Born in Wilrijk, Belgium in 1975, Dirk Verbeuren began his musical training in elementary school with the violin which he played proficiently for seven years. His family moved to Paris, France in 1988, where he studied piano and electric guitar. In 1991, Verbeuren discovered his gift and passion for rhythm on a second-hand drumkit. He immediately began practicing, creating and performing with other musicians.

In 1993, Verbeuren moved to Nancy, France to study at the Music Academy International (MAI). Following his graduation, MAI promptly hired him as a drum professor while in his own time, he co-founded futuristic death metal outfit Scarve. Verbeuren’s fine-tuned ear, impeccable musical memory, sensitivity to structure and ability to read/write rhythm made him a highly demanded session drummer overnight. In the following years, he recorded and toured with over a dozen bands, including Swedish metal act Soilwork which he permanently joined in 2005. Worldwide touring became the norm, including a coveted slot at the classic itinerant festival Ozzfest. Session work also intensified as Verbeuren laid down drum tracks for numerous albums such as Nevermore vocalist Warrel Dane's Praises To The War Machine.

In 2009, influential music software company Toontrack Music hired Verbeuren to contribute to their Metal Foundry drum library. Said Toontrack producer Nils Eriksson, "Dirk is absolutely one of the best, quickest and most professional drummers we’ve ever worked with. On top of that, he’s a really nice and easy-going guy, which is equally as important." Verbeuren recorded with famed drummer/producer Nir Z (Genesis, John Mayer) and a long-term collaboration with Toontrack was established. This resulted in Verbeuren creating the first ever collection of metal beats and fills, known as the Library of the Extreme.

Tama Drums, with help from Meinl Cymbals, then hired Verbeuren to tour Europe as a soloist, performing drum clinics and masterclasses alone and together with world-renowned percussionist Pete Lockett (Björk, Peter Gabriel). Verbeuren also did multiple demos for Toontrack with David "Fingers" Haynes (Chaka Khan, Prince) and Richard Devine, appearing at Los Angeles’ NAMM convention and the London International Music Show.

2010 was yet another busy year for Verbeuren. He recorded drums for revered artists Devin Townsend and Fredrik Thordendal (Meshuggah) as well as Anatomy of I featuring the legendary bass virtuoso Steve DiGiorgio. In early 2011, Verbeuren announced his own project Bent Sea which sees him taking on multiple instruments, as well as the roles of composer and lyricist. Recordings with Naglfar and Jeff Loomis as well as two sold out live performances with Devin Townsend Project followed, with many more creative projects in the works! 

Profiling himself as one of the pioneers in modern drum recording techniques, Verbeuren established his own high-tech facility, Die Crawling Studio, incorporating the most up-to-date software innovations developed by Toontrack. An instructional drumming DVD is currently in the works.

See the releases section for a complete list of all of Dirk Verbeuren's recordings.

GEAR

Dirk Verbeuren proudly uses and highly recommends:

Tama drums & hardware	Toontrack software
Meinl cymbals	Evans drumheads
dB drumshoes	BCTZ clothing

Photo © 2011 Hannah Verbeuren

Additionally, Dirk Verbeuren uses Toontrack's Superior Drummer 2, Meinl Drum Gear
gloves, Shure SCL5 in-ear monitors and the DarkPlayer backing track system. 

PRESSKIT

Click here to download the presskit (coming soon).
Contents: biography, discography, gear specifications, hi-res photos.