Scott Travis's Drum Setup on Judas Priest's Firepower (2018) | MetalForge

Frequently Asked Questions

What drums does Scott Travis use on Firepower?

On Judas Priest's Firepower (2018), Scott Travis played a Tama Starclassic Maple kit in Piano Black finish — two 22"x18" bass drums, 10"x8" and 12"x9" rack toms, 14"x14" and 16"x16" floor toms, all 6-ply maple shells. His snare was a Tama Starphonic Brass 14"x6" with die-cast hoops. The setup is a notable evolution from his Painkiller-era (1990) Tama Artstar II birch kit — maple shells deliver warmer, fuller body than birch, and the 22"x18" bass drums are two inches deeper than the 22"x16" kicks he used in 1990, adding low-end weight for Firepower's more mid-tempo material.

Was Firepower Grammy-nominated?

Yes. Firepower's single "Lightning Strike" was nominated for the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. The album itself debuted at #5 on both the UK and US Billboard 200 charts, earned Gold certification in the UK, and represented Judas Priest's strongest commercial chart performance since Painkiller in 1990 — twenty-eight years earlier. The Grammy nomination was the band's first since 2010's "Dissident Aggressor" win from Best Metal Performance in 2010.

Who produced Firepower?

Firepower was co-produced by Andy Sneap and Tom Allom — a deliberate, historic pairing. Andy Sneap is the modern metal producer behind work with Accept, Exodus, Testament, and Megadeth, and Firepower was recorded primarily at his own Old Mill Recording Studios with additional sessions at Witchroom Sound. Tom Allom was the producer behind every classic Judas Priest studio album from British Steel (1980) through Ram It Down (1988) — Firepower marked his first Priest studio production credit in thirty years. The dual-producer dynamic combined Sneap's contemporary engineering and mixing with Allom's classic-Priest arrangement and dynamics perspective.

How does Scott Travis's Firepower setup compare to Painkiller?

The gear evolution from Painkiller (1990) to Firepower (2018) spans 28 years and a complete component-level transition. Kit: Tama Artstar II birch became Tama Starclassic maple — warmer body, fuller harmonic content. Bass drums went from 22"x16" to 22"x18" — two inches deeper for added low-end weight. Snare: Tama Artstar II steel 14"x6.5" became Tama Starphonic brass 14"x6" — brass for warmer cut, half-inch shallower for added response. Cymbals: Paiste Signature/2002 became Sabian HHX — darker, more complex overtones better suited to modern dense productions. Pedals: prototype Tama Iron Cobra HP900s became Tama Speed Cobra HP910s — longer footboard, lighter moving mass. Travis still runs two independent bass drums rather than a connected double pedal — that philosophy has not changed since 1990.