MusicRadar

It’s not hard to see and hear why the 24" Pure Metal ride is a source of such pride for Lamb of God’s Chris Adler

1 of 2 » View in gallery

• Related News
• Review
• Manufacturer's Description

The strapline for Meinl’s Mb20 cymbals is simple: Aggressive Design, Aggressive Sound. It’s a phrase designed to catch the attention of decibel-dealing drummers of all persuasions.

The Mb20s are about take-it-or-leave-it heaviness. A series of instruments created to deliver massive volume and searing tonal energy to tear through layers of distorted rhythm guitars. All-rounders are well and good, but this kind of genre-specific cymbals make for fun time in the review studio.

Hammer to fall

The clue is in the name of Meinl’s new series. The Mb20s are crafted from B20 alloy (80 percent copper, 20 percent tin), just like the company’s respected Byzance ‘traditional’ range. Each cymbal in the series starts life as an individual cast blank, an expensive but quality-ensuring method that is in keeping with the Mb20s’ high-end nature.

Cast and then hand-hammered, the cymbals are shipped from Turkey to Meinl’s German base where they are treated to sound-shaping lathing and polishing. In addition to the sonic character that this process imparts, it also makes for a line of extremely sexy looking metals. Hammering marks are extensive on all the cymbals here and the polished surfaces look fantastic.

Perfect eye candy for metallers for whom bigger and brasher is almost always better.

Power and purity

Big sizes rule supreme. Yes, there are 16" crashes on offer, but the whole line is geared toward huge, tom-dwarfing circles of power. This is reflected in the selection on review: an 18" Medium Heavy crash is the most measly of the bunch here, which comprises 19" and 20" Heavy crashes, 20"Heavy ride, 22" Heavy bell ride and the hernia-inducing 24" Pure Metal ride.

The Pure Metal ride is a phenomenal cymbal, and not simply because of its size, weight and price, although all are impressive. It is an incredible sounding instrument that manages to combine ear-shattering volume with a remarkable three-dimensional tone. There’s an ever-present hint of warmth and depth here that surprises, given that you might expect volume and clattering upper-mids above everything else, and this adds extra muscle and tone to a cymbal that fits perfectly with skull-battering double-kick patterns.

You have to be extremely assertive with it to push it into a wash, but that’s no bad thing (and hardly avoidable given its proportions), and it means the Pure Metal ride carries a minimum penalty in terms of unwanted sustain and overtones. And the bell? Jeez, we can still hear it. Yes, the Pure Metal ride is fearsomely expensive, but the fact that it will outlast all of us and sound like the end of the world long after the end of the world means the cymbal will pay for itself in the long run.

Just make absolutely sure it’s the cymbal for you before reaching for your wallet.