Metal music is full of busy drum parts with heavy grooves and intricate fills. You’ve probably seen that most metal drummers have giant drum kit setups with many drums and cymbals.
Although that’s true for most metal drummers, some prefer smaller setups with fewer drums and cymbals. Luckily, drum companies cater to both types of drummers, selling kits that will work for metal in all situations. Let’s have a look at some of those kits.
Top 3 - Drum Sets for Metal
And as you'll usually hear me saying, when choosing a drum set for metal, make sure it's loud enough to drown out the sound of your neighbors complaining about the noise!
7 Best Drum Sets for Metal - Ideal for Hard Hitters!
1. Mapex Armory Studioease Fast Tom 6-piece
Mapex is a highly popular drum brand amongst rock and metal drummers. The company has seemed to have hit a niche in the market with their punchy drums that work well in heavy environments.
The Armory Studioease is a fantastic kit that offers hybrid shells, shallow toms, and professional quality at an affordable price.
Mapex Armory Studioease
The toms and bass drum are a mixture of maple and birch. The maple makes the drums resonate and project while the birch provides the overtones and dry attacking sound. This mixture is a perfect combination for playing heavy music. I found that the dry sound punches through mixes very easily.
The 10” and 12” rack toms are very shallow while the 14” and 16” floor toms add a bit more depth to the overall sound. The 22” bass drum has a deep thud that works well in conjunction with a double pedal.
Something unique about the shallow toms is that they allow you to sit over the kit instead of in front of it. While not everyone does this, having the option of sitting over your kit lets you play with a lot of power on the toms as gravity plays a big role in getting heavy strokes. It’s a small technique option to think about when playing metal. You won’t need to use as much energy to play loudly.
The standout feature of this shell pack is the 14” snare drum. Although the rest of the kit is made from wood, the Tomahawk snare is made from steel. It has a penetrating cut that is great for blast beats and breakdowns. It’s pretty sensitive as well, so any delicate notes will also be heard.
I often find that metal snare drums are a much better alternative to wooden ones in metal settings. The fact that the kit comes with a steel snare makes it feel like the Studioease was designed for metal drummers.
The rack toms mount onto cymbal stands. This is something you’ll generally see in higher-priced kits. It seems like it would be a good feature. However, the toms can be quite difficult to position comfortably at times.
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2. Gretsch Catalina Maple 7-piece
Gretsch drums have an extremely rich history. Being one of the oldest drum companies in the world, you just know that their kits are going to come with years of design innovation behind them.
The Gretsch Catalina is one of their most popular kits, and the Maple 7-piece is the ideal option for a metal drummer. While the smaller version of this kit is typically associated with jazz drumming, the large version provides you with multiple drums to get the classic metal setup.
Gretsch Catalina Maple 7-piece
Firstly, there aren’t many kits on the market that have this many drums for the price, making it extremely high value for the money. 3 rack toms and 2 floor toms will allow you to play the most intricate metal drum fills.
I also found that all the drums were surprisingly easy to position comfortably. The 8” rack tom fits snuggly onto a cymbal stand just left of the 10” tom.
The shells are made from maple which gives them a warm, yet explosive response. The tone is beautiful, it's musical and dynamically responsive. This kit is often used in recording studios thanks to the drums being so easy to mix and work with. The punchy response is largely thanks to the 30-degree bearing edges.
Although the kit is great for metal, it fits perfectly with other musical styles as well. This means it’s a versatile option for any chameleon drummer to have. The sheer amount of drums you get gives you many options for different sized setups.
The toms have a wide range of sounds, with the 8” sounding punchy and loud and the 16” having a deep thud. The 22” kick drum sounds huge and is responsive to articulate playing. This makes it work very well with a double pedal. The tone is warm and open, great for a full rock sound. You’d have to muffle it a bit to get a tight sound for metal.
The snares on the snare drum rest in a very shallow bed, causing sympathetic snare buzz when hitting the toms. This can be fixed with some extremely fine tuning. However, it’s not the easiest thing to do.
