# Halo of Blood Drum Setup: Jaska Raatikainen's Gear on Children of Bodom's 2013 Album

> Discover the exact drum kit, cymbals, and gear Jaska Raatikainen used on Children of Bodom's Halo of Blood (2013). Complete breakdown of the Pearl Masters MCX kit, Zildjian A Custom and K Custom cymbals, and Pearl Eliminator double pedal behind CoB's eighth studio album.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Jaska Raatikainen](/llms/drummers/jaska-raatikainen.md)
**Band / Album:** Children of Bodom — *Halo of Blood* (2013)
**Genre:** Melodic Death Metal

## Overview

Released on June 7, 2013, Halo of Blood is Children of Bodom's eighth full-length album and, in hindsight, the closing chapter of Jaska Raatikainen's decade-long Pearl Masters relationship. Recorded once again at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki with longtime producer Anssi Kippo, the album arrived two years after Relentless Reckless Forever (2011) and delivered a drum performance built on total familiarity with every piece of hardware in Raatikainen's rig.

For Jaska Raatikainen, Halo of Blood meant no gear changes at all — a rare stretch of stability in a catalog otherwise marked by steady equipment evolution. The Pearl Masters MCX shells that had reached their refined form on Relentless Reckless Forever carried over unchanged, paired with the same settled Zildjian A Custom and K Custom cymbal configuration and the same Pearl Eliminator double pedal that had anchored his double-kick work since Are You Dead Yet? (2005). Where earlier albums documented transition or refinement, Halo of Blood documents pure consolidation: eight years of Pearl ownership distilled into the tightest, most economical drum performance of the band's Nuclear Blast era.

Opener "Waste of Skin" throws the full Pearl Eliminator authority at the listener from the first bar, while the title track "Halo of Blood" balances that aggression with the melodic tom phrasing that has defined Raatikainen's playing since Hatebreeder (1999). This article breaks down every component of Raatikainen's setup on Halo of Blood — the Pearl Masters MCX shells, the Zildjian cymbal configuration, the Pearl Eliminator double pedal, and the Sonic Pump Studios session that closed out the Pearl Masters decade before the DW Collector's Series transition on I Worship Chaos (2015).

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Pearl Pearl Masters MCX (Custom finish finish)
- **Snare:** Pearl Pearl Masters 14" x 5.5" MCX Snare, 14" x 5.5"
- **Cymbals:** Zildjian — Zildjian A Custom / Zildjian K Custom
- **Hardware / Pedals:** Pearl Eliminator Double Pedal; Vic Firth American Classic 5A; Remo Emperor Coated; Remo Powerstroke 3
- **Heads:** Remo Emperor Coated (batter), Remo Ambassador Snare Side (resonant)
- **Snare tuning:** Medium-bright — attack priority maintained for aggressive passages, controlled body for dynamic range

### Pearl Masters MCX: No Changes Needed

For Halo of Blood, Jaska Raatikainen played the identical Pearl Masters MCX configuration that had defined Relentless Reckless Forever (2011) — the same twin 22" x 18" bass drums, the same compact 10"/12" rack tom and 14"/16" floor tom spread, and the same MCX multi-ply maple shell construction. After the Premium Maple-to-MCX evolution documented across Are You Dead Yet? and Blooddrunk, there was simply nothing left to refine: the MCX shells had already reached the attack-forward, tightly controlled voice that suited CoB's melodic death metal arrangements.

At Sonic Pump Studios, Anssi Kippo's fourth session with this exact Pearl configuration meant zero adjustment period — mic placement, gain staging, and EQ treatment for the MCX shells were fully solved problems by 2013. That institutional knowledge is audible in how quickly the kit sits in the mix on Halo of Blood: no track requires the shells to be reintroduced to the listener, because the sound is already a known quantity from three prior albums.

The double bass drum setup carried the album's most demanding passages, particularly on opener "Waste of Skin," where the MCX shells' controlled sustain kept the kick drums articulate even at the track's highest tempo. The tom spread continued to serve Raatikainen's melodic fill vocabulary — phrases that track Janne Wirman's keyboard lines and Alexi Laiho's guitar work with the same compositional precision established across the entire Pearl era.

### Pearl Masters 14" x 5.5" MCX Snare

Raatikainen's snare on Halo of Blood was the same Pearl Masters MCX model that had served Relentless Reckless Forever — a 14" x 5.5" maple shell delivering the focused crack and controlled sustain that had become the default CoB snare voice by 2013. No tuning philosophy changed between the two albums; the snare's role across "Waste of Skin"'s high-velocity backbeat work and the more measured verses of "Transference" required the same attack-forward, cleanly defined character established years earlier.

Kippo's treatment of the MCX snare at Sonic Pump Studios reflected eight years of accumulated knowledge with Raatikainen's Pearl gear: close-miked signal with compression and EQ dialed to a sound the production team had already committed to tape three times before. The result is a snare tone that sits in the mix with total confidence rather than experimentation.

