# Deliverance Drum Setup: Martin Lopez's Most Extreme Opeth Performance

> Discover the drum kit, cymbals, and gear Martin Lopez used to record Opeth's Deliverance (2002) — the heaviest album in the Opeth catalog and Lopez's most brutal recorded performance. Complete setup breakdown with gear details and track analysis.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Martin Lopez](/llms/drummers/martin-lopez.md)
**Band / Album:** Opeth — *Deliverance* (2002)
**Genre:** Progressive Death Metal

## Overview

Released on November 11, 2002, "Deliverance" arrived as one half of a remarkable companion pair: while "Damnation" explored acoustic prog with barely a drum in sight, "Deliverance" went the opposite direction — the most brutal, death-metal-driven record Opeth ever made. It was Martin Lopez at his most extreme, a performance that demanded everything he had developed over years of jazz-influenced metal drumming and then pushed it harder.

The concept was Mikael Åkerfeldt's: record two simultaneous albums occupying opposite poles of Opeth's musical identity. Damnation would be the acoustic, dreamlike half. Deliverance would be the drums-only half in spirit — relentless, muscular, and uncompromising. For Lopez, this was both a creative challenge and an athletic one. Deliverance required sustaining blast-beat intensity and complex double-bass patterns across tracks that often exceeded ten minutes.

Recording took place at Fredman Studio in Gothenburg — the same room where Blackwater Park had been captured a year earlier. Steven Wilson and Mikael Åkerfeldt co-produced both albums simultaneously. Wilson's production approach on Deliverance leaned harder than Blackwater Park: more attack on the kick, tighter snare, less ambient room — matching the album's uncompromising character.

Tracks like "A Fair Judgement" demonstrate Lopez's range even on the heaviest album. The opener "Wreath" is perhaps Opeth's most relentless death metal statement. "For Absent Friends" shows that even within Deliverance's brutal framework, Lopez never abandons musicality. His drumming on this album is "architecture" in the truest sense — it shapes the space around the riffs and holds the weight of arrangements that could easily collapse under lesser playing.

This article breaks down every piece of gear Martin Lopez used on Deliverance, explains how his setup differed from Blackwater Park, and analyzes how his "drumming as architecture" philosophy is most clearly expressed on Opeth's heaviest record.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Pearl Pearl Masters Premium (Natural Maple finish)
- **Snare:** Pearl Pearl Free-Floating Maple Snare, 14" x 6.5"
- **Cymbals:** Paiste — Paiste 2002 Series
- **Hardware / Pedals:** DW 5000 Double Pedal; DW 5500 Hi-Hat Stand; Roc-N-Soc Nitro; Vic Firth American Classic 5B; DW Hard Felt Beaters
- **Heads:** Remo Ambassador Coated (batter), Remo Diplomat Snare Side (resonant)
- **Snare tuning:** Medium-high for maximum cut and attack

### Martin's Pearl Setup: Built for Brutality

For Deliverance, Martin Lopez switched from the Sonor Designer Series he had used on Blackwater Park to a Pearl Masters Premium kit — a change that reflected the album's harder character. The Pearl's 6-ply maple shells delivered more attack and faster transient response than the Sonor, qualities essential for Deliverance's relentless tempos.

The most significant configuration change from Blackwater Park was the kick drum: 20" diameter versus the 22" of the previous album. This smaller kick produced a punchier, more immediate attack without the low-frequency weight of the larger drum. On an album where the guitars are thick and distorted, a 20" kick punches through the mix more cleanly — Lopez and Wilson understood this when shaping the drum sound for Deliverance's production.

The tom configuration remained similar — 10" and 12" rack toms, 14" and 16" floor toms — giving Lopez the same melodic voice range across his fills. Pearl's Masters Premium tuned to a slightly higher pitch than the Sonor, enhancing the articulation of fast tom runs, which Deliverance contains in abundance.