Unfortunately, the stock drum heads that come with the kit aren’t too great. So, you’d need to swap those out to get the best sound possible. Since there are so many drum heads to replace, upgrading them isn’t going to be a cheap ordeal. Doubly so if you play on replacing the resonant heads as well.PROS
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3. Yamaha Stage Custom Birch
When looking for drum kits to buy, there are two popular options that are famous for producing seriously professional sound quality at a hugely affordable price. The first option is the Yamaha Stage Custom Birch kit. The second option we’ll get to later.
The Stage Custom Birch kit honestly has no right to sound as good as it does. Somehow, Yamaha has produced a kit that has beautiful tones, easy tuning, sturdy hardware, and beautiful visuals all for less than $800.
Yamaha Stage Custom Birch Kit
I personally teach drums on a Yamaha Stage Custom, and all my students love it and want to have one of their own.
The kit includes a 14” snare, 10” and 12” rack toms, a 16” floor tom, and a 22” bass drum. The shells are made from birch wood, giving the drums a punchy accented tone. These sizes make a standard kit that works well in many musical styles. However, the punchiness and quick response of the toms makes it a wonderful drum set for playing metal music.
The snare drum is tight and cracking. It sounds best when tuned medium to high. The toms are easy to tune and will sound great whether they’re tight or loose. The bass drum will fill up a stadium with its depth. It sounds quite beefy!
The snare drum has 10 lugs, something that isn’t very common in cheaper snares. This adds to the overall tuning range of the kit.
A great feature in all of Yamaha’s kits is the YESS mounting system. It makes mounting and positioning the rack toms an extremely easy task. One of my favorite things about Yamaha kits is how much freedom they offer you when positioning your toms.
The swivel mounts are incredibly flexible, allowing you to easily solidify your most comfortable tom position. Even though middle tom is deep, you can place it so that you can sit over it if you want to. Something like this isn’t possible with mounting systems from other drum companies.
The stock drumheads on this kit aren’t great, so you’ll need to swap those out with some durable ones as soon as possible.
Overall, this is a great kit. It has such a wide range of uses along with reliable build quality and beautiful tones. You may just need to purchase some extra toms if you’re wanting to have a bigger kit for metal.
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4. PDP Concept Maple 7-piece
The PDP Concept Maple is the other kit on the market that is famous for having unexplainably high quality at an affordable price. However, this kit is a bit more expensive than the Yamaha Stage Custom, largely due to having more drums.
PDP Concept Maple 7 Piece Drum Shells
PDP is a brother company to DW. These PDP kits are produced with similar build features to the professional DW kits, they just go through a more streamlined process which makes them cheaper.
Although they’re seen as inferior products to DWs, I’ve played on many PDP Concept Maple kits in my time that were equipped with suitable heads and tuned so well that I actually preferred them to DWs that I’ve played on.
These drums have a quick response and a heavy sound with a warm tone. They’re often used by gospel drummers since that type of drumming is very busy and needs short sustain in the toms.
I’ve found that the short sustain also works exceptionally well in metal settings. The shorter the toms sound, the easier it is to play fast notes around the kit without the sounds blurring with each other. So they're perfect for fast metal drum fills. The bass drum has a deep thud and is also incredibly punchy. It's responsive to fast playing, thus catering well to double pedal work.
The kit has many hardware features that come straight from DW kits. The first would be the True-Pitch tuning rods. They make tuning a smooth process that will be somewhat easy for non-experienced drum tuners.
Another great feature is the MAG throw-off on the snare drum. It makes turning the snare on and off extremely smooth and quick, great for doing it mid-show or song.
I love the MAG throw-off system so much that I’ve often contemplated replacing all my snare throw-offs with magnets. It’s something that I think everyone should experience at least once in their drumming careers.
Since PDP Concept Maple kits are so popular, they come in a large number of finish options. Chances are high that you’ll find one of these in your favorite color.
