BFD Oblivion is a heavy drum expansion for BFD, built around a Mapex Orion kit and aimed squarely at post-metal, sludge, prog-metal, and heavy alt-rock production.
We loaded it for the first time mid-session on a track that had been sitting unfinished for two weeks. The mix was thick: down-tuned guitars, a bass tone that started somewhere near the floor of the earth. The kick from a stock BFD3 kit was getting buried. We pulled up Oblivion, dropped in the 22” kick version, and didn’t touch the EQ. It sat. Not perfectly, but enough that we kept going. That was the moment we knew this expansion wasn’t just marketing copy.
It’s built for producers who need weight fast. If that’s you, keep reading.
What Oblivion Actually Is (and Where It Falls Apart)
Oblivion is a sample library, not a plugin. It lives inside BFD3, BFD Eco, or BFD2 v2.1 and above. You can’t run it standalone. That’s not a flaw, it’s just reality, and it rules out a chunk of potential buyers immediately.
The hardware recorded here is specific. Drew Vernon and Michael Bugh tracked a Mapex Orion kit: 22” kick, 10”, 12”, and 14” toms. Snare options include a Mapex brass shell and a Brady jarrah wood model. Cymbals come from Bosphorus, Zildjian, and Paiste. That’s not a generic session kit. It has a character, and that character skews dark, heavy, and controlled.
What it’s not: a jazz library, a pop library, or a versatile all-rounder. We’d never put Oblivion on a funk track. It would sound wrong in under four bars.
Living With Oblivion Through Real Sessions
Setup is straightforward if you’re already inside BFD. The BFD3 version installs at 11.7 GB. If you’re on BFD Eco or BFD2, that jumps to 32 GB. Worth knowing before you point the installer somewhere and walk away.
The three kit processing versions are where Oblivion earns its price. Version one is closest to raw: minimal compression, natural transients. Version two adds visible processing, more sustain on the toms, tighter kick punch. Version three is the most treated, closest to a finished record sound. We spent most of our testing time on version two. The toms on that setting have a satisfying bloom after the initial hit without turning into a muddy mess.
Cymbals come in two versions. The difference is subtle but audible. Version two on the crashes sits slightly further back in the mix without feeling washed out.
The 422 grooves are a genuine asset. They cover the territory you’d expect: slow, crushing half-time feels; aggressive double-kick patterns; mid-tempo prog structures. We found around 30 or 40 we’d actually use without modification. That’s a solid hit rate for a groove library.
The presets, though? Frustrating. They feel like a first draft. We spent time rebuilding from scratch on almost every session rather than starting from what was offered. That’s annoying when the raw samples are this good.
The Real Trade-Offs
The pre-processed philosophy is the central trade-off here. If you want total control over the drum sound from the room up, Oblivion will feel limiting. You’re buying someone else’s engineering decisions baked into the samples.
But if you trust the engineers, which we largely do, that same characteristic becomes the whole value proposition. We put the Oblivion kick through our usual chain: a touch of SSL-style bus compression, a gentle 3dB shelf at 60Hz, and 1.5dB cut at 400Hz to clean up the boxiness. It held together cleanly. No phase issues we could hear on headphones or monitors.
The velocity layers aren’t published in the official specs, which is a gap we wish BFD would close. Ghost notes on the snare felt natural rather than obviously looped. That’s the tell.
The Brady jarrah wood snare is our favourite thing in the library. Hit hard, it has a crack that sits around 200Hz with a tight, woody attack that doesn’t need brightening. We genuinely love that snare.
Against the Field: How Oblivion Compares
The honest comparison is against other heavy-focused BFD expansions and third-party metal libraries. BFD Modern Rock Grooves Review covers adjacent territory, but it prioritises groove variety over raw sound design. If your production needs are 70% arrangement and 30% tone, Modern Rock Grooves wins. Oblivion flips that ratio.
For purely ITB metal, Steven Slate Drums’ Metal library and Superior Drummer 3’s Metal Foundry are the names we’d put next to Ob
Evil Drums and Imperial Drums, both popular in the underground metal production community, offer more aggressive processing out of the box. Oblivion sounds more controlled and less saturated by comparison. That’s a stylistic call, not a quality judgement.
For producers newer to BFD, BFD Player Expansion Vintage Rock Review gives context on what BFD expansions feel like to live with day-to-day.
The Real Verdict
At US$50.80 on sale (regular US$86.10), Oblivion is a clear buy for BFD users making heavy music. The kick and snares alone justify the price. The pre-processed samples reduce your mix time in a meaningful way, not a theoretical way.
Skip it if you need a flexible, multi-genre kit. Skip it if you don’t own a compatible BFD host already. Skip it if you want full control over the raw room sound.
Buy it if you’re working in post-metal, sludge, or heavy alt-rock and your kicks keep getting lost. That Brady snare will make you unreasonably happy.
Score Breakdown
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sound Quality | 4.5/5 | Kick and snares are brilliant; tom bloom on version two is a highlight |
| Value for Money | 4.0/5 | Strong at sale price; harder to justify at full retail |
| Ease of Use | 3.5/5 | Three kit versions are clever; preset quality lets the experience down |
| Features | 3.5/5 | 422 grooves and two cymbal versions are useful; velocity layer data not published |
| CPU Efficiency | 4.0/5 | Sample-based: light on CPU, heavier on storage at 32 GB (Eco/BFD2 version) |
| Overall | 4.1/5 | Best-in-class kick and snare for BFD heavy music; genre-limited by design |
Alternatives to Consider
If Oblivion isn’t right for your style or your budget, here’s where we’d point you.
BFD Modern Rock Grooves Review is the pick if you’re more focused on groove programming than dialling in a specific heavy tone. The library is more genre-flexible and the groove collection is broader.
BFD Player Expansion Vintage Rock Review suits producers who want BFD’s workflow but need a warmer, less aggressive kit character. Different genre territory, but worth knowing it exists.
Outside BFD: Superior Drummer 3’s Metal Foundry is the strongest direct rival if you’re open to switching hosts. It costs more and requires SD3, but it publishes detailed articulation specs and gives you more room-mic control. For pure price-to-tone ratio in heavy music, Oblivion still wins at its sale price.
The Brady jarrah snare in Oblivion doesn’t exist anywhere else at this price. That’s the honest reason to buy it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does BFD Oblivion work as a standalone plugin?
No. Oblivion is an expansion library that requires a compatible BFD host: BFD3, BFD Eco, or BFD2 version 2.1 or higher. If you don't already own one of those, you'll need to factor that cost in before buying Oblivion. It won't run on its own inside a DAW.
What's the difference between the three kit processing versions?
Version one is the least processed: open transients, natural room. Version two adds compression and brings up the sustain on toms. Version three is the most treated and sounds closest to a finished production. We'd start with version two for most heavy rock contexts and adjust from there.
Is BFD Oblivion good for genres outside metal and heavy rock?
Honestly, no. The Mapex Orion kit is recorded and processed specifically for heavy music. The kick has too much low-end weight for pop, and the snares are tuned dark. We'd skip it if your work is in jazz, R&B, funk, or mainstream pop and look at a more neutral expansion instead.
How does the storage requirement differ between BFD versions?
The BFD3 version installs at 11.7 GB, which is manageable on most modern setups. If you're running BFD Eco or BFD2, the same content takes 32 GB of drive space. Plan accordingly before you start the download, especially if you're on a smaller SSD.