Matt Halpern

[Breadmonkey]

Former drummer for Animals as leaders with Tosin Abasi, now plays for Periphery. For me he epitomises the modern metal drummer: independence, feel, chops, feel, speed, feel, power, dynamics and FEEL!

He grooves insanely hard, has a very relaxed and loose playing style which is very entertaining to watch and hear. His playing on their recently released eponymous album has to be heard to be believed (Totla mad and Zyglrox being two stand out examples).

He is a Meinl and Pearl endorsee I believe and seems like a genuinely nice guy. I'm surprised he hasn't a thread of his own here yet but hey, not everyone's as much of a Periphery fanboy as me I guess.

http://www.myspace.com/periphery
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3hBVSsI1_Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUIg8rSHPqc

[Khaine88]

i am i massive periphery fanboy, matt is a brilliant drummer, he has got some serious skills, saying that though, he's no travis orbin.

[Arrold]

Love Matt and Periphery. He's got a great sense of groove, and his playing is powerful! Not your typical metal drummer by any means, and that's what I like about him. I've talked to him about taking some online lessons from him in the near future, which should be a great experience!

[Breadmonkey]

Let us know how you get on, was talking with him bout the same but I have a woeful internet connection!

[MarkPopkie]

What I personally love about Halpern is his unique live performance. He brings that "jazz spontaneity" to a genre of music that is typically populated with drummers that might as well be drum-machines! Some people want to go to a show and hear they drummer play EXACTLY what's on the recording, but I love seeing live videos of Matt because every performance is just a little different... but the essence of the recorded pattern is still there.
check out this drum-cam video of Insomnia, keeping in mind what you have already heard from the album... it's very cool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLEDi3rTkOc
Pay special attention to 3:20 and on...
When Matt first joined periphery, I was part of the "Orbo Club" that really missed his robotic performance, but I began to appreciate Matt's style when I started seeing live videos of him on that 3 piece kit. He's like Ken Schalk and Chris Pennie... with a sprinkle of Tomas Haake for good measure.

[Shrinebuilder]

Ya, he's a great player. Unfortunately, he didn't necessarily 'play' on Periphery's recent and first full length album. Apparently he "played a roland td-20 which was hooked up to superior (drummer) 2.0". Direct quote from Periphery's youtube account.

[Scorched]

Yeah I knew something about the drums sounded familiar :D

Still awesome drummer, and I'd be surprised if they had quantized much on that album.