While color isn’t the most important thing in choosing a drum kit, it can help with the branding of your metal band. Having a drum kit that complements the vibe that the band is going for has the potential to go a long way for how live shows are viewed.
As with most intermediate drum sets, I didn’t think the stock drum heads were too good on this kit. You’ll need to replace them to get the best sounds possible.
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5. Pearl Decade Maple 7-piece
The Pearl Decade Maple is pretty similar to the PDP Concept. However, it has a few features that make it stand out that many drummers may prefer.
Pearl Decade Maple 7-piece Kit.
At first glance, you may think that this kit is similar to the Pearl Export. Most people think that and then are pleasantly surprised when they realize this kit is on another level.
The maple shells give the drums a warm low-end and very smooth mid-range tone. They sound best when tuned low to medium, providing a round sound that compliments many styles of music very well.
This sound is great for heavy metal, as it will fill up a stadium and provide a large presence. I’ve often needed a very deep sound from my drums and having a kit like this would’ve made that so easy to attain.
The lugs and mount of the shells are influenced by Pearl’s Reference Series. This means the drums have construction that is borrowed from higher-end kits, giving you a sense of professional quality in a kit that didn’t cost you as much.
While the 3 rack toms and two floor toms are warm and round, the 14” snare is warm and explosive. It also sounds great when tuned low. However, it creates quite a punch when tuned high.
Every finish option for the kit looks beautiful and will create a great aesthetic on any stage. Overall, it’s a wonderful kit from Pearl that will fit comfortably in a metal setup.
The final thing to mention that I love about this kit is that it works very well in studio settings. This is arguably due to the warm maple shells. I’ve found the drums to sound quite flat when running through microphones. Having a flat sound is a good thing as it makes the drums a lot easier to mix and EQ.
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6. DW Design Series Acrylic
One type of drum kit that will always work well in metal settings is an acrylic kit. Acrylic kits are those transparent ones. They’re punchy and loud, much louder than a standard wooden kit. They tend to be quite pricey, luckily DW offers an acrylic version of their Design Series kit.
DW Design Series Acrylic Kit
Along with the True-Pitch tuning rods, MAG throw-off, and solid hardware, the DW Design Series Acrylic kit is a beautiful drum set to look into getting. It is a bit more expensive than the other kits on this list, though.
Included in this shell pack is a 14” snare, 10” and 12” rack toms, a 16” floor toms, and a 22” kick drum. If you’re familiar with the standard DW Design Series, just know that the Acrylic version sounds a bit different.
It’s extremely punchy and absolutely perfect for metal. The sounds it produces are so loud and clear that the kit will have a dominating presence in a band. That’s just what you want in a lot of metal settings, for cutting through a mix of heavy instruments.
The tones from the toms are surprisingly warm. The standout part of the kit is the snare drum. DW is notorious for having some of the best sounding snare drums around and this particular one accurately fits that description.
The projection of the snare drum is super impressive, making it a great snare for heavy hitters. I also love how responsive the snare is, reacting well to every hit played on it. Gravity blast beats will sound incredibly balanced as every snare note will be picked up clearly.
I’d recommend getting this kit if you play a bit of rock as well. While it doesn’t include multiple drums for intricate tom work, it provides a forceful sound that works in hard rock settings. Think of how John Bonham always used to play a DW kit. It’s the same thing, except this one comes from DW.
The obvious attraction of acrylic drums is their aesthetic look. This kit has see-through shells that look seriously cool on a stage with lights pointing at it. The one downside is that the resonant head of the kick drum isn’t see-through.
DW Design Series Acrylic Kit on stage with drum lights.
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7. Tama Starclassic Walnut/Birch
If you’re looking to get a professional quality drum kit for metal with all the highest hardware specs and best tones, the Tama Starclassic Walnut/Birch should be high on your list of choices. It’s one of the best sounding kits on the market and it still has a somewhat attainable price point.
