Earlier this year, something truly special happened. Gus Rios, Derek Roddy, Jason Gobel (ex-Cynic), and Santiago Dobles (Aghora) gathered at Gus’ studio in Florida to honor the late, great Sean Reinert—sharing rare stories and doing an unforgettable show-and-tell with some of Sean’s most iconic snare drums. These aren’t just any drums. We’re talking about the snares used on landmark records like Death – Human and Cynic – Focus—including the actual snare heard on Focus. Seeing it again, in the same room as the guitar Jason Gobel used to track that album, was nothing short of magical. The video also features special appearances from John Longstreth, Matt Thompson, Jason Bittner, and myself (Ian~SDM), adding a little more insight and love to the legacy of one of the most influential drummers of our time. Massive thanks to Gus, Derek, Jason, and Santiago for sharing these stories and memories. We also want to thank Patti and the Reinert Family, and Dirk Verbeuren of Megadeth, for their time and contributions that made this possible. Truly incredible stuff. Video shot and edited by Derek Roddy. Happy Holidays from all of us, to all of you!

Well... it's that time of year again when we compile our list of favorite drumming albums from 2025! Who were some of your favorites?

Just a quick message to ask what drummers/bands you all have been listening to lately? I've been on an Opeth kick, and also listening to a bunch from the band BARN, out of Boise. They are immense.

One thing I learned over time is how important the bearing edges are to the sound of a drum. Especially working in retail in a busy drum shop, I unboxed and put together dozens of new kits and re-conditoned a ton of used kits. I came to understand that shape and cut of bearing edges is one of, if not the most impactful sound modifier. That's part of why I like Tama so much, you can't get that special tomtom tone without their special cut. I started using this DrumDial conditioner a while back, and it's great. Check it out!

Let’s share some hilarious tour stories! I’ll go first. It was a hot Summer. We had two bands cramped in one conversion van. My buddy Jane Aubrey, who is still in Drive-By Bukkake, and I found White Castle joint and stupidly enough decided to split a box of 30 mini sliders. It was getting close to show time so we figured it would be ok to leave the sliders in the nice warm van. Later that night, we went to town on them left over. Funny enough, I recalled someone mentioning something along the line of, “um you shouldn’t eat that…gross dudes!” Lol. So we settled in for the night and It was my turn to sleep on the floor. All of a sudden, I gots the farts brewing. Worse part is they were silent-but-deadly ones! So I let loose! Every five minutes, I hear someone, “bro wtf! Come on! Whoever it is, STOP!” Lol. Ah them good ole days.