# Shogun Drum Setup: Nick Augusto's Progressive Thrash Masterpiece (Trivium, 2008)

> Complete gear breakdown for Nick Augusto's drum setup on Trivium's Shogun (2008). DW Performance Series kit, Meinl Byzance cymbals, DW 9000 pedals, and techniques behind Trivium's magnum opus.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Nick Augusto](/llms/drummers/nick-augusto.md)
**Band / Album:** Trivium — *Shogun* (2008)
**Genre:** Progressive Thrash Metal / Metalcore

## Overview

Released on September 29, 2008 on Roadrunner Records, Trivium's fourth studio album "Shogun" stands as the band's most ambitious and technically demanding work. At 70 minutes across 10 tracks — including the extraordinary 11:39 title track and the 9:55 "The Calamity" — Shogun pushed Trivium far beyond the metalcore territory of earlier records into progressive thrash metal of the highest order. Metal publications worldwide placed it on their year-end top-10 lists, cementing its status as a genre landmark.

Nick Augusto joined Trivium in 2007, just before Shogun entered production. Having replaced Travis Smith's heavier, punchier approach with a more technically nuanced style, Augusto brought an instrumental vocabulary that matched the compositional ambitions Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu brought to the writing sessions. His work on Shogun remains the technical peak of his career with the band.

Recorded at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida — legendary home to countless metal records — with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Rush, Mastodon), Shogun's drum tracks capture Augusto navigating time signatures from 4/4 to 7/8 to 11/8, executing blast sections above 180 BPM, and sustaining extended jazz-influenced passages within progressive song structures. The production is clean enough to hear every nuance of his technique.

This article documents every piece of drum gear Nick Augusto used on Shogun: the DW Performance Series kit, Meinl Byzance cymbals, DW 9000 double bass pedal, and the setup decisions that powered Trivium's most celebrated recording.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** DW DW Performance Series (Natural Lacquer finish)
- **Snare:** DW DW Edge Snare, 14" x 6.5"
- **Cymbals:** Meinl — Meinl Byzance
- **Heads:** Evans Genera Dry (batter), Evans 300 Snare Side (resonant)
- **Snare tuning:** Medium-high — bright attack with body for dense progressive metal production

### The Shogun Engine: Augusto's DW Performance Series

For Shogun, Nick Augusto used a DW Performance Series kit in Natural Lacquer finish — DW's professional mid-tier offering with the same maple shell construction as the flagship Collector's Series at a more accessible price point. The Performance Series' maple shells delivered the combination of fast attack and warm sustain that Shogun's complex, dynamic material required.

The configuration was notably expanded compared to typical metalcore setups: three rack toms (10", 12", 14") plus two floor toms (16", 18") gave Augusto the melodic range to execute Shogun's sophisticated tom melodies and progressive fills. Tracks like "The Calamity" and "Like Light to the Flies" move across the kit in ways that demand a full tom array.

The 22" kick provided enough low-end authority for Shogun's heaviest passages without sacrificing the definition needed for fast double-kick patterns. DW's True Pitch tuning system enabled quick tuning adjustments between studio sessions — critical when moving between the album's widely varying tempos and feels.

The Natural Lacquer finish was both aesthetic and acoustic: DW's lacquer process seals the shell without adding the mass that some finishes introduce, preserving the maple's natural resonance characteristics. Combined with careful tuning by Raskulinecz and drum tech work, the kit achieved the clean, articulate sound that defines Shogun's production.

### The Power Snare: DW Edge 14×6.5"

Augusto's snare selection for Shogun was the DW Edge 14×6.5" — a power snare configuration well-matched to the album's dense, multi-layered production. At 6.5" depth, the drum provides enough body to project through the complex guitar arrangements on tracks like "Into the Mouth of Hell We March" and the title track without requiring excessive mix processing.

The DW Edge series uses a steel shell that contributes the bright, cutting crack that Shogun's production benefits from. Where some metal drummers prefer maple snares for warmth, Augusto's steel Edge cuts through cleanly in Raskulinecz's mix — audible even in the album's most harmonically dense passages.

Tuned in the medium-high range, the snare delivers clean rimshots for the album's straight-ahead sections while maintaining enough body for the dramatic dynamic drops that characterize Shogun's progressive song structures. The backbeat on the album's more aggressive tracks is immediate and focused; on passages like "The Crusade"-style melodic sections, the same drum provides enough tonal roundness to support the lighter feel.

The 6.5" depth — deeper than Augusto's later Tama S.L.P. work on "In Waves" — reflects the different production context: Shogun's larger-sounding, more orchestrated production benefited from a snare with more body and projection.

### Trivium's Meinl Byzance Debut

Shogun marks Trivium's first major Meinl Byzance pairing — a distinct sonic chapter before the band's later association with Meinl Classics Custom series cymbals. The Byzance line, handcrafted in Turkey using B20 bronze and traditional manufacturing techniques, delivers the complex, harmonic overtones that complement Shogun's progressive arrangements.

The 14" Byzance Traditional hi-hats provide a darker, more sophisticated sound than the bright Classics Custom hats Augusto would use on later records. This darkness suits Shogun's production — the album's lower tunings and more orchestrated arrangements benefit from cymbals that add harmonic depth rather than cutting brightness.

The crash selection covers the dynamic range Shogun demands. The 16" Medium Crash responds fast enough for tight accent work in the album's aggressive sections, while the 18" Medium provides the full-body wash needed for the album's dramatic section endings. Together they cover the spectrum from precise riff punctuation to cinematic crash moments.

The 20" Byzance Traditional Medium Ride's combination of dark bow and cutting bell enabled Augusto to navigate Shogun's varied feels — using the bow for the album's more progressive, textured passages and the bell for the precise, metronomic sections that characterize songs like "Kirisute Gomen."

The Byzance China above the floor tom served Shogun's heaviest moments: the aggressive, short-decay voice of a Byzance China lands with maximum impact on breakdown hits and riff-change accents. This China placement became a standard configuration for Augusto's subsequent Trivium work.

## Key Facts

- Shogun (2008) is widely regarded as Trivium's magnum opus — 70 minutes of progressive thrash metal
- Title track (11:39) is the longest Trivium song — features extended double kick and odd-time passages
- "The Calamity" (9:55) includes jazz-influenced sections alongside 180+ BPM blast work
- Augusto joined Trivium in 2007 — Shogun is his first studio album with the band
- Recorded at Morrisound Recording, Tampa, FL with producer Nick Raskulinecz
- Meinl Byzance debut for Trivium — distinct first Meinl pairing before later Classics Custom period
- DW Performance Series — maple shells, professional-grade construction
- Five-tom setup (3 rack + 2 floor) for Shogun's melodic fills and progressive passages
- 22" kick for authority at all tempos from blast sections to slow passages
- Natural Lacquer finish preserves maple resonance characteristics
- DW True Pitch tuning for consistent response across long studio sessions
- Estimated kit value: $3,200–4,500 (2008) / $1,800–2,600 (used today)
- Estimated snare value: $220–280 (2008)

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

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