Tama Starclassic Walnut/Birch Kit
You probably won’t need to buy another kit again after getting this one. It’s such a high-quality kit that you’ll be using it for years to come. Unfortunately, the shell pack doesn’t come with a snare drum, meaning you’ll need to buy one separately.
Before getting into the specifics of the kit, you should know that Tama is killing in the metal drumming scene. Take one look at Tama’s artist roster and you’ll see that many of the artists on there are metal drummers. With that being said, the Starclassic has been used by metal drummers for many years.
The Walnut/Birch shells produce an incredibly punchy attack with a lot of warmth underneath, giving you an explosive kit with smooth depth in the toms and bass drum. A great feature of the kit is that it comes with high-quality Evans stock drum heads. These allow it to produce a wonderful sound straight out of the box.
A lot of the high-quality design comes in the hardware. The kit is extremely well put together and the lugs make the drums easy to tune. The tom mounts are very thick and sturdy.
Having toms that mount to the bass drum is pretty unique in a drum kit at this price range. The older Starclassics have toms that mount to cymbal stands whereas as this specific kit has toms that mount to the bass drum.
I’m usually a fan of toms that mount to the bass drum. However, I wish Tama stuck with the classic design on mounting to cymbals.
Although the mount is very sturdy, I found that you have to position the toms slightly in front of the bass drum. The design doesn’t let you mount them directly above the bass drum. It’s a bit frustrating, but you can fix it by mounting the toms onto cymbal stands anyway.
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Choosing a Metal-friendly Drum Kit for You
There are several unique factors to consider when choosing a metal-worthy drum kit. Because of the unique requirements of the genre, you have to focus on factors like loudness, aggressiveness, fast response, and versatility in the form of multiple drums and cymbals.
Number of Drums Needed for Metal
Metal is a fairly unique style of music as there are so many different variations of it out there. Whether you’re playing black metal, grindcore, hardcore, death metal, or thrash metal, you may be wondering how many drums you need in your setup to have the tools to fit the music.
The answer to that is subjective to whoever the drummer is. Some drummers will be able to do a lot more with a few drums than others will be able to with several drums. However, my answer to this is pretty straightforward.
If you’re looking to buy a drum set primarily for metal, it’s better to buy a kit that has more drums. This gives you the option of having a large drum set, or just removing a few of the drums to have a small set. You don’t need to use the extra toms, but at least they’re there for whenever you do decide to use them.
A lot of drum fills in metal will match the guitar riffs, meaning you’ll need to have many toms with differing tones. You’ll notice that most famous metal drummers have massive kits. Think of Mike Mangini and Lars Ulrich.
However, I’d suggest you don’t go this route if you can budget your money differently by getting a higher-quality kit that has less drums. Standard drum kit sizes are typically good enough for most styles of metal.
You can always add extra drums to your existing high-quality kit later on, when you feel like you really need even more drums and can afford them at that time.
Ideal Bass Drum Size for Metal
The only two bass drum sizes you should be concerned with for metal are 20” and 22”. Anything smaller will be too small and it won’t provide a significant enough impact, especially if you’re playing double bass patterns.
You could consider a 24” bass drum but playing double bass will be difficult with such a large drum. Also, none of the kits I’ve mentioned have a bass drum that large. Just know that these kits either have 20” or 22” bass drums are both sizes are perfectly fine for metal drumming.
A lot of metal drummers choose to have 2 kick drums. No drum kit comes with 2 kick drums, meaning you’ll have to buy a second kick drum separately. If you don’t have space for that, then just use a double kick pedal. It will be easier to have a double pedal if you gig a lot. No one wants to carry 2 kick drums around.
Ideal Drum Heads for Metal
I've previously covered drum heads that are ideal for metal in a lot of detail, so I'll just write the gist here.
Basically, you want double ply heads if you primarily play metal or hard rock. This has to do with much higher durability of two-ply heads, which is a must for heavy hitting genres like metal.