### Zildjian A Custom and K Custom: Eight Years Unchanged

Jaska Raatikainen's Zildjian A Custom and K Custom cymbal setup on Halo of Blood was carried over without modification from Relentless Reckless Forever — the same configuration that had first appeared on Are You Dead Yet? (2005) and been refined through Blooddrunk (2008), now in its eighth year of continuous use.

The A Custom series' bright, cutting character remained the correct tool for CoB's dense, keyboard-driven production: the 14" hi-hats and 17"/18" crashes register clearly against Janne Wirman's synth layers without needing corrective EQ, exactly as they had on the three previous Pearl-era albums. By Halo of Blood, the placement precision of every crash hit reflects a drummer who has spent nearly a decade learning the exact voice of each cymbal in every song context.

The K Custom 20" ride continued its role as the warmer counterpoint to the brighter A Custom crashes, particularly audible in "Transference" and "Damaged Beyond Repair," where the ride's darker bell tone supports the album's more melodic, mid-tempo passages. The A Custom China above the floor tom marks structural transitions across the record with the same signature deployment pattern established on Blooddrunk and carried through Relentless Reckless Forever.

## Key Facts

- Released June 7, 2013 — Children of Bodom's eighth studio album on Nuclear Blast
- Recorded at Sonic Pump Studios, Helsinki, with producer Anssi Kippo — the same team behind Blooddrunk and Relentless Reckless Forever
- Pearl Masters MCX kit carried over unchanged from Relentless Reckless Forever (2011) — the Pearl era's final configuration
- Zildjian A Custom and K Custom cymbals — the same settled setup running since Are You Dead Yet? (2005)
- Pearl Eliminator double pedal — eight years of continuous use behind the double-kick work on "Waste of Skin"
- Last Children of Bodom album on Pearl Masters before the DW Collector's Series transition on I Worship Chaos (2015)
- Pearl Masters MCX — unchanged from Relentless Reckless Forever, no shell adjustments needed
- Fourth consecutive Kippo-produced Sonic Pump session with this exact kit — zero adjustment period
- Double 22" x 18" bass drums drive "Waste of Skin" — the album's fastest, most demanding track
- Compact tom spread (10", 12", 14", 16") continues the melodic fill language refined since Hatebreeder
- Final studio album on Pearl Masters before the DW Collector's Series transition on I Worship Chaos
- Estimated kit value: $2,400–4,800 (Pearl Masters MCX shell pack, 2013)
- Estimated snare value: $400–620 (Pearl Masters MCX snare, 2013)

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: What drums did Jaska Raatikainen use on Halo of Blood?**

A: On Halo of Blood (2013), Jaska Raatikainen used Pearl Masters MCX drums — the identical shell configuration that had defined Relentless Reckless Forever (2011), carried over without changes. The setup centered on twin 22" x 18" bass drums, rack toms (10" and 12"), and floor toms (14" and 16") in the MCX's multi-ply maple construction. For Raatikainen's complete gear history across Children of Bodom's career, see the [Jaska Raatikainen drummer profile](/drummer/jaska-raatikainen).

**Q: What pedals did Jaska Raatikainen use on Halo of Blood?**

A: Jaska Raatikainen used the Pearl Eliminator double pedal on Halo of Blood (2013) — the same pedal in use since Are You Dead Yet? (2005), by this point eight years into total familiarity. The Eliminator's cam geometry and chain-drive response are audible at their most confident on "Waste of Skin." See the [Relentless Reckless Forever drum setup](/articles/relentless-reckless-forever-drum-setup) for the pedal's prior-album context.

**Q: What cymbals did Jaska Raatikainen use on Halo of Blood?**

A: On Halo of Blood (2013), Jaska Raatikainen used Zildjian A Custom and K Custom cymbals — A Custom 14" hi-hats, A Custom crashes (17" and 18"), a K Custom 20" ride, and an A Custom 18" China. This was the same settled configuration in place since Are You Dead Yet? (2005), unchanged from Relentless Reckless Forever (2011). For the full kit history, see the [Jaska Raatikainen full kit guide](/articles/jaska-raatikainen-drum-setup).

**Q: How does Halo of Blood fit in the Children of Bodom drum setup arc?**

A: Halo of Blood (2013) is the final Children of Bodom studio album on the Pearl Masters MCX kit — it carries the exact gear configuration from Relentless Reckless Forever (2011) unchanged, closing out an eight-year Pearl endorsement era that began on Are You Dead Yet? (2005). It directly precedes I Worship Chaos (2015), where Raatikainen transitioned to the DW Collector's Series. See the [Jaska Raatikainen drummer profile](/drummer/jaska-raatikainen) and the [I Worship Chaos drum setup](/articles/i-worship-chaos-drum-setup) for what came next.

**Source:** https://metalforge.io/articles/halo-of-blood-drum-setup

**More LLM resources:** [Site index](/llms.txt) · [Full database](/llms-full.txt) · [Master FAQ](/llms/faq.md) · [Drummer index](/llms/index.md)

*Last updated: 2026-07-06 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*