# Heritage Drum Setup: Martin Axenrot's Jazz-Era Opeth Performance

> Discover the drum kit, cymbals, and gear Martin Axenrot used on Opeth's Heritage (2011). Complete breakdown of Axenrot's Pearl Reference Series setup, jazz brush work, and how the first fully prog-rock Opeth album reshaped his drumming vocabulary — no distorted guitars, maximum restraint.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Martin Axenrot](/llms/drummers/martin-axenrot.md)
**Band / Album:** Opeth — *Heritage* (2011)
**Genre:** Progressive Rock / Art Rock
**Label:** Roadrunner Records
**Peak Chart:** #1 Sweden, #8 UK, #18 Germany

## Overview

Released on September 20, 2011 through Roadrunner Records, *Heritage* is the Opeth album that answered the question *Watershed* had been building toward: what happens when a progressive death metal band fully commits to progressive rock? The answer was *Heritage* — Mikael Åkerfeldt's self-produced statement of artistic intent, an album with no distorted guitars, no death metal vocals, and a drumming vocabulary that demanded Martin Axenrot reinvent himself in real time.

For Axenrot, *Heritage* was the biggest challenge of his Opeth tenure. [Watershed](/articles/watershed-drum-setup) had asked him to honor the Lopez vocabulary while bringing his extreme metal background to bear. *Heritage* asked something categorically different: dial back every instinct from Bloodbath and Witchery, pick up brushes, and serve a 1970s prog-rock aesthetic that owed more to Jethro Tull, ELP, and early Genesis than to any metal precedent.

The result is the most jazz-influenced drumming of Axenrot's career — sparse, dynamic, texture-conscious, built around ride cymbals and brushwork rather than twin-kick double bass and China cymbal accents.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Pearl Reference Series (maple/mahogany hybrid shells, Natural / Custom Lacquer)
- **Snare:** Pearl Reference Maple Snare, 14" x 5.5"
- **Cymbals:** Meinl Byzance Traditional + Dark series
- **Hardware / Pedals:** Pearl Demon Drive direct-drive twin pedals; Pearl H-2050 Eliminator hi-hat stand; Roc-N-Soc Nitro throne; Vic Firth American Classic 5A / jazz brushes
- **Heads:** Remo Ambassador Coated (batter snare), Remo Ambassador Snare Side (resonant), Remo Powerstroke 3 Clear (kicks)
- **Snare tuning:** Medium-low tension for warm, rounded tone with ghost-note sensitivity and brush technique compatibility

### Pearl Reference Series: Built for Prog, Not Metal

For *Heritage*, Axenrot transitioned from his Sonor Designer / SQ2 rig to a Pearl Reference Series configuration — the most significant gear change of his Opeth tenure. The Pearl Reference uses thinner maple/mahogany hybrid shells that deliver more natural resonance and warmth than the Sonor SQ2's heavier German maple shells, making it better suited to the open, breathing sound *Heritage* required.

The twin 22" bass drum configuration remained — Axenrot's signature twin-kick setup — but on *Heritage* the kick drums are deployed with unprecedented restraint. The Pearl Reference's kick drums have a rounder, warmer fundamental than the Sonor SQ2's punch, appropriate for the album's softer atmospheric context.

### Meinl Byzance: Dark and Restrained for the Prog Era

Heritage's cymbal setup retained the Meinl Byzance core but deployed it with much greater restraint than *Watershed*. The 22" Traditional Medium Ride became the primary lead voice — carrying melodic patterns across long prog-rock arrangements the way jazz drummers use the ride rather than just a timekeeper. The China cymbal that had appeared frequently on *Watershed* is largely absent, replaced by sustained ride patterns and sparse crash accents.

Jazz brushes feature on several *Heritage* tracks — the hand-hammered Byzance hi-hat surface provides natural, complex response to wire brush technique. Cymbal setup: 14" Traditional Medium Hi-Hats, 16" Traditional Thin Crash, 18" Traditional Medium Thin Crash, 22" Traditional Medium Ride.

### Recording: Self-Produced at Fascination Street

*Heritage* was produced entirely by Mikael Åkerfeldt at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro — the first time Åkerfeldt had sole production credit on an Opeth record. The direction was explicitly 70s prog-rock: open, warm, and dynamic, with room ambience that suited the album's vintage aesthetic. Kicks sit back in the mix rather than dominating it. Cymbals sustain with long, complex character. Brush technique appears naturally in the room.

## Jazz Brushes: A First for the Opeth Catalog

*Heritage* was the first Opeth album to feature sustained jazz brush technique. Axenrot's brush work appears on several tracks, adding the sweep-and-circle texture that jazz drumming requires. The Fascination Street room captured this technique naturally — the Pearl Reference Series snare's maple shell and coated Ambassador head responded well to wire brushes, and the room's ambient sound added the natural reverb that brush technique benefits from.

