Darren Cesca (Danbury, Connecticut, 1980) joined West Virginia's metallers Arsis in January 2007 following the departure of previous sticksman Mike Van Dyne.



Previously Cesca had played with Virulence, Pillory, Goratory, and Burn In Silence. In late 2004, Cesca agreed to aid Strappado in the drum department.



Darren Cesca started playing drums at age ten. Recalls the drummer: "For me, age 10 was 5th grade in elementary school and that was the first grade I was able to study drums. From there it just grew. I studied drums up through Freshman year in High school then just focused on taking private lessons and eventually preparation for Berklee. In High school I did the marching band for a year. We traveled quite a bit and did regional competitions. After that first year in high school band I decided to move away from it. I was in bands and really wanted to focus on my drum set playing."



Darren Cesca graduated from the Burklee College of Music in Boston in 2003 with a degree in Performance. The drummer holds the distinction of being the only student in the school's history so far to give a death metal performance for a senior recital. He packed the room and got an A for his efforts.



Darren Cesca only drums, he also composes music, plays guitar as well as producing and engineering. He also loves teaching and does that as much on the side as possible.