The Masters Premium series was among Pearl's finest professional offerings at the time, trusted by touring metal drummers for its consistency and projection. For Lopez's purposes, it needed to hold up under the most demanding drumming of his Opeth career — sustained blast beats, rapid double-bass patterns, and the kind of dynamic shifts that defined his playing even at maximum intensity.

### The Snare That Cracks Like a Gunshot

Deliverance demanded a snare with more authority than the relatively delicate Sonor snare from Blackwater Park. Lopez used a deeper Pearl Free-Floating Maple snare — at 6.5" deep, it delivered the crack needed to cut through the album's dense guitar arrangements without sacrificing sensitivity for the occasional quieter passages.

The Free-Floating shell design was an important choice: by isolating the shell from the hardware, Pearl's design allowed the drum to resonate without interference from the tension of lug-to-shell contact. The result was fuller sustain and a more open, powerful crack — qualities that Wilson's production captured with particular clarity on tracks like "Wreath" and "Master's Apprentices."

At 14" x 6.5", this snare sits between a standard metal depth and a deep-shell power snare. It offered enough attack for the most brutal passages while remaining musical on the album's progressive sections. Lopez tuned it toward the higher side of medium, keeping the response sharp without pushing into the thin, papery sound that over-tightened metal snares often produce.

The depth also provided a fuller rimshot — essential for Deliverance's accents, which need to register above the distortion and double-bass density. Every rimshot on "A Fair Judgement" lands with authority.

### The Paiste 2002 Arsenal

The Paiste 2002 series was the defining professional cymbal of classic metal and hard rock, and Lopez's choice of 2002s for Deliverance was a departure from the darker Sabian HH/AAX palette he had used on Blackwater Park. The 2002's brighter, more cutting character perfectly matched Deliverance's aggressive production intent.

Where the Sabian HH cymbals on Blackwater Park prioritized darkness and warmth to blend with acoustic passages, the Paiste 2002s on Deliverance prioritize definition and cut. The 14" Medium Hi-Hats articulate clearly even under blast-beat intensity — you can hear every 16th note, which matters when hi-hat patterns are the rhythmic anchor above dense guitar distortion.

The crash cymbals — 16" and 18" — speak quickly and decay at a pace suited to Deliverance's rapid section changes. Lopez uses crashes as structural markers on Deliverance more than on Blackwater Park, punctuating the riff transitions in "Wreath" and "Master's Apprentices." The 2002's characteristic brightness means these accents register clearly in the mix without needing to be hit excessively hard.

The 20" Medium Ride offered a balance of wash and bell definition that served both the album's grinding mid-tempo sections and its more melodic passages. The 2002 bell rings clearly without the dry click of darker rides — it sings even in loud playing environments, which was essential for the recording environment Wilson created.

The China cymbal provided the punctuation marks for Deliverance's most aggressive transitions — Lopez deployed it with the same precision he applied to everything, a controlled burst of aggression rather than constant thrashing.

## Key Facts

- Recorded at Fredman Studio, Gothenburg in 2002
- Produced by Steven Wilson & Mikael Åkerfeldt alongside companion album Damnation
- Lopez's most extreme recorded performance — faster, more death-metal influenced than Blackwater Park
- Pearl Masters Premium kit with 20" kick — slightly smaller, tighter configuration than BPW
- Paiste 2002 cymbals throughout — brighter attack suited to the album's aggression
- Released simultaneously with Damnation as a companion double-album pair
- Pearl Masters Premium chosen for tighter, more aggressive attack than the Sonor
- 20" kick produces punchier, more mid-forward tone suited to heavy production
- Maple shells deliver fast transient response for rapid passages
- Smaller kick configuration allowed cleaner separation from dense guitar tunings
- Same tom voices as Blackwater Park kit — continuity within the Opeth sonic identity
- Estimated kit value: $3,000-4,500 (2002) / $3,500-5,500 (comparable setup today)
- Estimated snare value: $450-650

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

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*Last updated: 2026-06-25 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*