Edward R. Warby (March 7th 1968), born and raised in the not so fair city of Rotterdam. Already at an early age Ed displays a fondness for drumming on anything he could get his hands on, so his parents decide to buy him his first real drumkit at the tender age of 12. He quickly demolishes it playing along to his favourite Kiss records, but his dad has seen enough to once again splash out for a bigger and better kit.



Around that time Ed discovers Cozy Powell, who uses not one but two bassdrums. Ed's drumming will never be the sameÖ He spends countless hours studying videos of his newfound hero and founds his first band Agressor in 1982. The band progresses from appearing at the members' schools to doing real clubshows, but eventually disintegrates. Ed plays with some local bands (including the illustrious and elusive Valkyrie) before joining Eindhoven-based prog-outfit Elegy in 1987.



Despite an abundance in talent this band gets nowhere and when Ed gets offered a position in the massively popular Gorefest he gladly accepts. He does however play on Elegy's debut album Labyrinth of Dreams and helps them out with a few shows before finally committing to the mighty Fest in 1992.



A short UK tour is just a taste of things to come, and when False hits the stores GF hit their stride. A massive European tour supporting Deicide is the highlight of 1992, while 1993 takes the band to the famous Dynamo Open Air festival where they play a thunderous set to an ecstatic crowd of close to 50.000. As the band grows and changes with each subsequent release, Ed adapts by gradually downsizing his kit to a very minimal 4-piece set-up, much to his fans' dismay!



During GF's twilight years Ed makes his first non-GF appearance on the ambitious Ayreon project. The resulting album, Into the Electric Castle, is the first of many fruitful collaborations with Ayreon mastermind Arjen A. Lucassen. After Gorefest implodes Ed becomes Arjen's first choice for his studio and live projects.



Through Arjen Ed ends up serving a stint with LA based prog diva Lana Lane, appearing on her 2000 album Secrets of Astrology and subsequent European tour.



In 2002 Ayreon spin-off project Star One, featuring among others members of Symphony X, Q65 and After Forever, takes to the road for a glorious crowdpleasing tour which is immortalized on a double CD/DVD. To keep himself busy, Ed also appears quite anonymously on several non-metal projects, most notably playing 90% of the drums on Dutch chart-toppers Krezip's 2002 album Days Like This.



2004 sees the release of the most accomplished Ayreon release yet: The Human Equation, a gargantuan double CD loaded with special appearances by the likes of Devin Townsend (SYL), Mikael Akerfeld (Opeth) and Jamse LaBrie (Dream Theater).



It is hailed universally as a masterpiece and Ed's career gains new momentum, winning him much critical acclaim and a much coveted first place in the Slagwerkkrant's annual drummer's poll.



Also in 2004 a mutual love for Thin Lizzy reunites Ed and former GF bandmate Boudewijn for what is to be a one-off show. However, one thing leads to another and soon enough the band (christened Live & Dangerous after Lizzy's famous double live album) causes quite a stir, even playing the legendary Paradiso club in Amsterdam (ironically also the location of one of Gorefest's most disastrous last gigs). All this rocking makes the two yearn for the days of the Fest, and this eventually leads to the full scale Gorefest reunion including a new album, "La Muerte", and festival gigs in 2005.