Manuel Del Giudice - Spiritual Deception - Hidden in Consciousness

Hello, I’m Manuel Del Giudice from Spiritual Deception, an atmospheric/brutal/slam death metal band based in Milan, Italy!

I started playing drums at the age of 16, listening to bands like Emperor, Dissection, and Opeth, to name a few. My Passion for extreme drumming started when I discovered Nile’s ‘Annihilation of the Wicked,’ where George Kollias’s drumming blew my mind away!

At that time, I couldn’t play that fast; my opportunity arrived when I joined Spiritual Deception in 2016: the technical level of the band’s songs was pretty high, so I began practicing a lot to achieve the necessary techniques. To Master those abilities, I had some lessons with Giulio Galati and James Payne, well-known drummers in the metal scene: those experiences improved my skills even more and influenced my playing style a lot!

I’ve also had the opportunity to meet and chat with George Kollias himself during a drum clinic in 2019. He has been super inspiring and motivated me even more, to grow up as a musician!

For what concerns my playing influences, I would mention George Kollias, for obvious reasons, John Longstreth, Kai Hahto, Jamie Saint Merat, and Krimh, just to name a few. I’m inspired by everyone who can play better than I can.

I’m used to practicing daily, from exercises to playing along some tracks, enjoying what I’m doing! One useful training I do is to record and film myself while practicing to correct the eventual mistakes.

Manuel’s Gear with Spiritual Deception:

Shells – Ddrum Journeyman Drums

REMO Ambassador Clear drumheads

Yamaha Stage Custom 14” Snare with REMO 114BE Emperor Coated 14

10” and 12” rack toms

14” and 16” floor toms

2 x 22” bass drums

Cymbals – Meinl HCS series:

14” Hi-hat

16” and 18” crash

20” ride

16” china

10” splash

12” stacks divided into two splashes (so cool!!)

Hardware:

Pearl Demon Drive double pedal

Footblaster triggers

Roland TM2

Vic Firth 2B Drumsticks

When I practice at home, I use an Alesis Strike Pro Special Edition, which is very useful when filming and recording for the band and my solo projects.