Shepherd of Fire Double Bass Drive — Arin Ilejay (Avenged Sevenfold) Drum Lick | MetalForge
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Learn the Shepherd of Fire Double Bass Drive drum lick by Arin Ilejay of Avenged Sevenfold. From Shepherd of Fire (Hail to the King (2013)). "Shepherd of Fire" opens Avenged Sevenfold's "Hail to the King" (2013) with one of the most dramatic...
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1. Arin Ilejay's Signature Licks — "Shepherd of Fire" opens Avenged Sevenfold's "Hail to the King" (2013) with one of the most dramatic builds in the band's catalogue: a cinematic orchestral introduction that dissolves into a full-throttle heavy metal assault, with Arin Ilejay launching the main section with a double bass drive that immediately establishes the track's high-energy character. Operating at approximately 175 BPM, the song demands consistent, even double bass work to underpin the rhythmically complex guitar riff that forms its spine, and Ilejay meets that demand with clean, well-separated kick strokes that lock the low end into a driving, unified platform beneath the guitars and bass. The double bass pattern on the main riff is the central technical challenge of the song: a continuous 16th-note pedal beneath a snare and cymbal arrangement that must stay perfectly even to make the groove feel propulsive rather than scrambled. Ilejay's footwork is controlled and balanced; the alternating pattern is the essential tool here, and any unevenness between the feet immediately destabilises the groove's momentum and undermines the riff lock that the arrangement depends on. The pre-chorus escalates the intensity with fill work that moves across the toms with gathering force, and the chorus resolves into a more open groove where the double bass anchors an almost march-like authority — powerful, direct, and unmistakably heavy metal in character. What distinguishes Ilejay's double bass approach on "Shepherd of Fire" from the extreme double bass work found in death or black metal is the emphasis on groove and riff-lock rather than maximum speed: the double bass is there to drive a heavy metal riff and create sustained momentum in a rock context, which places different demands on the player than sustaining blast-adjacent speeds over extended passages. The goal is a rock-solid, even drive that a band can lock to night after night across an arena tour — and that kind of reliability under pressure is a skill as demanding in its own terms as maximum-speed extreme metal footwork. For drummers, "Shepherd of Fire" is an excellent study in double bass technique applied to mainstream heavy metal: it develops alternating foot control at a pace where groove coherence matters, the ability to sustain consistent double bass beneath active upper-body playing across a full song, and the discipline to keep a mid-to-high-tempo double bass pattern from dragging or rushing under the physical effort of high-volume, high-energy performance.2. Arin Ilejay Profile — Maintain perfectly even alternating 16th-note double bass beneath the main riff to create relentless drive Lock the kick pattern tightly to the guitar riff's lowest accents for a unified heavy-metal low-end attack Build the pre-chorus tom fill gradually so the chorus detonation feels earned and inevitable Keep upper-body patterns — snare, ride, and hi-hat — independent of the feet so both can be precise simultaneously Practise the double bass in isolation with a metronome to ensure both feet hit at equal volume and timing
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