When most folks think of extreme-metal drumming, they tend to picture a guy like Peter Wildoer, especially during his days with the progressive metal band Agretator in the early ’90s and during his stint with Arch Enemy in ’97–someone able to juggle a swarm of time signatures at warp speed and with massive power and precision.

Today, Wildoer is still displaying his blinding and stylish assault in the Swedish death/thrash metal group Darkane. “Maturity is such a boring word, but I think my drumming is a bit more mature now,” he says of his work on Darkane’s latest album, Layers Of Lies, and on material intended for Darkane’s next CD. “I can be more laid back than I used to be. But whenever there’s time for me to show off some cool chops, I definitely do.”

Take “Organic Canvas,” for instance. It contains “really crazy” parts, especially during its oddly grooving instrumental. And the finale “Creation Insane” features 16th notes that swarm from all corners of Wildoer’s setup–a custom Tama Starclassic that’s as balanced as his drumming style. “I tend to have a very symmetrical kit,” the drummer explains, “with two toms in front, two drums to my left–a snare and a tom–and two toms to my right,” as well as two hammered Meinl crashes for my left hand, and two for my right.” Advertisement

Wildoer’s attention to symmetry was inspired partly by Gary Chester’s classic instructional book, The New Breed. “It’s a four-way coordination book that teaches you about playing with all four limbs while singing, so that you have five different things to think about. It opened up to me that I had all this empty space to my left that I didn’t use.”

Jeff Perlah