# How to Sound Like Hannes Grossmann — Obscura / Technical Death Metal Drum Guide

**Drummer:** Hannes Grossmann  
**Band:** Obscura / ex-Necrophagist / Alkaloid  
**Genre:** Technical Death Metal  
**Guide URL:** https://metalforge.io/guides/how-to-sound-like-hannes-grossmann

## Overview

Hannes Grossmann (born September 8, 1982, in Freising, Germany) represents a different kind of extreme metal drummer: one whose primary influence isn't other metal drummers but classical percussion and jazz. This background is audible on every recording he has made with Necrophagist, Obscura, Alkaloid, and Blotted Science — his playing is compositionally structured, harmonically aware, and rhythmically sophisticated in ways that go beyond technical metal's typical focus on speed and endurance.

Grossmann first gained international attention as the drummer for Necrophagist on Epitaph (2004), widely considered one of the most technically demanding recordings in death metal. His ability to maintain perfect timing through complex polyrhythmic passages at extreme tempos while contributing musical architecture to the arrangements established him as technically elite. But it was with Obscura — particularly Cosmogenesis (2009) and Omnivium (2011) — that his full range emerged: incorporating jazz phrasing, classical counterpoint thinking, and progressive rock dynamics into technical death metal.

What sets Grossmann apart from other technical drummers is his open-handed technique. Rather than crossing hands for hi-hat and ride patterns, he regularly plays open-handed (left hand on hi-hat or ride, right hand on snare), allowing more fluid movement and giving him access to unusual voicings and independent limb combinations that crossed-hands technique cannot achieve. Beyond performing, he is an accomplished composer and producer who has worked on numerous metal productions from his studio in Germany.

## Kit Setup

Hannes plays **DW Collectors Series** drums with Meinl Byzance cymbals:

- **Kick Drums:** 22" x 18" (x2) — double kick for symmetrical two-footed patterns
- **Snare:** 14" x 5.5" DW Collectors Maple (bright, articulate crack)
- **Rack Toms:** 10" x 8", 12" x 9"
- **Floor Toms:** 14" x 14", 16" x 16"
- **Cymbals:** Meinl Byzance Series — 14" Byzance Traditional Hi-Hats, 18" & 19" Byzance Brilliant Crashes, 21" Byzance Traditional Ride, 10" Byzance Splash
- **Pedals:** DW 9000 Series Double Pedal (adjustable cam for precise feel tuning)
- **Sticks:** Vic Firth American Classic 5B
- **Heads:** Evans EQ3 Clear (kick), Remo Emperor Coated (snare), Evans G2 Clear (toms), Evans G1 Clear (resonant)

## Tuning & Setup

Grossmann tunes for maximum articulation. Technical death metal at high tempos requires drums where every note is individually audible even in extremely dense arrangements:

- **Kick:** Medium-high tension with minimal pillow contact — tight, focused attack with very controlled sustain. Over-muffling loses the punch that technical patterns need to feel physical.
- **Snare:** High tension for bright, cutting crack with quick decay. Ghost notes require a snare that responds accurately at minimal stick height — a loose, low-tuned snare will muddy ghost notes into the main strokes, destroying the dynamic contrast that makes his vocabulary effective.
- **Toms:** Medium-high tension with one Moongel per tom for quick decay. Each tom should be a distinct musical pitch tuned a perfect fourth apart — Grossmann's classical background means he thinks about tom pitches musically.

## Technique Tips

Grossmann uses **open-handed matched grip** as his primary technique — left hand on hi-hat/ride, right hand on snare — switching to traditional crossed grip when musically appropriate. His ghost note vocabulary from jazz drumming adds dynamic depth to technical passages.

**Signature patterns:**

- **Polyrhythmic Groove Construction (Variable, Advanced):** Constructing patterns where hands and feet operate in different meters simultaneously — 4/4 with the hands over 5/4 with the feet, or a 5-note grouping against a 4/4 pulse. These are carefully constructed polyrhythmic conversations that create tension and resolution over many bars. Start with 3-against-2: practice quarter-note triplets with your left foot against 8th notes in your right hand until the coincidence point (every 6th 8th note) feels natural.
- **Classical-Influenced Fill Architecture (Variable, Advanced):** Fills constructed with classical voice-leading logic — bass drum and hands each move according to their own internal logic while creating a harmonically structured whole. The fills have a contrapuntal quality: two or three independent rhythmic lines happening simultaneously. Most audible on Obscura's Omnivium and Alkaloid albums.
- **Technical Blast with Ghost Notes (185–220 BPM, Advanced):** Blast beats with ghost notes (very quiet strokes at ~10% volume) between primary blast strokes, borrowed from jazz drumming practice. These add rhythmic depth and density without adding volume. Practice ghost notes at 10% volume only — if they're louder than 20% of the primary stroke, they collapse the dynamic architecture.
- **Odd-Meter Groove Navigation (Variable, Advanced):** Fluent in 7/8, 5/8, 11/8, and mixed meters. Grossmann doesn't count odd meters consciously during performance — he internalizes phrase lengths and feels where cycles resolve. This gives his odd-meter playing natural, musical quality. Learn Obscura songs phrase by phrase rather than bar by bar.

