approach to more varied compositional demands. The heavier tracks like "Linchpin" and "What Will Become?" kept the machine-gun double-kick patterns and complex rhythmic structures that defined *Demanufacture* and *Obsolete*. The nu-metal influenced tracks required tighter, more direct patterns within shorter forms. The drum production under Rhys Fulber integrated programmed electronic elements more explicitly than on previous records, which some listeners found at odds with the acoustic power of the hybrid kit on earlier albums. *Digimortal* remains significant as the end point of the classic Herrera era — his departure in 2002 closed the chapter on the three-album peak that this album completed.

What are the key drum tracks on Digimortal?

"Linchpin" is the standout Herrera performance on *Digimortal* — a driving industrial metal track featuring the machine-gun double-kick patterns and snare precision that defined the Fear Factory sound at its most aggressive. "What Will Become?" opens the album with double-kick intensity and establishes the more electronically integrated drum sound of the record. "Invisible Wounds (Dark Bodies)" is a mid-tempo track that showcases Herrera's groove sensibility within Fear Factory's industrial context — controlled, precise, the hybrid kit operating at below-maximum intensity. "No One" demonstrates the more straightforward structures of *Digimortal*'s nu-metal influenced material, with Herrera adapting his industrial precision to a shorter compositional form. For the Fear Factory arc across all three Herrera studio albums: [Raymond Herrera at MetalForge](/drummer/raymond-herrera), [Obsolete drum setup](/articles/obsolete-drum-setup).

What happened to Raymond Herrera after Digimortal?

Raymond Herrera left Fear Factory in 2002, along with guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers. The departure effectively ended the classic Fear Factory lineup that had recorded *Demanufacture*, *Obsolete*, and *Digimortal*. Herrera and Olde Wolbers subsequently formed Arkaea, releasing one album (*Years in the Darkness*, 2009). Herrera continued drumming in various projects, applying his hybrid industrial metal technique — Pearl Reference Series drums, trigger integration, Pearl Eliminator double pedal — in contexts outside Fear Factory's thematic framework. Fear Factory continued and eventually reformed with different lineups, but the three-album Herrera era from 1995 to 2001 remains the definitive period of the band's drum sound. For Herrera's complete career profile: [Raymond Herrera at MetalForge](/drummer/raymond-herrera).