King of All Kings Drum Setup: Derek Roddy's Blast Beat Masterclass (2002) | MetalForge

Frequently Asked Questions

What drum kit did Derek Roddy use on King of All Kings?

Derek Roddy tracked Hate Eternal's King of All Kings (2002) on a DW Collector's Series Maple kit — a 22" x 18" bass drum, 10" and 12" rack toms, and 14" and 16" floor toms, built from North American Hard Rock Maple shells. The kit's balanced attack and DW's True Pitch tuning hardware kept it stable through the album's extended blast beat sessions, which demanded consistent tuning across a full day of extreme-tempo takes.

What technique did Derek Roddy use for the blast beats on King of All Kings?

Roddy relied on his freehand (gravity-assisted) blast beat technique, which uses the stick's natural rebound instead of muscular force to generate strokes. This reduced fatigue enough that he could sustain blast tempo across full song lengths — a key reason King of All Kings became a reference record for blast beat endurance rather than just peak speed. He paired it with a swivel-driven kick technique for consistent double bass stamina.

Why is King of All Kings considered a landmark technical death metal record?

King of All Kings (2002) is regarded as a landmark because of the sustained duration and precision of its blast beat sections, not just their top speed. Derek Roddy's efficient technique let Hate Eternal build entire songs around blast tempo without the tempo drift that undermines less efficient drummers, setting a benchmark that influenced technical death metal drumming for years afterward.

Did Derek Roddy use triggers on King of All Kings?

Roddy's studio approach on King of All Kings favored minimal triggering. His freehand technique produced consistent enough attack and volume on the acoustic kit that producer Erik Rutan could capture the performance largely untriggered, giving the record's blast sections a rawer, more human character than many contemporaneous extreme metal productions that leaned heavily on sample replacement.