Dirk Verbeuren started out playing drums with some not-so-serious and short-lived bands/projects such as Larsen, Shred, and Meltdown. His first real band was Scarve which he co-formed in October 1993. They recorded four full-length albums, the most recent one being ‘The Undercurrent’ released in 2007 on Listenable Records, and toured widely throughout Europe in support of bands such as Meshuggah and Nile.
In February 2004, Dirk stepped in as a replacement drummer for Soilwork on their first European headlining tour. Dirk did all of their following tours as well and played drums on their sixth album ‘Stabbing The Drama.’ Finally, in December 2005 he joined the band as their full-time drummer.
Fast forward to May 2016… Verbeuren was asked to take the drum throne for Megadeth, the legendary Bay Area thrash metal band and member of the infamous “Big Four” while drummer Chris Adler was touring with his main act Lamb of God. A few months later, band leader Dave Mustaine officially announced Dirk Verbeuren as the new permanent drummer of Megadeth.
Cadaver is a death metal band from Norway that was founded in 1988. The band had a brief venture in the early 1990s before parting ways in 1993. Cadaver would eventually re-appear as Cadaver Inc. in 1999, which had only one founding member remaining. For their last album, they went back to using the original band name, Cadaver, and ended again in 2004 with their final live show in 2005. The band reformed in April 2019 and in September 2020 announced a new album, “Edder & Bile,” will be released in November 2020 featuring Megadeth’s Dirk Verbeuren behind the kit. Our own Jeanne E. Thomas recently sat down with Dirk to find out a little more about the project… Click on the audio player below and check it out!
Profiling himself as one of the pioneers in modern drum recording techniques, Verbeuren runs his own high-tech facility, Die Crawling Studio, incorporating the most up-to-date innovations developed by Roland and Toontrack. He offers a variety of drum lessons- including the subscriber-based Dirk Blasts – sharing techniques, exercises, and career advice to a growing community of students.
A long-term collaboration with Swedish software company Toontrack resulted in the 2010’s Library of the Extreme, the first-ever MIDI collection of metal beats and fills which quickly became a smash hit among composers and musicians alike. Verbeuren toured Europe and China performing drum clinics for Tama Drums, Meinl Cymbals, and Toontrack, including performances with Pete Lockett (Björk, Peter Gabriel), David “Fingers” Haynes (Chaka Khan, Prince) and Richard Devine. Launching grindcore band Bent Sea in 2011, Verbeuren took on multiple instruments as well as the roles of composer and lyricist alongside Napalm Death’s Shane Embury and Aborted’s Sven de Caluwé.
*Photos By Maciej Pieloch Photography.
Dirk Verbeuren uses and highly recommends the following gear companies:
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