Toontrack Fusion EZX Review: Is It Good For Metal?

Finding the right drum VST for modern metal can be a grind. You need samples that are punchy and detailed right out of the box, but also flexible enough to be molded into your unique sound. We’ve all been there, scrolling through endless expansion packs looking for that perfect kick and snare combo. The Toontrack Fusion EZX, produced by Steven Gillis, might not have "metal" in the title, but don’t let the name fool you. This EZX is a dark horse contender for one of the most versatile and hard-hitting drum libraries for modern metal and prog producers.

Let’s break down what this EZX offers and how you can bend its fusion-focused sounds to create absolute chaos in your metal mixes.

Product Overview: What Is The Toontrack Fusion EZX?

At its core, the Fusion EZX is an expansion pack for Toontrack’s EZdrummer 2 or Superior Drummer 3. It was recorded at the legendary Sound Emporium A-studio in Nashville and features three distinct drum kits. The producer, Steven Gillis, is known for his incredibly detailed and pristine engineering, and that shines through here. The library is built around the concept of "fusion," which a lot of metalheads might associate with complex, jazzy playing.

But for a producer, "fusion" means high-fidelity, dynamic, and articulate drum sounds. It means drums that can handle ghost notes as well as they handle blast beats. This is exactly what makes the Fusion EZX a powerhouse for tight, modern metal productions.

What Metal Producers Need to Know About the Fusion EZX

So, why should a metal producer care about a "fusion" library? It comes down to the raw material. The kits, the processing options, and even the MIDI give you a killer toolkit.

The Kits: Beyond Just Fusion

The collection of shells and cymbals here is what really makes it work for heavy music.

• Pearl Reference Kit: This is the star of the show for metal. Pearl Reference kits are known for their massive, focused tone. The kicks are punchy and deep without being overly boomy, providing a perfect foundation for fast double-bass patterns. They cut through dense guitar layers with minimal effort.
• Craviotto Custom Shop Kit: This kit offers a slightly more vintage, open-sounding character. While maybe not your first choice for a deathcore track, its toms are resonant and powerful, great for adding a different flavor or for use in more melodic or progressive metal contexts.
• The Snares: You get a killer selection here. The Pearl 5" Maple snare has a bright crack perfect for cutting through a wall of sound. The Craviotto 5.5" Maple has a bit more body, and the solid brass Tama Bell Brass is an absolute cannon—perfect for that legendary, ringy metal snare sound reminiscent of classic records.

The cymbal selection from Sabian and Meinl is also fantastic, with plenty of bright, cutting options that provide shimmer and articulation without sounding washy or getting lost in distorted guitars.

Raw Tones vs. Processed Presets

The Fusion EZX gives you the best of both worlds. You can load up the completely raw, unprocessed sounds and build your drum mix from the ground up using your favorite plugins like the Slate Digital VMR or FabFilter Pro-Q 3. The raw samples are incredibly clean and give you full control.

But the included presets, engineered by Steven Gillis, are honestly some of the best-sounding processed tones Toontrack has ever released. They aren’t just a simple EQ and compression chain. These presets are mix-ready, providing tones that range from tight and dry to huge and ambient. For metal producers, this is huge. You can load a preset, get an 80% finished drum sound instantly, and spend your time fine-tuning it to the track instead of building everything from scratch. It’s a massive workflow accelerator.

The MIDI Grooves: A Metal Producer’s Goldmine?

Okay, the MIDI library is primarily fusion grooves. But don’t just ignore it. This is where you can get creative.

• Steal The Feel: Grab a complex hi-hat pattern from a fusion groove and lay it over a simple 4/4 metal beat. Instant rhythmic complexity.
• Creative Fills: The fills are often polyrhythmic and syncopated. Drag one into your session, quantize it to a 16th-note grid, and you’ve got a unique, technical-sounding fill that you wouldn’t have programmed yourself.
• Ghost Note Heaven: Fusion drumming is all about dynamics and ghost notes. Use these MIDI parts to study how a real drummer adds nuance to a groove, then apply those concepts to your own metal drum programming to make it sound more human and less robotic.

Dialing in a Modern Metal Sound with Fusion EZX

Okay, let’s get practical. How do you take this EZX and make it slam in a metal mix?

Step 1: Blending and Replacing

While the Fusion EZX sounds amazing on its own, it truly shines when used for sample augmentation. Take the Pearl Reference kick drum and layer it underneath your main kick sample. Use its pristine low-end "thump" to add weight and body, while your other sample (maybe something from the Slate SSD5 library) provides the clicky attack. Do the same with the snares—blend the Tama Bell Brass in with a fatter snare sample to get both body and an aggressive crack.

Step 2: Parallel Processing for Maximum Impact

To make these drums truly monstrous, you need aggressive parallel processing.

1. Set up an auxiliary bus in your DAW.
2. Send your main drum bus (or just the shells) to this new bus.
3. On the parallel bus, get insane. Use a compressor with a fast attack and fast release to absolutely smash the signal. Think of plugins emulating a Universal Audio 1176 or an Empirical Labs Distressor.
4. Follow that with a saturation plugin to add harmonic distortion and grit.
5. Blend this crushed, distorted signal back in underneath your main drum bus. Just a little bit goes a long way, adding immense size and aggression without sacrificing the transient detail of the original drums.

Learning how to apply this is key. Mastering different metal compression techniques is what separates a decent drum sound from a professional one.

Step 3: EQing for Clarity and Punch

Even with great samples, EQ is essential to make the drums sit right in a dense mix. Your guitar tone will dictate many of your moves.

• Kick: Find the fundamental low-end punch (usually 50-80Hz) and give it a slight boost. Add another bump in the 3-5kHz range for the beater's "click" so it cuts through the guitars.
• Snare: The "crack" lives between 2-5kHz. The "body" is around 200-400Hz. Often, you’ll want to cut some boxy low-mids to make room for heavy guitars.
• Toms: High-pass them to get rid of low-end rumble that clashes with the bass guitar and kick. Find the pleasing "note" of the tom and give it a slight boost.
• Cymbals: Use a high-pass filter aggressively to remove any low-end bleed from the shells. If they're too harsh, make a surgical cut in the 4-8kHz range with a narrow Q.

How you approach this is critical. Once your drums are pounding, the next challenge is carving out space in your guitars so everything can be heard. Mastering the art of EQing modern metal guitars is the crucial next step to a clear, powerful mix.

Bringing It All Together

The Toontrack Fusion EZX is an incredibly powerful and versatile tool that absolutely belongs in a metal producer's arsenal. It provides pristine, mix-ready samples that can handle anything from intricate prog to relentless death metal.

But having great sounds is just the first step. Knowing how to tune, process, and automate those drums to sit perfectly against layers of guitars, bass, and vocals is a completely different skill. Imagine seeing exactly how producers like Will Putney, Nolly Getgood, or Jens Bogren get their signature drum sounds from scratch.

That’s what we do at Nail The Mix. Every month, you don’t just get theory; you get the full multi-track sessions from massive bands and watch in real-time as the world’s best instructors mix them, explaining every plugin, EQ move, and compression setting. If you’re serious about taking your programmed drums from "good" to "unreal," check out the full catalog of Nail The Mix sessions and see how the pros do it.