# Nick Menza's Drum Setup on Megadeth's Cryptic Writings (1997)

> Complete breakdown of Nick Menza's drum gear on Megadeth's Cryptic Writings — his final album with the band. Inside the Tama Artstar kit, Sabian Signature cymbal switch, and the Nashville sessions behind 'Trust' and 'A Tout le Monde (Set Me Free).'

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** Nick Menza
**Band / Album:** Megadeth — *Cryptic Writings* (1997)
**Genre:** Thrash Metal
**Label:** Capitol Records
**Studio:** The Tracking Room, Nashville, Tennessee (overdubs at The Castle, Franklin, Tennessee)
**Producer:** Dann Huff, Dave Mustaine

## Overview

Released June 17, 1997 on Capitol Records, Cryptic Writings is Megadeth's seventh studio album and the final record to feature Nick Menza behind the kit. Where Countdown to Extinction (1992) and Youthanasia (1994) had already pulled the band toward mid-tempo, song-focused songwriting, Cryptic Writings pushed further into radio-ready hard rock territory — and went on to earn RIAA Platinum certification, the commercial high point of Menza's nine-year run with the band.

The sessions themselves marked a deliberate break from the Max Norman partnership that had defined Countdown to Extinction and Youthanasia. Dave Mustaine, unsatisfied with the direction of the band's sound, brought in Nashville-based producer Dann Huff — known for his work shaping polished, hook-driven rock records — and relocated the band to Tennessee. Tracking began at The Tracking Room in Nashville in late 1996, with additional overdub work completed at The Castle, a converted 19th-century stone manor in nearby Franklin. For Menza, it meant recording in an entirely different sonic environment than the West Coast studios that had hosted every previous Megadeth album.

The album's two most enduring singles bookend Menza's Megadeth legacy. "Trust" became one of the most recognizable Megadeth songs in the band's catalog, anchored by a deceptively simple, deeply locked groove that showcases Menza's pocket discipline at its most refined. "A Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)" revisited the Youthanasia fan favorite as a duet reimagining featuring vocalist Kristen Patterson, with Menza's dynamic restraint giving the ballad-adjacent arrangement room to breathe. "Almost Honest" and "Use the Man" rounded out the singles, each leaning further into the hook-first songwriting Huff brought to the sessions.

By the time Cryptic Writings wrapped, Menza had completed the arc that began with Rust in Peace's technical fireworks in 1990: four studio albums charting a path from pure thrash extremity to polished, radio-conscious hard rock, each one demanding a different kind of discipline from the drum chair. He would be let go from Megadeth in 1998 following complications from knee surgery — making Cryptic Writings the closing chapter of one of thrash metal's most musically intelligent drumming careers.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Tama Artstar (black finish, birch shells)
- **Snare:** Tama Artstar Bell Brass, 14" x 6.5"
- **Cymbals:** Sabian — Sabian Signature / AA Series
- **Hardware / Pedals:** Tama Iron Cobra Double Pedal; Greg Voelker custom dual-tier stainless-steel rack; Roc-N-Soc Nitro Original; Vater Nick Menza Signature
- **Heads:** Remo Ambassador Coated (batter), Remo Ambassador Snare Side (resonant)
- **Snare tuning:** Upper-medium tension, consistent backbeat focus for hook-driven arrangements

### The Tama Artstar — Menza's Final Megadeth Configuration

For Cryptic Writings, Nick Menza tracked on his Tama Artstar — the same family of kit that had carried him through Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction, and Youthanasia — set up on the custom stainless-steel Greg Voelker rack system that became one of his visual trademarks. The rig mounted the toms on a lower chrome rack and every cymbal on a higher rack, with the whole assembly attached to a riser that let the double bass drums float free of the floor.

The four-tom configuration stayed close to the streamlined layout Menza had settled into by Youthanasia: 10" and 12" rack toms over 14" and 16" floor toms, tuned for clean melodic articulation rather than the cavernous low-end of the Rust in Peace years. Dann Huff's production favored a tighter, more contemporary rock drum sound than Max Norman's Youthanasia approach, and the birch shells' fast attack and controlled sustain suited that brief well — every tom hit on "Trust" and "Almost Honest" speaks immediately and decays without lingering.

The double 22" x 16" bass drums remained in place for the album's heavier cuts, including "FFF" and "The Disintegrators," but Cryptic Writings overall calls for less sustained double-kick work than any prior Menza-era Megadeth record — the kit exists to serve the song, and on a record built around "Trust"'s deceptively simple groove, that meant precision over volume of notes.

### Bell Brass, One Last Time

Nick Menza closed out his Megadeth tenure with the same Tama Artstar Bell Brass snare that had defined his sound since Rust in Peace. The bronze-alloy shell's bright, articulate crack remained instantly identifiable, but Dann Huff's Nashville production captured it with a more contemporary, slightly compressed punch than the warmer Phase Four Studios tone on Youthanasia.

On "Trust," the snare carries almost the entire rhythmic identity of the song. The groove is sparse by Megadeth standards, which means every backbeat has to land with total consistency. The 6.5" depth gave the drum the body needed to anchor "A Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)"'s more dynamic, ballad-adjacent arrangement, where the snare has to shift convincingly between near-silence in the verses and full crack on the choruses.

### The Switch to Sabian Signature

Cryptic Writings caught Nick Menza mid-switch from the Paiste 2002 and Signature cymbals he'd used since Countdown to Extinction toward a Sabian Signature and AA setup. Sabian's brighter, more focused voice paired well with Dann Huff's contemporary rock production. The 14" AA Regular Hi-Hats anchor "Trust" with a controlled, articulate chick, while the 16" AA Rock Crash and 18" Signature Crash gave Menza a complementary pair for the album's dynamic range. The 20" AA Medium Ride carried clean verse patterns underneath "A Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)," and the 18" AA China appears only selectively — a sign of how far Cryptic Writings had moved toward a more restrained, radio-conscious cymbal vocabulary.

## Key Facts

- Cryptic Writings (June 17, 1997) — RIAA Platinum, Menza's final studio album with Megadeth
- Produced by Dann Huff and Dave Mustaine at The Tracking Room, Nashville, with overdubs at The Castle, Franklin, TN
- Singles "Trust" and "A Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)" remain two of Megadeth's most recognized tracks
- Closes the Countdown to Extinction (1992) → Youthanasia (1994) → Cryptic Writings (1997) commercial-era arc
- Menza departed Megadeth in 1998 following knee surgery complications
- Tama Artstar birch shells — same kit family across all four Menza-era albums
- Mounted on the custom Greg Voelker stainless-steel dual-rack system
- Streamlined four-tom layout carried over from the Youthanasia configuration
- Tighter, more contemporary tom tuning to match Dann Huff's production approach
- Estimated kit value: $2,800-4,200 (1997)
- Estimated snare value: $350-500 (1997) / $600-900 (vintage today)

**Related articles:** [Youthanasia Drum Setup](/articles/youthanasia-drum-setup) · [Countdown to Extinction Drum Setup](/articles/countdown-to-extinction-drum-setup) · [Nick Menza Drum Setup](/articles/nick-menza-drum-setup)

**Drummer profile:** [Nick Menza](/drummer/nick-menza)

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

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*Last updated: 2026-06-30 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*