## Key Track Analysis

- **The Devil's Orchard** — Album opener. Prog-rock statement from the first measure. Ride cymbal as primary lead voice throughout. Ghost notes under clean guitar passages establish *Heritage*'s vocabulary with no death metal elements.
- **Nepenthe** — *Heritage*'s most dynamic track. Spans soft and heavier passages. Axenrot's most compositionally varied performance on the album. Tom fills bridge the arrangement's shifting dynamics using the Pearl Reference's natural resonance.
- **Häxprocess** — *Heritage*'s heaviest track — closest approach to the *Watershed* vocabulary. Twin-kick setup makes its clearest appearance. Demonstrates the dynamic range *Heritage* demands between soft and heavy.
- **Folklore** — *Heritage*'s most jazz-influenced track. Brushes appear here. Axenrot's brush technique is the defining drum voice. The Byzance hi-hats respond naturally to wire brush sweeping. Closest to a jazz standard approach in any Opeth context.

## Heritage in Context: The Watershed-to-Prog Transition

| Element | Watershed (2008) | Heritage (2011) |
|---------|-----------------|-----------------|
| Kit | Sonor Designer / SQ2 | Pearl Reference Series |
| Kick use | Twin-kick sustained double bass | Twin kicks available, used with extreme restraint |
| Cymbals | Byzance + China cymbal prominent | Byzance ride dominant; China largely absent |
| Technique | Metal aggression + Lopez vocabulary | Jazz brushes, ride-forward, minimal attack |
| Production | Jens Bogren (warm/dense) | Self-produced Åkerfeldt (ambient/vintage) |

For the full arc: [Watershed drum setup](/articles/watershed-drum-setup) — the bridge record. [Pale Communion drum setup](/articles/pale-communion-drum-setup) — the 70s prog refinement. [Sorceress drum setup](/articles/sorceress-drum-setup) — the Nuclear Blast era.

## FAQ

**Q: What drum kit did Martin Axenrot use on Opeth's Heritage?**
Martin Axenrot recorded Opeth's *Heritage* (2011) using a Pearl Reference Series drum kit — a significant gear change from the Sonor Designer / SQ2 he had used on *Watershed*. The Pearl Reference uses thinner maple/mahogany hybrid shells delivering more natural resonance. Configuration: twin 22"x18" bass drums, 10" and 12" rack toms, 14" and 16" floor toms. Paired with Meinl Byzance cymbals and Pearl Demon Drive direct-drive twin pedals. Tracked at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, produced by Mikael Åkerfeldt.

**Q: Why did Opeth go prog on Heritage?**
*Heritage* represents Mikael Åkerfeldt's decisive commitment to 1970s progressive rock influences — Jethro Tull, ELP, early Genesis, King Crimson — that had been signaled across the Opeth catalog since at least *Damnation* (2003). "Burden" on *Watershed* previewed the direction with its clean, prog-leaning arrangement. *Heritage* was the full commitment: no distorted guitars, no death metal vocals, complete prog-rock statement. For Axenrot, the album demanded jazz brush technique, ride-cymbal-forward phrasing, and restrained vocabulary that the Pearl Reference Series and Meinl Byzance setup served well.

**Q: How does Axenrot's drumming change across Opeth's prog era?**
Across *Heritage* (2011), *Pale Communion* (2014), and *Sorceress* (2016), Axenrot's drumming undergoes a sustained evolution. *Heritage* is the most restrained — jazz brushes, ride-cymbal-forward phrasing, minimal twin-kick work, no China cymbal. *Pale Communion* expands the vocabulary with the extended drum breakdown on "Eternal Rains Will Come" — the most technically demanding moment of the prog era. *Sorceress* reintroduces some heavier passages within the prog framework that has become Opeth's default mode. Together the three albums trace Axenrot's development from extreme metal technician to complete progressive drummer.

**Q: What cymbals did Martin Axenrot use on Heritage?**
Meinl Byzance series: 14" Traditional Medium Hi-Hats, 16" Traditional Thin Crash, 18" Traditional Medium Thin Crash, 22" Traditional Medium Ride. The China cymbal that appeared frequently on *Watershed* is largely absent. The 22" Byzance Traditional ride is the defining cymbal voice on *Heritage*, carrying melodic patterns across long arrangements in the jazz-influenced tradition. Jazz brushes on the Byzance hi-hats appear on several tracks — the hand-hammered surface provides natural response to wire brush technique.

**Q: How does Heritage connect to Watershed and Pale Communion?**
*Heritage* sits between [Watershed](/articles/watershed-drum-setup) (2008) and [Pale Communion](/articles/pale-communion-drum-setup) (2014) as the middle chapter of Opeth's prog transition. *Watershed* was the bridge record — still containing death metal vocals and aggressive passages while leaning toward prog-rock textures. *Heritage* was the full commitment: no distorted guitars, no metal vocals. *Pale Communion* extended *Heritage*'s vocabulary with a more refined 70s prog aesthetic, bringing Steven Wilson back to mix and delivering the most compositionally coherent of the three prog-era albums.

## Related Articles

- [Watershed drum setup](/articles/watershed-drum-setup) — Axenrot's studio debut with Opeth (2008)
- [Pale Communion drum setup](/articles/pale-communion-drum-setup) — The 70s prog peak (2014)
- [Sorceress drum setup](/articles/sorceress-drum-setup) — The Nuclear Blast era (2016)
- [Martin Axenrot drummer profile](/drummer/martin-axenrot) — Complete career overview

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

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*Last updated: 2026-06-27 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*