Dirk Verbeuren (born 8 January 1975) is a Belgian musician and the current drummer of American

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

band

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

, amongst other projects. He previously was a member of the Swedish

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

band

Soilwork Soilwork is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Helsingborg. They have released twelve studio albums. Formed in late 1995 by Björn Strid and Peter Wichers, the band was originally known as ''Inferior Breed''. In late 1996, they changed t ...

. Verbeuren recorded five albums and a live DVD/Blu-ray with Soilwork, and performed in Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Russia and China as a headlining act between early 2004 and July 2016. In 2016, Verbeuren left Soilwork to join Megadeth as a full-time member. With Megadeth, Verbeuren has since recorded the album '' The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!'', released in September 2022.

Influences

Verbeuren cites Dave Lombardo and Mick Harris as earliest influences on his drumming. Other influences include

Gavin Harrison Gavin Richard Harrison (born May 28, 1963) is an English musician. He is best known for playing with the progressive rock bands Porcupine Tree (2002–2010; 2021–present), King Crimson (2008, and 2014–2021) and The Pineapple Thief (2016� ...

, Sean Reinert,

Gene Hoglan Eugene Victor Hoglan II (born August 31, 1967) is an American drummer, acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including use of abstract devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms. Though his pla ...

, Tomas Haake, Steve Flynn, Pete Sandoval,

Morgan Ågren Morgan Ågren (born 1967) is a Swedish drummer who plays with the progressive rock band Kaipa (band), Kaipa. Biography A native of Umeå, Västerbotten County, Västerbotten, Ågren began playing drums at a young age, eventually joining forces ...

Tony Laureano Tony Laureano is a heavy metal drummer originally from Puerto Rico. He has played for a number of metal bands (either as a full band member or a session drummer) including Dimmu Borgir, Nile, Angelcorpse, Malevolent Creation, God Dethroned, ...

and Chad Smith. Verbeuren is also a fan of

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

and mentioned The Beastie Boys,

Run-DMC Run-DMC (also formatted Run-D.M.C., RUN DMC, or some combination thereof) was an American hip-hop group formed in Hollis, Queens, New York City in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the mos ...

, and

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

as his favourite hip hop groups in his teen years.

Equipment

Verbeuren is endorsed by Tama Drums and sticks, Meinl cymbals, Evans Drumheads, Toontrack software, dB drumshoes and Alien Ears in-ear monitors. He recorded four elaborate

MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

drum packs for Toontrack: ''Library of the Extreme: Blasts and Fills'', ''Death & Thrash'', ''Fill Insanity'' and ''Metal Beats'' and contributed MIDI tracks to ''The Metal Foundry SDX'' and ''Metal! EZX''.

Session work

*Anatomy of I (2011) *As I Destruct *Bralalalala (4 albums between 2018-2024) *Brave the Cold *Colosso *

Jeff Loomis Jeff Loomis (born September 14, 1971) is an American musician, best known for his role as lead guitarist in the progressive metal band Nevermore during its existence from 1991 to 2011, as well as brief tenures in its precursor, Sanctuary (band) ...

* Malevolence * Naglfar *

The Devin Townsend Project Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also ...

* Eths, session drummer on ''Ankaa'' (2016) * Warrel Dane *

Satyricon The ''Satyricon'', ''Satyricon'' ''liber'' (''The Book of Satyrlike Adventures''), or ''Satyrica'', is a Latin work of fiction believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius in the late 1st century AD, though the manuscript tradition identifi ...

(live session drums, January 2014) * Sybreed *Darkride *Hassan Iqbal * Yyrkoon *Articulus

Personal life

Verbeuren is

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

References

External links

*
Megadeth's official website

Bent Sea's official website

Soilwork's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verbeuren, Dirk 1975 births Living people Musicians from Antwerp People from Wilrijk Belgian drummers Heavy metal drummers Cadaver (band) members Megadeth members 21st-century drummers Soilwork members Belgian heavy metal musicians 21st-century Belgian musicians Thrash metal musicians