**Key songs to study:** *Anticosmic Overload* (Cosmogenesis, 2009) · *Orbital Elements* (Omnivium, 2011) · *Stabwound* (Epitaph/Necrophagist, 2004) · *Euclidean Elements* (Omnivium, 2011) · *The Mellow Hardy Galoot* (Alkaloid, 2022)

## Gear Shopping List

| Item | Hannes' Spec | Budget Alternative |
|------|-------------|-------------------|
| Drum Kit | DW Collectors Series (22" kicks) | DW Performance Series (~$1,800) |
| Snare | DW Collectors 14" x 5.5" Maple | DW Performance Maple 14" x 5.5" |
| Cymbals | Meinl Byzance Series | Meinl HCS Bronze or Classics Custom (~$300) |
| Double Pedal | DW 9000 Series Double Pedal | DW 5002 Double Pedal (~$200) |
| Sticks | Vic Firth 5B | Vater 5B |
| Kick Head | Evans EQ3 Clear | Evans EMAD2 |

**Starter budget path (~$1,200):** Pearl Export + Meinl HCS Bronze + DW 5002 double pedal. See [/brands/dw](https://metalforge.io/brands/dw) and [/brands/meinl](https://metalforge.io/brands/meinl).

## Practice Routine

1. **Open-Handed Technique Foundation (15 min daily):** Sit at your kit. Left hand on hi-hat, right hand on snare. Play a simple 8th-note hi-hat groove: left hand alternates 8th notes on hi-hat, right hand plays snare on 2 and 4. Start at 60 BPM. This feels wrong initially — left hand leading is the opposite of what most drummers have practiced. Build to 120 BPM over several weeks before adding kick patterns.
2. **Polyrhythm Perception Builder (15 min daily):** Practice 3-against-2 at 60 BPM: left foot plays quarter-note triplets while right hand plays 8th notes. Spend 10 minutes daily for 2 weeks on this alone. Once 3:2 is fluid, move to 4:3, then 5:4. Each builds the perceptual capacity that makes Grossmann's patterns internally logical.
3. **Ghost Note Dynamic Sculpting (15 min daily):** Play a simple groove at 80 BPM. Add ghost notes on snare between primary strokes at 10% volume. Record yourself. If ghost notes are louder than 20% of primary strokes, they're too loud — the dynamic difference must be dramatic. Build speed only after the contrast is consistent.
4. **Necrophagist Epitaph Deep Dive (30 min per session):** Transcribe the drum part for 'Stabwound' bar by bar. Don't attempt up-to-tempo performance — transcribe first, practice each phrase at 50% tempo until memorized, then increase 5% weekly. The immediate benefit is learning how Grossmann thinks about pattern construction under maximum technical pressure.

**Common mistakes:** Attempting open-handed technique at speed before it's fluid slowly; playing polyrhythms by counting rather than feeling; neglecting ghost notes (they're central to his texture, not ornamental); treating odd meters as special cases to be counted rather than felt phrase lengths.

## FAQ

**Q: What drum kit does Hannes Grossmann play?**  
A: Hannes Grossmann plays DW Collectors Series — DW's flagship production shell line with custom-built North American maple shells. His configuration uses double 22" x 18" kick drums, 10" and 12" rack toms, 14" and 16" floor toms, and a DW Collectors 14" x 5.5" maple snare. The Collectors' precision construction provides the articulate attack his complex polyrhythmic arrangements require.

**Q: What cymbals does Hannes Grossmann play?**  
A: Grossmann plays Meinl Byzance Series cymbals. His setup includes 14" Byzance Traditional Hi-Hats, 18" and 19" Byzance Brilliant Crashes, a 21" Byzance Traditional Ride, and a 10" Byzance Splash. The Byzance series' hand-hammered B20 bronze produces warm, harmonically complex sound that integrates naturally in Obscura's and Alkaloid's dense progressive arrangements.

**Q: What is Hannes Grossmann's open-handed technique?**  
A: Grossmann plays with his left hand on the hi-hat or ride and right hand on snare, rather than the traditional right-hand-on-hi-hat approach that requires crossing hands over the body. This eliminates hand-crossing and gives him access to pattern combinations that traditional grip cannot achieve without awkward arm positioning. He switches fluidly between open-handed and traditional approaches depending on which allows more fluid execution for each passage.

**Q: How did Hannes Grossmann's classical training influence his metal drumming?**  
A: His classical percussion background introduced counterpoint, polyrhythm, and voice-leading principles that most metal drummers never encounter. He approaches fills with Bach-influenced contrapuntal thinking — designing kick and hand patterns as independent voices that create a harmonically structured whole. His polyrhythmic construction reflects classical practice of superimposing metric cycles, and his ghost note vocabulary comes directly from jazz and classical mallet technique. The result is drumming that sounds compositionally sophisticated rather than just technically impressive.

**Q: What are the best Hannes Grossmann recordings to study?**  
A: Start with Necrophagist's Epitaph (2004) — specifically 'Stabwound' — for his technical death metal baseline. Then Obscura's Cosmogenesis (2009), particularly 'Anticosmic Overload', for open-handed technique and polyrhythmic construction. Omnivium (2011) shows his mature style with classical counterpoint fully integrated. For his most sophisticated compositional work, study Alkaloid's The Mellow Hardy Galoot (2022) where jazz influence and extreme metal precision reach their fullest synthesis.

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**Full interactive guide:** [https://metalforge.io/guides/how-to-sound-like-hannes-grossmann](https://metalforge.io/guides/how-to-sound-like-hannes-grossmann)  
**Drummer profile:** [https://metalforge.io/drummer/hannes-grossmann](https://metalforge.io/drummer/hannes-grossmann)  
**Related guides:** [Sean Reinert](https://metalforge.io/llms/guides/how-to-sound-like-sean-reinert.md) · [Flo Mounier](https://metalforge.io/llms/guides/how-to-sound-like-flo-mounier.md)

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