4 Best Electronic Drum Sets For Metal (2022 Update)

As any metal drummer worth their salt knows, picking a great drum set isn’t always easy.

Not only will you need a drum set that delivers a great heavy-hitting metal sound, you’ll have to make sure your drum set has the technical capabilities to handle even your most thunderous and complex metal tracks.

We’ve chosen the best electronic drum sets for metal to suit a wide range of budgets and ability levels, from aspiring metal drummers looking to get started with their first set, all the way to advanced players looking for a drum set with professional-level features.

They are all double-bass pedal capable…and have some great tools to help you improve your speed and consistency.

And you don’t have to worry if the sounds are metal-worthy, the drum set sounds range from heavy to absolutely thunderous.

We’re also going to suggest the best double bass pedals for metal in the article, so you’ve got everything you need to go hell for leather on your bass drum.

Feel free to check out our other articles too – for example, you can read our most recent roundup of the best electronic drum sets (not specific to metal).

So without further ado, let’s take a look at the 4 best electronic drum sets for metal in 2022.

Best electronic drum sets for metal 

1. Roland TD-1DMK (Best electronic drum kit for under $1000)
2. Yamaha DTX432K (Best electronic drum kit for affordability)
3. Roland TD-17KVX (Best all-round electronic drum kit for metal)
4. ATV aDrums Artist Series Expanded Kit With Module (Best professional electronic drum kit for metal)

Roland TD-1DMK

Best electric kit for metal for under $1000

Note: Drum sets normally require a number of extra accessories (such as pedals, headphones etc.) to function properly. These accessories can vary a lot in quality and price – and normally have a significant impact on how much you end up spending.

While this drum kit is only $700, If you want to keep your total spend under $1000, all accessories included, you may be better taking a look at the Yamaha DTX432K, which is another excellent drum kit that we’ve reviewed in this article.

Anyway, enough of the boring stuff, let’s get onto the drumming!

The Roland TD-1DMK is a drum set that’s close to my heart – it’s the one that I use everyday in my drum teaching and personal practice.

This drum set removes the high price tag of other similar kits but retains high-end functions and features that any metal drummer will want at arms reach.

And believe me, you can rock out hard with this kit.

Let’s take a look just why the Roland TD-1DMK is the best electric kit for metal for under 1000 dollars:

• Studio-Session Sounds – The TD-1DMK is packed with great sounding kits, but the ‘Heavy’ drum kit is the one you’ll be thrashing out the most. The recording quality on this kit is excellent, and will have you head-banging along to anything you happen to be drumming to.
  
  Watch the Roland TD-1DMK being played to Slipknot here:

• Double-Bass Functionality – This is one of most important aspects of any electric kit used for metal music. If you can’t hook up a double-bass pedal, you can’t play the metal you love. It’s that simple. But with the extra-wide bass drum pad on the Roland TD-1DMK, you’re ready to roll from the get go.

• High-Quality Mesh Heads – Mesh heads are a great choice for long practice sessions and technical speed work. Their responsiveness and stick-bounce mean you can belt out intricate, fast drum fills more easily, making your practice sessions even more enjoyable.

• Upgradable Crashes – Ready to get more creative? Turn your cymbal game up a notch and add another crash to your kit. In an instant, you can incorporate more expressive rhythms and fills, or more accurately play along to your Metal favorites.

What you’ll need for your Roland TD-1DMK

• A drum throne
• A pair of headphones
• Drum sticks
• A kick-pedal
• A love of metal music!

The Roland TD-1DMK electronic drum set contains:

• A high quality drum module – which includes a metronome, recording and coaching functions, MIDI/USB, and a stereo-in jack. The module also comes with 15 great sounding drum kits. But you’re only going to need two – Hard Rock and Heavy.

• All the pads required for a five-piece drum kit – bass drum, snare drum, 3 tom-toms, hi-hat, crash cymbal, and a ride cymbal. All cymbals are chokable.

My personal experience using Roland TD-1DMK drums

As a drum teacher, this is the kit I use to teach my students. It’s simply fantastic. 

The responsive playability from the mesh heads and the high-quality sounds make it super enjoyable to play. 

In fact, I’ll often recommend this drum set to my students who are into heavier music. 

With the Tama Speed Cobra double pedal attached (which is the pedal I would highly recommend) I can also teach more advanced bass drum techniques like Bonham triplets and heel-toe playing due to the extra-long footboard and smooth action.

I’ve often had questions about what you need to buy alongside an electronic drum kit to make it work properly – so I put together a handy list of everything you’ll need – along with my personal favourite choices that allow you to get the most out of this drum kit.

You can find out more about this drum set, see my list of recommendations and pick up anything you need using the link to Amazon below.

Yamaha DTX432K

Best affordable electronic drum set for metal

Want to drum along with the metal greats, but can’t quite front the bill?

Don’t fret. You don’t have to sell your soul to the devil. You just have to choose a drum set with some high-end features at a lower-end price. 

The Yamaha DTX432K comes in cheap but doesn’t sacrifice the things that really matter…

With chokable cymbals, a supreme metal sound, coaching functions, and rubber pads for longer-lasting durability, the Yamaha DTX42K is simply the best affordable electronic drum set for metal.

