Hailing from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, drummer Gus Rios has about two decades of touring, recording and producing experience in the music industry.

Rios started out by getting a guitar at age 8. By the time he was 10, he became more and more aware of what the drummers were doing on his favorite records. Gus then got his first drumset, and what would eventually become his love and passion. Having played in bands for 5 years, Gus felt that it was time to take lessons.



Dave Culross was his first teacher who introduced him to proper technique and basic time signatures. Dave had quite an impact on Gus' playing, really taking him out of beginner status and into a properly trained musician. Upon Dave's move back up to NY, Gus, wanting to further educate himself, sought out his drum hero, who happened to live in nearby Miami, Sean Reinert.



Sean took Gus to another level, developing him into a well rounded musician, as apposed to just a drummer. Gus studied jazz, blues, latin, and basically anything that he wasn't familiar with. Currently Gus is a working live and studio drummer as well as a studio producer and engineer. He has toured all over the US as well as Europe. His absolute professionalism and good attitude make him very easy to work with and very reliable. Gus Rios is also an accomplished guitar player and songwriter. Again, he strives to be more than just a great drummer, but a great musician also.



Gus Rios teamed up with Alex Marquez in October 2004. With Marquez handling the vocals, Gus Rios would sit behind the drum kit.



Previously Rios played in Sickness, Malevolent Creation (on "Envenomed", 2000) and Divine Empire. He plays as a session drummer in Kult ov Azazel since November 1999, replacing Mortis.



2006 saw Gus Rios rejoin Divine Empire again. In April 2007 he joined the Manntis line-up.