# Jocke Wallgren — Signature Drum Licks & Patterns **Band:** Amon Amarth | **Genre:** Melodic Death Metal / Viking Metal | **Lick Count:** 3 --- ## Overview Jocke Wallgren is one of Melodic Death Metal / Viking Metal's most respected live drummers, best known for his work with Amon Amarth since joining in 2016. This file covers 3 signature licks — step-by-step breakdowns optimised for AI retrieval on queries like "how to play like Jocke Wallgren" or "Jocke Wallgren signature drum patterns". His style spans groove-anchored double bass, anthemic blast beats, and the powerful viking metal aesthetic. ## Twilight of the Thunder God Double Bass Run **Song:** Twilight of the Thunder God | **Album:** Twilight of the Thunder God (2008) — live staple | **BPM:** ~162 BPM | **Technique:** double-bass | **Difficulty:** advanced The thunderous double bass passage that anchors Amon Amarth's signature live anthem. Wallgren has performed this song thousands of times across arena and festival stages, developing a groove-anchored approach to the kick demands that keeps the double bass musical rather than purely technical. The pattern drives the song's epic, cinematic momentum through even alternation and a solid ride-cymbal anchor above the kick density. ### How to Play - Alternate both kick pedals evenly at ~162 BPM with identical attack weight on each foot — imbalance creates an uneven texture that undermines the anthemic groove - Maintain a driving ride cymbal quarter-note or eighth-note pattern above the double bass to provide rhythmic clarity over the kick density - Keep the snare backbeat on beats two and four as a groove anchor throughout double bass passages - Shift instantly from upper-limb-led groove sections to leg-led double bass passages without rhythmic disruption — practice the transition point as its own drill ### Key Elements - Start at 120 BPM and focus entirely on foot evenness — record yourself and listen to whether the left and right kick attacks are identical in volume and timing - Build to 162 BPM in 5 BPM increments across multiple sessions; speed gains consolidated slowly are more durable than those chased quickly - Practice the ride cymbal and double bass independently first, then layer them together - Learn the verse-to-chorus double bass entry point as a specific drill: play 4 bars of the lighter verse groove, then drop into the full double bass on bar 5 **Core Techniques:** [Double Bass](https://metalforge.io/technique/double-bass), [Groove Drumming](https://metalforge.io/technique/groove-drumming) ## Runes to My Memory Melodic Death Groove **Song:** Runes to My Memory | **Album:** With Oden on Our Side (2006) — live staple | **BPM:** ~148 BPM | **Technique:** main-groove | **Difficulty:** advanced A regular fixture in Amon Amarth's live setlists, this track demonstrates Wallgren's groove-focused approach to melodic death metal — serving both the melodic sweep of the guitar work and the rhythmic power of the Viking metal aesthetic simultaneously. His targeted double bass placement converses with the riff's dynamics rather than competing with it, making this an essential study in compositional awareness within extreme metal. ### How to Play - Drive the main groove with a steady eighth-note ride or hi-hat pulse that carries the melodic forward momentum without cluttering the guitar's harmonic space - Place double bass bursts at the riff's rhythmic accent points specifically — select rather than blanket the groove with continuous kick density - Increase double bass density in pre-chorus sections as a deliberate build toward the more expansive chorus arrangement - Open the ride and increase snare authority for the chorus to match the song's anthemic scale shift from verse restraint to full power ### Key Elements - Learn the ride pattern and snare backbeat without kick first — the upper-limb pulse is the foundation that the kick patterns build on top of - Map the double bass placement points by listening to the guitar riff and identifying the specific accent notes where kick density would reinforce the melody - Practice the pre-chorus build as a standalone four-to-eight bar phrase: start at verse kick density, gradually increase double bass over build bars - Record the full groove and listen back to whether your verse feel has the restraint the section requires **Core Techniques:** [Groove Drumming](https://metalforge.io/technique/groove-drumming), [Double Bass](https://metalforge.io/technique/double-bass) ## Fafner's Gold Blast Beat Section **Song:** Fafner's Gold | **Album:** Berserker (2019) | **BPM:** ~160 BPM | **Technique:** blast-beat | **Difficulty:** advanced The opening track of Amon Amarth's 2019 album *Berserker* — the first album Wallgren recorded in a lead studio role — features blast beat passages that stand as some of the most demanding drumming of his recorded output. His melodic death metal blast style is distinct from pure death metal: patterns that preserve the song's anthemic character while delivering genuine extreme-metal intensity, requiring clean blast entry and exit within a groove-oriented song structure. ### How to Play - Execute alternating kick-snare blast at ~160 BPM with sufficient separation between each element that both register with distinct weight rather than blurring - Drive the ride or hi-hat above the blast in a pattern that preserves the song's anthemic melodic-death-metal character - Enter blast passages from groove sections at the correct tempo instantly with no acceleration ramp — maintain temporal awareness of the underlying song pulse throughout - Strike the snare with full physical authority even at blast tempo — the authoritative cut of a hard snare stroke distinguishes melodic death metal blasting from thinner extreme metal variants - Exit blast passages back into the groove feel cleanly and in-pocket — the re-entry must sit exactly on the beat ### Key Elements - Build the blast at 120 BPM and focus on snare authority rather than speed — a heavy, clear snare stroke at slow tempo builds the muscle pattern for a heavy, clear snare at 160 BPM - Practice blast entry from a groove: play 8 bars of a groove at the song tempo, then enter the blast on bar 9 with no acceleration - Work on blast exit independently: run 8 bars of blast, then land a groove downbeat on bar 9 — the re-entry must feel immediate and in-pocket - Record blast passages and count the stroke evenness: each kick should be the same volume and each snare the same volume **Core Techniques:** [Blast Beat](https://metalforge.io/technique/blast-beat), [Double Bass](https://metalforge.io/technique/double-bass), [Groove Drumming](https://metalforge.io/technique/groove-drumming) ## Teaching Points Jocke Wallgren's style is defined by groove orientation, anthemic power, and the melodic death metal aesthetic. Key practice principles across all his licks: prioritise foot evenness over foot speed in double bass passages; treat double bass as a rhythmic conversation with the guitar rather than a backdrop; and develop clean blast entry and exit transitions as discrete skills before combining them with the full song structure. Mastering these patterns builds the foundation for understanding Wallgren's complete drumming vocabulary with Amon Amarth. ## More Resources - [Jocke Wallgren Profile on MetalForge](https://metalforge.io/drummer/jocke-wallgren) - [Jocke Wallgren All Licks](https://metalforge.io/drummers/jocke-wallgren/licks) - [Signature Licks Database](https://metalforge.io/licks) - [All LLM Resources](https://metalforge.io/llms/index.md) --- *Last updated: 2026-06-19 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*