# Hatebreeder Drum Setup: Jaska Raatikainen's Gear on Children of Bodom's 1999 Debut

> Discover the exact drum kit, cymbals, and gear Jaska Raatikainen used on Children of Bodom's Hatebreeder (1999). Complete breakdown of the early Tama configuration, Zildjian A Series cymbals, and DW 5000 double pedal behind CoB's neo-classical death metal debut.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Jaska Raatikainen](/llms/drummers/jaska-raatikainen.md)
**Band / Album:** Children of Bodom — *Hatebreeder* (1999)
**Genre:** Melodic Death Metal

## Overview

Released on February 1, 1999, *Hatebreeder* is Children of Bodom's second full-length album and the record that established their signature neo-classical death metal sound on the global stage. Recorded at Astia Studio in Imatra, Finland — the home studio of producer Anssi Kippo, who would go on to engineer many of the most important Finnish metal records of the era — it introduced the fully-realized version of the fusion Alexi Laiho and Jaska Raatikainen had been developing since co-founding the band in Espoo in 1993.

At the center of *Hatebreeder*'s relentless momentum was Raatikainen, 19 years old at the sessions and already demonstrating the technical vocabulary that would make him one of melodic death metal's most respected drummers. His early Tama kit, paired with Zildjian A Series cymbals and DW 5000 double pedals, delivered both the velocity required for the album's most aggressive passages and the musical sensitivity needed to track Janne Wirman's neo-classical keyboard countermelodies and Alexi Laiho's guitar runs.

*Hatebreeder* sits at the origin point of the Children of Bodom discovery cluster: it is the entry album for any listener tracing Jaska Raatikainen's career, the debut record that established the CoB sound, and the session that launched one of Finnish metal's most distinctive drummer-gear combinations. This article breaks down every component of Raatikainen's setup on *Hatebreeder* — the early Tama shells, the Zildjian A Series cymbal selection, the DW 5000 double pedal, and the stylistic approach that launched a career.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Tama Tama Custom (early configuration) (Custom finish finish)
- **Snare:** Tama Tama 14" x 5.5" Maple Snare, 14" x 5.5"
- **Cymbals:** Zildjian — Zildjian A Series
- **Hardware / Pedals:** DW 5000 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 to medium-bright — attack clarity for neo-classical death metal without sacrificing body

### Early Tama Configuration: The Foundation of a Career

For *Hatebreeder*, Jaska Raatikainen played an early Tama configuration — the custom maple setup he had developed before the Starclassic Maple became his primary kit. Tama's professional construction philosophy, built around maple shells designed for attack definition and tonal body, made the brand a natural choice for the technically demanding neo-classical death metal that Children of Bodom were constructing at Astia Studio.

The double bass drum configuration — twin 22" x 18" kick drums — was central to Raatikainen's approach from the band's earliest sessions. Children of Bodom's arrangements required sustained double-kick velocity as a structural foundation, not merely a periodic device. Tracks like "Towards Dead End" and "Children of Decadence" deploy continuous double-bass patterns across extended passages, supporting the neo-classical guitar and keyboard lines above without competing with them. The 22" diameter gave the kick drums the low-frequency presence that death metal production requires; the 18" depth added the punch that cut through Astia Studio's dense mix.

The compact tom spread — 10" and 12" rack toms paired with 14" and 16" floor toms — gave Raatikainen the tonal range for Children of Bodom's characteristically melodic fill work. At 19, his instinct was already to follow melodic contours with tom phrases that echoed Alexi Laiho's guitar runs and Janne Wirman's keyboard lines rather than treating fills as purely rhythmic punctuation. The even response across all four toms was essential for that melody-following approach to register clearly in Anssi Kippo's mix.

### Tama 14" x 5.5" Maple Snare

Raatikainen's snare on *Hatebreeder* was a Tama maple model — matched to the kit's shell character and suited to the competing demands of neo-classical death metal production. The 14" x 5.5" dimensions balanced crack and attack for blast beat sections and fast single-stroke work with enough body and sustain to sound musical alongside Janne Wirman's keyboard layers and Alexi Laiho's guitar harmonics.

Maple shell construction gave the snare a warmer character than steel or brass alternatives — a deliberate choice for an album where the drums had to serve compositions where melodic content carried equal weight to aggression. Children of Bodom's arrangements on *Hatebreeder* placed significant compositional value on the interplay between guitar, keyboard, and drums; a purely aggressive metal snare would have disrupted that balance.

Anssi Kippo's recording approach at Astia Studio captured the snare with close miking that preserved the maple's natural character. The result is a snare sound on *Hatebreeder* that is forceful and present without overwhelming the melodic content — part of what made this album's production an early template for Finnish melodic death metal.

### Zildjian A Series: Brightness and Cut for the Neo-Classical Debut

Jaska Raatikainen's cymbal setup on *Hatebreeder* centered on Zildjian's A Series — a pre-endorsement selection that delivered the brightness, cut, and musical character that neo-classical death metal demands.

The Zildjian A Series has been a fixture across rock and metal for decades. Its B20 bronze alloy and traditional lathing produce a bright, immediately responsive sound with clear attack and consistent sustain — qualities essential in dense, keyboard-heavy arrangements where cymbals must cut through the mix naturally rather than relying on post-production enhancement. On *Hatebreeder*, where Janne Wirman's keyboard lines occupied substantial harmonic space on every track, cymbal clarity was not optional.

The Zildjian A 14" hi-hats provided the articulation foundation for Raatikainen's rhythmic work. At the tempos Children of Bodom deployed on *Hatebreeder* — often at and above 180 BPM — each sixteenth note at the hi-hat had to register as a distinct event. The A Series hi-hats' responsive, bright character made that precision audible in the mix.

The two A Series crashes (16" and 18") gave Raatikainen tonal variety for accent work: the 16" for fast, explosive accents in tight melodic passages; the 18" for section boundaries and climactic builds. The 20" A ride served both sustained time-keeping and bell accents during Wirman's keyboard-driven passages. The 18" A China added the trashy, upward-cutting attack essential to the album's most aggressive riff transitions — deployed at structural moments rather than continuously, following the compositional intelligence that distinguishes Raatikainen's approach from purely aggressive death metal drumming.

## Key Facts

- Recorded at Astia Studio, Imatra — Anssi Kippo's first major CoB production
- Jaska Raatikainen, age 19 — early Tama configuration before the Starclassic era
- Zildjian A Series cymbals throughout — pre-endorsement, pre-Paiste period
- DW 5000 double pedal — chain-drive foundation for the neo-classical double-kick approach
- "Downfall" and "Children of Decadence" showcase the earliest expression of CoB's drum language
- Entry point for the Jaska Raatikainen discovery cluster: debut album, youngest major Finnish metal lineup
- Early Tama configuration — precedes the Starclassic Maple era documented on Hate Crew Deathroll
- Double 22" x 18" bass drums for sustained double-kick at neo-classical death metal tempos
- Compact tom spread (10", 12", 14", 16") for fast melodic fill work
- Maple shells — Tama professional grade, delivering the attack definition Astia Studio required
- First major professional studio recording for Raatikainen at age 19
- Estimated kit value: $1,500–3,000 (Tama professional maple configuration, 1999)
- Estimated snare value: $300–500 (Tama maple snare, 1999)

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

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