Here’s why:

• Fantastic Sounds – A clear selling point for this kit, The DTX432K is packed full of great drum sounds that are exceptional for this price range. The metal kit will have you enjoying hearing yourself play as much as any kit in this price range.

• Solid Build  – High-quality rubber pads make the Yamaha DTX432K extremely resilient and able to take sustained punishment from a heavy-hitting drummer. While all the kits on this list are durable – this kit is likely to last you even longer.

• Chokable Cymbals – Take your cymbal patterns to the next level and add variety to your metal drumming with chokable cymbals. Many of metal’s most iconic songs make use of cymbal choking – such as Master of Puppets by Metallica or B.Y.O.B. by System of A Down.

• Easily Upgraded – Whether you’re starting out or are already an experienced drummer, the Yamaha DTX432K will keep up with your drum skills with upgradable features. Need a snare with a rimshot trigger? Just upgrade and you can play with an even greater range of sounds, techniques and creative expressions.

• Coaching Functions – With the coaching functions on this kit, You’d think Yamaha designed them just for metal drummers. Training functions like Rhythm Gate keep your timing impeccable, and Fast Blast pushes you to see how fast you can learn to play. Get ready to strengthen those arms, calves and your hand-eye coordination!

What you’ll need for your Yamaha DTX432X

• A drum throne
• Drum sticks
• Headphones
• Double bass pedal – Be aware that most double bass pedals are expensive and can cost around £150/$200, as the double bass pedal is quite a high precision piece of kit! Whichever drum set you buy, you’ll need to get one of these, as they tend to feature quite heavily in metal music.

Read on to see my recommendations for getting hold of these accessories.

Here’s what to expect when you order the Yamaha DTX432K:

• The Yamaha DTX402 drum module – Aux-in, coaching functions, play-along songs, and volume and tempo controls.

• Five-piece drum kit – bass drum, snare drum, 2x rack toms, floor tom, hi-hat, crash, and ride cymbals (all cymbals are chokable)

Amazon is normally the top choice for picking up a Yamaha drum set at a great price. You can check how much it would cost to buy yourself a Yamaha DTX432K by clicking the link below.

I’ve compiled a helpful list on Amazon of everything you’ll need to get started, which you can also find using the link below.

Roland TD-17KVX

Best all-round electronic drum kit for metal

It’s easy to get caught up in the various features that one kit has versus another, and get totally muddled up trying to work out the differences.

Going through the checklist of pros and cons of each kit can be incredibly frustrating, and it’s often difficult to go ahead and make a choice on such an expensive item.

Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.

But if you’re looking for an all-round powerhouse drum set for playing metal music, the Roland TD-17KVX would be my stand out choice.

It comes with top-quality Metal sounds, and it’s armed to the teeth with fully mesh drum heads, including the bass drum. 

It also features an extra crash as standard, and a hi-hat pad that can be mounted on a regular stand for true authenticity.

More importantly than anything though? It sounds absolutely phenomenal.

Check it out in action:

So with all of those features, let’s break down why exactly the TD-17KVX is the all-round best electronic drum kit for metal:

• High-Quality Metal Kits – As you heard above, the TD-17KVX comes equipped with top-of-the-line studio-quality sounds that create a thunderous sound, no matter what style of metal you’re playing.

• Responsive Mesh Heads – The TD-17KVX features mesh heads across the ENTIRE kit – that means the bass drum too. Whether you’re trying to keep up with high-tempo metal songs or play more elaborate fills, these mesh heads will make those crazy practice sessions easier on the arms.
  
  The mesh bass drum is the most marked difference compared to other kits – even if you don’t have a double pedal – it allows you to play with a single pedal with incredible agility.
  
  Check out some amazing single foot pedal playing on the mesh pad included in this kit in the video below:

• Double-Pedal Kick Compatibility – Along with already being lightning fast with one pedal, the KD-10 bass drum trigger is wide enough to facilitate a double-kick pedal for an authentic metal sound. Important to know: Make sure you use a bass pedal with hard beaters rather than soft beaters as this will protect your mesh bass head (see my recommendations below).  

• Mountable Hi-Hat Pad – Mounting your hi-hat pad on a real hi-hat stand takes the authenticity of your playing even further and allows the TD-17KVX to even more closely resemble a traditional acoustic drum set. The natural movement of the hi-hat pad more closely resembles the feel of two acoustic hi-hat cymbals opening and closing – allowing you to develop even greater control in your playing.

• Extra Crash Cymbal – Most metal drummers are going to upgrade their drum set at some point to meet the demands of their music, but this drum set ticks many of these boxes right off the bat. Most kits come with a single crash, meaning you have to upgrade them on your own (if they allow for it). But, from the get-go, the TD-17KVX lets you play more complex songs and have more fun thrashing along with two high-quality crash cymbals.

