Hello, and welcome to round four of my Drummers I Love series! This week, I will be writing about someone I have discovered within the last year. For those who do not know, my roots for drumming actually come from a video game called Rock Band. I have been playing this game and other games like it for over ten years now, and most of what I know about drums has come from my experience on it. For the past few years, several individuals (including myself) have found enjoyment through transcribing (or “charting”) drum tracks for over 3000 songs. I am forever grateful to these people for exposing me to some music that otherwise may have been swept under the radar. As of late, I have been searching through any and every band I can find under the “Tech Death Metal” genre amongst these charts. I have found some amazing gems in this endeavor, but one band and drummer have stood out in particular above the others. This would be none other than…
Sebastian Lanser – Drummer for Obsidious, Panzerballet, (formerly) Obscura
Taken from https://www.tama.com/usa/artists/detail/716.html
The band in particular that I grew very fond of is Obscura, but sadly Lanser is no longer with them. Obscura now has an entirely new lineup (with the exception of front-man Steffen Kummerer) featuring past members Jeroen Paul Thesseling on bass, Christian Muenzer on guitar, and David Diepold on drums (who is also well-deserving of his own blog in this series). During his time with Obscura, Lanser recorded two albums titled “Akroasis” and “Diluvium.” Both of these albums are fully transcribed for drums on Rock Band, and I believe I can say they are my most consistently played albums on the game over the past year.
Between these two albums, my favourite aspect of Lanser’s drumming lies in his writing ability. I have talked a lot about how much I liked the writing from other drummers (Baard Kolstad, Matt Garstka, and Dan Presland) in past blogs, but Lanser brings some truly unique and “mechanical” ideas in his parts. Most of his main beats follow the music quite nicely in ways most people would predict, but it’s the fills that get me. Many drummers will throw in fills with simple straight 16th notes or some triplets, but Lanser is not afraid to throw in quintuplets or septuplets wherever he sees fit. This is not easy to do in time with the song by any means or make it work musically, but the man never misses a beat. For a good example, check out what he does just in the intro section of “An Epilogue to Infinity” by Obscura. I would also like to add that there is so much more going on in regards to technical composition in this piece throughout, especially around the 3:37 mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRJgYB_tSho
The precise calculation and delivery of Lanser’s ideas is truly unique. I would argue that much of this ability comes from his training in jazz and composition, giving him a lot of knowledge in musical theory. It is quite evident in Lanser’s playing that he has combined elements of jazz into his playing in metal to create his own style within the Tech Death genre. In fact, this would make a lot of sense considering his work in the project “Panzerballet,” best known as a Jazz Metal band. I really enjoy the way this band executes the combination of two otherwise different genres by using “jazzy” horn lines with a metal/heavy rhythm section. As an example, here is Panzerballet’s cover of “Birdland” by The Weather Report:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4myiOgv5aOc
I look up to Lanser as a master of technique as well. With his feet, he is able to use ankle motion and swivel technique whenever required and without missing a beat. With his hands, it is obvious that he has spent a lot of time perfecting his rudiments and proficiency with multiple grips such as German and French, as well as developing his ambidexterity. Ever since I have discovered Lanser, I have been slowly working towards being able to execute the above skills to the best of my ability. Using your left hand (as a right-handed drummer) as the beat holder can allow for greater compositional ideas for both beats and fills, as Lanser demonstrates with precision. I could really use any of his playthroughs as an example of all of this (including An Epilogue to Infinity), but I want to highlight one of my favourite songs to both listen to and play. Here is “Diluvium” by Obscura:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHHgxzQ6pU4
In conclusion, Sebastian Lanser is truly one of the most underrated in the metal genre. There are not many drummers that can match up to the speed and precision that he plays with, and he is certainly quite unparalleled in compositional techniques. I understand that technical drumming such as his is not necessarily for the average music listener, but it is absolute ear candy for those trying to dissect the theory behind the music. I hope in the coming years that I am able to write parts even remotely as interesting as his. I am greatly looking forward to Lanser’s work in Obsidious with his fellow ex-Obscura members Rafael Trujillo and Linus Klausenitzer (who, as a side note, has quickly become one of my favourite bass guitar players with amazing proficiency on a fretless bass). Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!
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