# Obscura Cosmogenesis Drum Setup: Hannes Grossmann's 2009 Tech Death Gear

> Discover the complete drum kit, cymbals, and gear Hannes Grossmann used to record Obscura's landmark Cosmogenesis album — the prog-death masterpiece that redefined technical death metal.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer:** [Hannes Grossmann](/llms/drummers/hannes-grossmann.md)
**Band:** Obscura
**Album:** Cosmogenesis (March 23, 2009)
**Label:** Relapse Records
**Producer:** V. Santura
**Studio:** Woodshed Studios, Germany
**Genre:** Technical Death Metal

## Overview

Released on March 23, 2009 via Relapse Records, Obscura's "Cosmogenesis" arrived as one of the most ambitious technical death metal records of its era — a landmark album that pushed the boundaries of what extreme metal composition could achieve. Drummer Hannes Grossmann's performance on the record stands as a defining moment in modern progressive death metal: an articulate, mechanically precise, and musically expressive display that established him as one of the genre's most important practitioners.

The album was tracked at V. Santura's Woodshed Studios in Germany — the producer (also of Triptykon and Dark Fortress) bringing the engineering vision that would shape Obscura's signature sound. V. Santura's understanding of how to capture extreme metal drumming with both clarity and weight made Woodshed the ideal environment for Grossmann's nuanced playing. Every double-bass roll, every blast beat, every odd-time tom fill on Cosmogenesis sits in the mix with the kind of definition that became Obscura's sonic signature across the rest of their catalog.

Hannes Grossmann's approach to "Cosmogenesis" combined the death metal velocity vocabulary he had developed in his earlier Necrophagist work with the compositional sophistication that Obscura's progressive material demanded. Songs like "Anticosmic Overload," "Choir of Spirits," and the title track "Cosmogenesis" require sustained double-kick passages running underneath fretless bass solos, polyrhythmic blast sections that align with seven-string guitar tapping figures, and dynamic transitions where the kit must shift from full-intensity blasts to atmospheric ride patterns within bars.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Tama Star Series (or Pearl Reference) — double 22" x 18" bass drums, 10"/12" rack toms, 14"/16" floor toms
- **Snare:** Tama Starphonic or Pearl Reference Snare 14" x 6.5" (maple/brass construction)
- **Cymbals:** Meinl Byzance Series — 14" Medium hi-hats, 17" and 19" Medium crashes, 22" Medium ride, 18" China, 10" Splash
- **Hardware / Pedals:** Axis Longboard Double Pedal (or Tama Speed Cobra), Vic Firth American Classic 5A or signature sticks
- **Heads:** Evans G2 Coated / Remo Emperor (toms); Evans EMAD2 / Remo Powerstroke 3 (kicks)
- **Snare tuning:** Medium-bright — clarity and attack through dense tech-death guitar frequencies

### Tama Star Series Shell Pack: The Foundation of Cosmogenesis

Hannes Grossmann's drum kit on "Cosmogenesis" represents the top of professional production shell engineering — a high-end shell pack (Tama Star Series or Pearl Reference grade) chosen for the combination of attack, projection, and dynamic range that technical death metal recording requires. At the moment Cosmogenesis was tracked, Obscura's material asked the drum kit to do a remarkable variety of work within single songs: full-velocity blast beats, sustained double-bass passages at sixteenth-note tempos, atmospheric ride work over fretless bass solos, polyrhythmic tom-and-cymbal patterns aligned to seven-string guitar tapping figures.

The double 22" x 18" bass drum configuration is the structural foundation of the entire album. Cosmogenesis sustains double-kick patterns across full song lengths on tracks like "Anticosmic Overload" and "Choir of Spirits," where each individual stroke must register cleanly and independently within the mix. The 22" diameter produces the sub-bass body that anchors Obscura's complex guitar arrangements, while the 18" depth provides the punchy attack that V. Santura's production prized.

### Meinl Byzance: The Signature Grossmann Cymbal Voice

Hannes Grossmann's Meinl Byzance setup is one of the most distinctive cymbal signatures in modern extreme metal — and "Cosmogenesis" is one of the recordings where that signature is most clearly captured. The Byzance series produces darker, more complex cymbal tones than mainstream bright-alloy options — a character that suited Cosmogenesis perfectly. The 22" Medium ride is the cornerstone of Grossmann's atmospheric playing on the record, providing texture and shimmer beneath Jeroen Paul Thesseling's fretless bass solo passages.

### V. Santura's Woodshed Studios Production

V. Santura's production philosophy minimizes sample replacement in favor of capturing the acoustic kit's real voice. Cosmogenesis features primarily natural drum tones, with samples used (if at all) only for double-bass reinforcement at the highest velocities. The Cosmogenesis drum sound became a benchmark for technical death metal production that subsequent records in the genre frequently cite as a reference.

## Key Facts

- Recorded at Woodshed Studios, Germany with producer V. Santura in 2008-2009
- Released March 23, 2009 via Relapse Records — landmark technical death metal album
- Tama Star Series shell pack with double 22" x 18" kick drums
- Meinl Byzance cymbals — Grossmann is a Meinl artist
- Axis Longboard or Tama Speed Cobra pedals for high-velocity foot technique
- Vic Firth signature sticks for sustained extreme metal performance
- Hannes Grossmann co-founded Obscura in 2007 and Alkaloid in 2015
- Estimated kit value: $4,500–8,000 (high-end production shell pack)
- Estimated cymbal value: $2,000–3,500 (full Meinl Byzance setup)

**Source:** https://metalforge.io/articles/cosmogenesis-drum-setup

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*Last updated: 2026-06-26 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*