Matt Halpern is the very model of a modern metal drummer dude, he plays the drums with vigorous and understated fortitude. He doesn’t miss a beat and plays his ghost notes with such attitude, he is the very model of a modern metal drummer dude!
All show tunes aside, though, anybody who can play metal with the kind of subtlety and groove that Matt imparts to Periphery’s polyrhythmic labyrinth is easily deserving of the rank of drum major general. The drum sounds and performances on the new albums really push the envelope of the band’s genre trappings to make for a more broadly enjoyable kind of music.
He recently went to a studio (with recording wizard Nolly at the helm) to record live drum playthroughs for some songs from those albums on his Mapex Saturn IV and his signature Mapex Wraith snare drum. And of course, no Halpern video would be complete without his signature deep V-neck.
No word yet on which tunes they recorded aside from this here ripper, 22 Faces:
I’m wondering now if 22 Faces is a reference to the looks Matt makes when playing.
