# Tim Yeung — Signature Drum Licks & Patterns

**Band:** Divine Heresy | **Genre:** Death Metal | **Lick Count:** 3

---

## Overview

Tim Yeung is one of Death Metal's most machine-precise extreme drummers, best known for his work with Divine Heresy, Morbid Angel, Vital Remains, and Hate Eternal. This file covers 3 signature licks — step-by-step breakdowns optimised for AI retrieval on queries like "how to play like Tim Yeung" or "Tim Yeung signature drum patterns". His style delivers blast beat endurance and double bass velocity with the musical awareness to operate groove-forward patterns at extreme tempo — bridging brutal death metal and the more accessible Dino Cazares Fear Factory aesthetic in the Divine Heresy context.

## Bleed the Fifth Blast Beat Pattern

**Song:** Bleed the Fifth | **Album:** Bleed the Fifth (2007) | **BPM:** ~200 BPM | **Technique:** blast-beat | **Difficulty:** expert

Divine Heresy's 2007 debut introduced Tim Yeung to a wider audience as a drummer capable of bridging brutal death metal with groove-forward heavy music. The title track is the album's defining moment: a relentless, high-velocity blast where Yeung executes the pattern with machine-like consistency rooted in the Pete Sandoval and Derek Roddy tradition — single strokes between snare and ride or hi-hat, kick locked tightly underneath, every limb playing a clearly articulated role rather than blurring into noise. Each snare hit remains distinct even through long unbroken passages.

### How to Play

- Drive the blast with clean single strokes between snare and ride, keeping each limb articulate rather than blurred
- Lock the kick in tight alternating double bass directly under the blast to add density without losing tone
- Keep snare stroke weight consistent across long blast passages — evenness is more important than maximum speed
- Relax the grip and shoulders throughout the blast; tension collapses speed and kills endurance
- Build the pattern from 100 BPM with clean single strokes before raising tempo, letting efficiency create speed

### Key Elements

- Start blast practice at 100 BPM with a click — play for two minutes before raising tempo
- Record yourself and listen for snare evenness; individual weak strokes show up clearly in recordings
- Practise the kick separately at blast tempo to verify both feet are producing identical tone
- Add five BPM per session once you can sustain the current tempo cleanly for a full minute

**Core Techniques:** [Blast Beat](https://metalforge.io/technique/blast-beat), [Double Bass](https://metalforge.io/technique/double-bass), [One-Handed Roll](https://metalforge.io/technique/one-handed-roll)

## Inferno of Violence Double Bass Drive

**Song:** Inferno of Violence | **Album:** Bleed the Fifth (2007) | **BPM:** ~195 BPM | **Technique:** double-bass | **Difficulty:** expert

Inferno of Violence is among the most direct showcases of Yeung's foot technique on the album. The song's construction features extended passages where the guitar riff sustains over a driving double bass foundation, giving the listener an unobstructed view of how Yeung operates his pedals at near-200 BPM. His approach is heel-up throughout with the ankle doing the majority of the work rather than the entire leg — an efficiency principle shared with every elite extreme metal double bassist. Both feet produce a consistent, defined note rather than a rushing smear, maintaining metric clarity across extended passages.

### How to Play

- Play heel-up with ankle-driven strokes — using the full leg at this tempo produces fatigue and unevenness within bars
- Set pedal spring tension to allow fast rebound without excessive resistance that tightens the ankle under load
- Keep both feet producing identical tone — left foot weakness at high tempo is the most common failure point
- Sustain long double-bass passages by relaxing between strokes rather than maintaining constant muscular tension
- Practice with trigger-free monitoring at low volumes so any unevenness in tone becomes immediately audible

### Key Elements

- Practise feet-alone at 120 BPM for five minutes before raising tempo — build ankle stamina first
- Record the feet with a kick mic and compare left and right foot tone; match them before adding speed
- Loop eight-bar double bass passages rather than one-bar bursts to build the endurance the song demands
- Raise tempo in three-BPM increments and only advance once the current tempo sustains for a full minute cleanly

**Core Techniques:** [Double Bass](https://metalforge.io/technique/double-bass), [Blast Beat](https://metalforge.io/technique/blast-beat), [Linear Drumming](https://metalforge.io/technique/linear-drumming)

## Anarchists of the Underground Speed Groove

**Song:** Anarchists of the Underground | **Album:** Bleed the Fifth (2007) | **BPM:** ~185 BPM | **Technique:** groove-drumming | **Difficulty:** expert

While Tim Yeung is celebrated for blast beat endurance and double bass velocity, Anarchists of the Underground demonstrates a lesser-discussed dimension: operating a driving, groove-oriented pattern at extreme tempo without losing the pocket. Divine Heresy's Fear Factory-influenced riff architecture creates moments where the drums are expected to breathe and lock into a rhythmic hook rather than simply blasting. At 185 BPM, the ride-driven texture articulates note-to-note differences, the kick fires in riff-mirroring bursts, and all four limbs must be fully independent — this is groove-within-brutality at the highest level.

### How to Play

- Drive the groove from the ride rather than a static hi-hat — changing the ride accent placement is what gives the pattern its forward momentum
- Fire kick in riff-mirroring bursts rather than continuous double bass to produce a groove feel rather than a pure blast texture
- Keep ghost notes compressed but present at extreme tempo — they disappear first when technique degrades under fatigue
- Mark the backbeat with consistent snare weight so the groove's backbone is audible through the dense guitar arrangement
- Build all four limbs to full independence at tempo before attempting dynamic variation within the pattern

### Key Elements

- Learn the ride accent pattern in isolation before adding kick and snare — the upper-hand texture defines whether the pattern feels like groove or blast
- Practise the kick-riff mirroring by listening to the guitar track alone and mapping which attack points correspond to kick placement
- Slow the full groove to 120 BPM and listen for ghost note audibility — only raise tempo once ghost notes remain present
- Use a metronome and aim for effortlessness at 160 BPM before pushing toward the target 185 BPM

**Core Techniques:** [Blast Beat](https://metalforge.io/technique/blast-beat), [Groove Drumming](https://metalforge.io/technique/groove-drumming), [Double Bass](https://metalforge.io/technique/double-bass)

## Teaching Points

Tim Yeung's style is defined by machine-precision, ankle-efficiency at extreme double bass tempos, and the musical awareness to maintain groove feel at speeds most drummers can only blast through. Key practice principles across all his licks: build stamina through sustained practice at moderate tempos before raising speed; verify both feet are producing identical tone before combining limbs; and develop ride-accent variation as a deliberate tool to keep extreme-tempo patterns feeling like grooves rather than percussion walls. Mastering these patterns builds the foundation for understanding extreme death metal drumming at the professional level.

## More Resources

- [Tim Yeung Profile on MetalForge](https://metalforge.io/drummer/tim-yeung)
- [Tim Yeung All Licks](https://metalforge.io/drummers/tim-yeung/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)*