There are a bunch of free drum VSTs available today but the 3 I list below work great for heavy music like rock and metal.
So, let’s just get started.
These 3 are (in no particular order of preference):
- Steven Slate Drums
- MT Power Drum Kit
- Modo Drums
I played 4 separate short tracks on an ekit and put the midi through all of them. See below for my thoughts on all of them and to hear the samples.
1. Steven Slate Drums
Steven Slate Drums has a free edition which has a pretty solid drum kit which can work great for any heavy song.
The overall kit sound is more processed and not really raw, which can be good if you are only looking for a quick fix.
The kit’s shells (kick, snare and toms) can cut through a mix easily and sound great but the cymbals are just ok-ish. They seem over processed and fizzy (if thats the right word).
Check out below the audio samples.
Ghost Note Groove Closed Hat Groove
Rock Groove
Heavy Metal / Metalcore Groove
Fast Metal Groove
2. MT Power Drum Kit
It’s honestly surprising this drum VST is free!
The one thing that stand out the most in this kit is the snare. It SLAMS! It works great for both rock and heavy metal.
Check out below the audio samples.
Ghost Note Groove Closed Hat Groove
Rock Groove
Heavy Metal / Metalcore Groove
Fast Metal Groove
3. Modo Drums
MODO drums is another good drum library. It’s the most raw and natural sounding out of the 3, and while that is a good thing, it also means it will need the most amount of processing to make it fall in place in a heavy mix.
Check out below the audio samples.
Ghost Note Groove Closed Hat Groove
Rock Groove
Heavy Metal / Metalcore Groove
Fast Metal Groove
All 3 of these drum libraries can work great for you but remember none of them might be ready to go right out of the box. You might have to balance all the kit pieces based on your song with maybe a little bit of processing.
For that you can also check out my other blog post which talks about the best free plugins for mixing heavy drums.