What you’ll need for your Roland TD-17KVX

• A drum throne
• Drum sticks
• Headphones 
• Hi-hat stand – The Pearl H930 Hi-Hat Stand is one of the most affordable high-quality hi-hat stands out there. It also has swivel legs to allow better positioning for double bass pedals. The vast majority of double pedal users say that this hi-hat allows them to position their pedals in the desired manner – which is actually quite unusual for a hi-hat stand!
• Drum pedal – I’d recommend the Tama Speed Cobra HP310LW Double Pedal from personal experience – it’s the pedal I still use to this day. A high-quality double pedal is highly desirable for metal music – this pedal is one of the more affordable high-quality options out there, that doesn’t sacrifice any of the most important features. Make sure to use the plastic beater head rather than the felt for any mesh head bass drum.

Here’s what to expect when you order the Yamaha TD-17KVX:

• TD-17 Drum module – Aux-in, SD Card (Import sounds), USB port, Bluetooth for phone connectivity.

• 300+ High Quality Sounds – The pre-configured drum set for metal will handle the heavy lifting, but you can always customize your own new kits.

• Five-piece drum kit with an extra crash cymbal – bass drum, snare drum, 2x rack toms, floor tom, hi-hat, 2 crash cymbals, and 1 ride cymbal

You can find out more about this drum set’s features and check the price of the Roland TD-17KVX below…

ATV aDrums Artist Series Expanded Kit With Module

Best professional electronic drum kit for metal

If you’re looking for an electronic drum kit you can play on professionally, whether in the studio or on the stage, then look no further than ATV aDrums Artist Series Expanded Kit With Module. 

Put simply, it’s a breathtaking piece of tech.

Despite the endless features on this kit, the key takeaway for me is that it sounds absolutely phenomenal. 

The Metal kit included is rock solid (pun absolutely intended), but better still is the aD5 snare drum on this kit which is so dynamic and acoustic-like, I couldn’t tell the difference between it and an acoustic snare recording.

With all that said, let’s dive into why the ATV aDrums Artist Series Expanded Kit With Module is the best professional electronic drum kit for metal:

• Sleek Acoustic-style Look – Whether you’re showing up to perform live, or laying tracks in the studio, looks do mean a tremendous amount. Turn up with a piece of plastic and you won’t be turning many heads. This kit is far from a piece of plastic – acoustic stands for your hi-hat and all your cymbals, a floor-tom that actually sits on the floor on its own, tension rods, and full ply shells painted with black laquer on every single drum. With this e-kit you can enter the stage or recording booth with confidence, knowing that you’re bringing a truly excellent instrument to the table.

• Cutting-Edge Drum Tech – Starting with the double-mesh heads on each drum, this kit already knocks most electronic drum sets out of the park with fantastic stick-bounce, responsiveness, and variety that lets you play as if you were on a real acoustic kit. Add on the optical hi-hat recognition with incredibly accurate response, a three-zone snare, three-zone chokable ride, chokable crash, and double-bass ready bass drum – and you have a kit that’s designed from head-to-toe to be played loud and proud in a professional metal setting.

• Incredibly Realistic Snare Drum – Simply put, the aD5 snare drum is the most realistic-sounding snare drum I’ve ever heard. It’s my top choice for any electronic snare to be performing with or recording within the studio. Have a quick listen to the aD5 in action here, and you’ll understand why I’m lavishing it with such praise.

• Acoustic-like Metal Kit – Most kits come preloaded with a metal kit of varying quality. The metal kit on the ATV Artist Series Expanded Kit With Module, though, is the most acoustic-like I’ve ever heard. You can play with confidence and conviction, safe in the knowledge that you’ve got a great sound – and if there’s something you don’t like about it – the kits are customisable too. Have a listen to the metal kit in the example video below (Note, this video features an additional floor tom not included in the kit):

What you’ll need for your ATV Artist Series Expanded Kit With Module

• A drum throne
• Drum sticks
• Drum pedal – If you’re buying a professional level drum set for metal, you might as well go all out and complement it with a top-spec double pedal. The DW9000 pedals are an incredibly popular choice amongst professional players and used by top metal players including Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg.
• Acoustic hi-hat stand – DW also produce excellent quality hi-hat pedals that are designed to provide enough space to accommodate your double bass drum pedal. You can find out more about their hi-hat pedals on Amazon here.

Order the ATV Artist Series Expanded Kit With Module and you can expect:

• aD5 electronic drum module – Ultra-precise settings to fine-tune your drums dynamics and sound to fit any stage or recording booth – L/R Master Out, 2x Aux, USB, SD Card slot.

• 300+ Dynamic Sounds – Studio-quality sounds that are ready to rock in any venue. Mix and match, or customize kits to your liking.

• Five-piece drum kit – bass drum, snare drum, 2x rack toms, floor tom, hi-hat, 2 crash cymbals, and 1 ride cymbal

You can find out more about the ATV Adrums on the official ATV site below:

And there you have it. I hope you’ve enjoyed this round up of the best electronic drum sets for metal.

Whether you’re starting out and want to improve, have some stripes on your belt and are looking for something more challenging and fun, or are a veteran metal-head who wants to thrash out drum tracks fit for the greats, there should be a kit in this list for you.

I wish you the best of luck on your drumming journey and I hope that one of these drum sets can inspire you to find a brand-new level in your playing!