One more advantage of two-ply heads is that they stay a bit more 'controlled' than their single-ply counterparts. You can think of this as applying a compressor pedal to a guitar or bass signal chain.
I also prefer clear heads since they offer more attack compared to coated heads. This is especially useful for heavy metal drumming.
Best Shell Material (Wood) for Metal
Ideally you want something that offers a lot of attack, so birch and bubinga come to mind. Bubinga, especially, although not that common, has extreme low-end and lots of attack. Birch isn't much far behind in terms of those factors, and is popularly seen on many low-end and mid-range metal kits.
Maple doesn't exhibit the same level of attack as birch, but on the other hand offers considerably more resonance. It suffers from a lower level of projection and you also won't feel the same level of 'tightness' when playing a maple kit as compared to Birch or Bubinga.
The difference isn't huge, though. In the end, a well tuned and well maintained maple kit can still sound excellent for metal.
For the snare, especially, you can also opt for metal (brass, for example), because those snares cut through the mix really well. I'd also get something deep (7" or 8") and up the tuning to sound really big. Such a setup can easily cut through the collective growl of multiple angry guitars!
In the end, I'd say shell material alone is still not as important for the sound as a properly tuned kit that's in good condition (proper hoops and bearing edges, especially). You can still get a good metal sound out of a mahogany kit (which aren't known for playing metal on) as long as the other factors (such as tuning) are all in line.
Ideal Drum Hardware for Playing Metal
You might not always think of this when painting the picture of the ideal drum set for metal in your mind, but the quality of your drum hardware can make or break your overall drumming experience. Let me quickly explain why...
It's not unknown that metal drumming involves lots of fast movement, often for prolonged durations. All of that heavy hitting on the drum heads and cymbals needs to be supported by sturdy drum hardware.
I've covered a few sturdy drum racks in this other article, but there are many more quality hardware options that you can get a hold of if you're not that limited by budget.
What other kind of hardware, you may ask... Well, I'm talking about real heavy duty stands, pedals and even the drum throne. All of these need to stand their ground for you to focus only on what you do best, hitting the drums hard!
Do You Need Special Drumsticks?
Absolutely not. In my personal opinion, the best drumsticks for metal are the ones that you're already the most comfortable with. It's that much insignificant.
I've personally played with Vic Firth 5A's, Vater Power 5A's and many other sticks, and in the end my opinion remains the same. Sticks don't play a big role.
Bonus Tips
Though this applies to any kind of drumming, it's specifically important for metal drumming that you tune your drum kit properly before going heavy at it! Otherwise, all those fast-paced complex rhythms and intricate patterns might seem lifeless and just not quite there!
Also, pay attention to how you're setting up your entire kit, especially the distance between each component. Especially, make sure that your hi hats and ride cymbal are within easy reach, to make your overall playing experience comfortable.
Can You Play Metal on Electronic Drums?
Yes. The best option would be double bass electronic drum kits that I've previously covered, but generally any decent kit with mesh heads would do.
The reason why mesh heads are important is because they allow for much faster playing in general compared to rubber heads seen on cheaper e-drum kits.
If you're on a budget, I'd recommend the Alesis Strike Pro, otherwise you can't go wrong with the Roland V-Drums TD17-KVX. Both offer quite a realistic feel when you play them, and the Roland's TD-17 sound module is excellent for not just metal, but a wide range of genres.
Wrap Up
Metal drumming requires some serious stamina, energy and a durable drum kit to bash on. In this article I've tried to present my favorite metal-friendly drum sets, and you can’t go wrong with any of these kits. Each one will fit a specific budget and situation.
When playing metal, just remember that you’re going to need a good double pedal along with some explosive cymbals to go with your drum set.
Some drummers are loyal to certain companies. If you’re not, I encourage you to have an in-depth look at each kit on this list and decide which one is best for you and how you play.
Not all metal drumming requires a 7-piece kit. Many progressive players like Matt Garstka and Matt Halpern play on standard 5-piece kits. So, choose your size, choose your kit, and just start playing!