# The Nothing Drum Setup: Ray Luzier's 2019 Korn Gear Breakdown

> Ray Luzier's drum setup on Korn's The Nothing (2019) — the band's rawest, most personal album, written in the wake of Jonathan Davis's grief. Pearl Reference Maple drums, Pearl Reference Brass snare, Sabian AAX cymbals, Pearl Demon Drive pedals. Full gear breakdown including "You'll Never Find Me" and "Finally Free."

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Ray Luzier](/llms/drummers/ray-luzier.md)
**Band / Album:** Korn — *The Nothing* (2019)
**Genre:** Nu-Metal
**Producer:** Nick Raskulinecz
**Label:** Roadrunner Records / Elektra Records

## Overview

Released on September 13, 2019, through Roadrunner Records and Elektra, *The Nothing* is Korn's thirteenth studio album — and the darkest, most personal record the band has ever made. Written and recorded in the aftermath of two devastating losses in singer Jonathan Davis's life — the deaths of his wife Deven and his mother Holly Marie Chavez — the album abandons the arm's-length metaphor common to much of Korn's earlier catalog in favor of direct, unguarded grief. Davis has described the sessions as a form of personal therapy, telling Kerrang! that where a typical Korn vocal session might take two weeks, *The Nothing* took him around four months to record because he kept breaking down mid-take.

Nick Raskulinecz — the producer who had steered *The Serenity of Suffering* (2016) toward its dark, heavy focus — returned for *The Nothing*, tracking the album at Rock Falcon Studio in Nashville and Buck Owens Studio in Bakersfield, California, the same Bakersfield room Korn would return to three years later for *Requiem*. The result is an album critics called some of Korn's strongest and most authentic work: it holds an 83 on Metacritic, and AllMusic singled it out as some of the most emotionally honest music of the band's career. Commercially, *The Nothing* debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200 — Korn's fourteenth US Top 10 album — powered by the singles "You'll Never Find Me," "Cold," and "Can You Hear Me."

For Ray Luzier, *The Nothing* sits directly between two of his most acclaimed studio performances with the band — *The Serenity of Suffering* and *Requiem* — and closes the arc between them. His drumming across the record has to do something specific: hold a controlled, physical foundation under some of the rawest vocal performances Davis has ever recorded, without ever overplaying a moment that calls for restraint. "Finally Free" — which addresses Davis's grief most directly — demands a drummer who can build tension and then get out of the way; "You'll Never Find Me" and "Cold" call for the propulsive, groove-locked double-kick work that has defined Luzier's decade-plus in the band.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Pearl Reference Maple (double 22" x 18" bass drums, 10"/12"/14" rack toms, 16"/18" floor toms)
- **Snare:** Pearl Reference 14" × 6.5" Brass
- **Cymbals:** Sabian AAX (14" Stage Hi-Hats, 18" and 19" X-Plosion Crashes, 21" Stage Ride, 18" AAXtreme China)
- **Hardware / Pedals:** Pearl Demon Drive Double Bass Pedal; Pearl D-2000 Roadster Throne
- **Sticks:** Promark Ray Luzier Signature TX420X
- **Heads:** Remo Coated Emperor (batter)/Remo Hazy Ambassador Snare Side (resonant) — snare; Evans EC2 Coated (toms); Evans EMAD2 (bass drum)

### Pearl Reference Maple: Steady Ground Under Raw Grief

Ray Luzier carried the same Pearl Reference Maple kit into *The Nothing* sessions that had defined *The Paradigm Shift* and *The Serenity of Suffering* — continuity that mattered on a record built around emotional exposure rather than production experimentation. The double 22" bass drum configuration remained Luzier's rhythmic anchor on propulsive tracks like "You'll Never Find Me" and "Cold," while "Finally Free" called for restraint, space, and dynamic control rather than density. Recording partly at Rock Falcon Studio in Nashville and partly at Buck Owens Studio in Bakersfield meant the Reference Maple's shells needed to hold their tuning consistently across two rooms and two recording windows.

### Pearl Reference Brass: The Human Crack Behind the Grief

Luzier's Pearl Reference brass snare carried through into *The Nothing*, providing the same bright, projecting crack that had defined *The Serenity of Suffering*. On a record this emotionally exposed, the snare's role shifts — less a wall-of-sound element competing with layered guitars, more a grounding pulse underneath Davis's most vulnerable vocal takes on tracks like "Can You Hear Me" and "Finally Free."

### Sabian AAX: Restraint and Impact on Korn's Heaviest Record

Luzier's Sabian AAX setup carried over unchanged for *The Nothing*, continuing the cymbal platform he'd used since *The Paradigm Shift*. The AAXtreme China — used aggressively throughout *The Serenity of Suffering* — appears more sparingly here, reserved for the album's genuine emotional peaks rather than routine accents; on "Finally Free," a single well-placed China hit carries more weight for being one of the only ones in the song.

## Key Facts

- Korn's 13th studio album — written after the deaths of Jonathan Davis's wife Deven and mother Holly Marie Chavez
- Produced by Nick Raskulinecz, returning from The Serenity of Suffering (2016)
- Recorded at Rock Falcon Studio (Nashville) and Buck Owens Studio (Bakersfield) — the same Bakersfield room used later for Requiem
- Debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200 — Korn's 14th US Top 10 album
- Metacritic score of 83 — among the band's most critically acclaimed records
- Fills the gap in Ray Luzier's Korn arc between The Serenity of Suffering (2016) and Requiem (2022)
- Estimated kit value: $4,000–7,000 (Pearl Reference shell pack)
- Estimated snare value: $500–700 (Pearl Reference brass snare)

## FAQ

**Q: What kit did Ray Luzier use on The Nothing?**

A: Ray Luzier used his Pearl Reference Maple drum kit on Korn's *The Nothing* (2019), continuing the Pearl platform he'd used since *The Paradigm Shift* (2013) and *The Serenity of Suffering* (2016). The configuration included double 22" bass drums with a Pearl Demon Drive pedal, a five-tom spread, and a Pearl Reference 14" × 6.5" Brass snare. His cymbals were Sabian AAX.

**Q: Who played drums on Korn's The Nothing?**

A: Ray Luzier played drums on Korn's *The Nothing* (2019), the band's thirteenth studio album. Luzier had been Korn's drummer since 2007 and had already recorded four prior studio albums with the band by the time *The Nothing* was made.

**Q: Is The Nothing a concept album?**

A: *The Nothing* isn't a formal concept album with a linear narrative, but it is thematically unified around Jonathan Davis's grief following the deaths of his wife Deven and his mother Holly Marie Chavez. Davis has said the album functioned as personal therapy, and songs like "Finally Free" address that loss directly.

**Q: Who produced Korn's The Nothing?**

A: *The Nothing* (2019) was produced by Nick Raskulinecz, returning after producing *The Serenity of Suffering* (2016). Sessions took place at Rock Falcon Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, and Buck Owens Studio in Bakersfield, California — the same Bakersfield room Korn would use again for *Requiem* (2022).

**Source:** https://metalforge.io/articles/the-nothing-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: 2026-07-02 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*