Jaska Raatikainen vs Brann Dailor — Drum Gear Comparison | MetalForge

Frequently Asked Questions

What drum kit does Jaska Raatikainen use?

Jaska Raatikainen uses Pearl Masters Premium Maple with Zildjian A Custom & K Custom Series (14" A Custom Hi-Hats, 17" & 18" A Custom Crashes, 20" K Custom Ride). Raatikainen played a Pearl Masters Premium Maple kit with a Pearl Masters 14x5.5" Maple snare and Zildjian A Custom & K Custom cymbals, powered by a Pearl Eliminator double pedal. Dailor plays a Tama Starclassic Performer B/B kit with a Tama S.L.P. G-Maple snare and Meinl Byzance cymbals, driven by a Tama Speed Cobra double pedal for fluid double bass under Mastodon's polyrhythmic riffing.

What drum kit does Brann Dailor use?

Brann Dailor uses Tama Starclassic Performer B/B with Meinl Byzance Series (14" Dark Hi-Hats, 18" & 19" Brilliant Heavy Hammered Crashes, 21" Ghost Ride, 18" Extra Dry China). Raatikainen played a Pearl Masters Premium Maple kit with a Pearl Masters 14x5.5" Maple snare and Zildjian A Custom & K Custom cymbals, powered by a Pearl Eliminator double pedal. Dailor plays a Tama Starclassic Performer B/B kit with a Tama S.L.P. G-Maple snare and Meinl Byzance cymbals, driven by a Tama Speed Cobra double pedal for fluid double bass under Mastodon's polyrhythmic riffing.

Which is better, Jaska Raatikainen or Brann Dailor?

Jaska Raatikainen and Brann Dailor show two very different ways technical drumming can define a band's identity. Raatikainen's clean, locked-in blast beats and double bass gave Children of Bodom's neoclassical melodic death metal its rhythmic backbone for 26 years, prioritizing surgical consistency over flourish. Dailor turns Mastodon's sludge-driven riffs into something melodic and songful, treating the drums as a lead voice while simultaneously singing lead and co-lead vocals. Both are foundational voices in progressive-leaning extreme metal — one through disciplined precision, the other through expressive, genre-blurring musicality.