Just before the release of Scream Aim Fire back in 2008, Bullet For My Valentine frontman Matt Tuck said that the Welsh metallers’ only real competition was Metallica. While that might be considered hubris, if not downright heresy, in the metal world drummer Michael ‘Moose’ Thomas and his band-mates seem determined to prove the truth of those words through sheer bloody-minded determination.

Even after being roundly rejected when opening for Iron Maiden, the Bullet boys have proved that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Third album Fever saw the band slowing down from the pedal-to-the-metal acceleration of Scream aim Fire. Just as the venues they play were getting bigger, so was their music.

No longer worried about throwing out every lick he knows every night, Moose has shifted his focus to playing for his band and for the song - perfect timing, then, for our friends at Rhythm magazine to talk shop with the sticksman…

Among the exclusive shots of Moose’s setup you’ll see in this gallery are snippets from Rhythm’s interview in which the drummer talks about the Fever recording process and his - and his band’s - coming of age.

For more from Rhythm magazine, check out the current issue 188 fronted by drum pioneer and all-round legend Phil Collins, or subscribe to Rhythm here.

First up, though, let’s take a closer look at Moose’s kit…