Considered best Brazilian heavy metal drummer for twelve years in a row by main specialized magazines and sites.

Aquiles Priester has already done more than 350 drum clinics in various countries and took part of the biggest drum festivals around the world.

Born in South Africa, he moved to Brazil while still a child, spending his childhood and part of his adolescence in Foz do Iguaçu, a city in the state of Paraná. In 1988 he moved to Porto Alegre and in 1997 he founded heavy metal band Hangar where he began developing the style. With Hangar he released five studio albums, an acoustic CD and a live acoustic DVD.

In 2001 he joined the band Angra and recorded the album Rebirth, which went gold record in Brazil. After six years and three studio albums, an EP and a live CD/DVD, Aquiles left the band.

A short while before, in 2006, he released a CD of the Freakeys project, an instrumental rock group formed by Aquiles, Felipe Andreoli, Fábio Laguna and Eduardo Martinez and which presented a totally different musical approach to all other albums released by the drummer so far.

Besides the educational products, in 2010 Aquiles also released his autobiography "Aquiles Octopus Priester – From Fan to Idol" that’s on its 2nd edition and includes testimonies of famous Brazilian drummers such as Kiko Freitas, Vera Figueiredo, Serginho Herval and João Barone.

In 2010, he was one of seven drummers chosen from all over the world to take part of an audition to substitute Mike Portnoy in the American band Dream Theater and In 2010 and 2013 he went on tour with American guitar virtuoso, Vinnie Moore.

Mapex provides the instruments used by him and in 2006 created the drum kit Mapex Limited Edition Aquiles Priester and, in 2013, released a signature snare, Aquiles Priester's PsychOctopus Black Panther Snare, worldwide.

On the other hand Paiste, the cymbal manufacturer, wasn’t far behind. In the beginning of 2009 they released the PST5 Limited Edition Aquiles Priester in the Brazilian market and in July of 2012 the signature ride 2002 PsychOctopus Giga Bell Ride 18" worldwide.

Still in 2013, he was invited by guitar player Tony MacAlpine to record his new solo album “Concrete Gardens” and took part of the recording of a live DVD with him at EMGtv in 2014. He also took part of the recordings of albums of bands Noturnall (Brazil), Midas Fate (Czech Republic), Blackwelder (United States), Hevillan (Brasil) and the first solo album of Brazilian lead singer Marcello Pompeu of the band Korzus.

In 2014, besides the release of Noturnall’s first DVD, First Night Live, Aquiles released another album with Hangar, The Best Of 15 Years, Based On A True Story..., as well as his first instrumental album, Our Lives, 13 Years Later with guitar player Gustavo Carmo.

Still in 2014, he went back on tour in the USA with Tony MacAlpine and was confirmed as the new drummer of German band Primal Fear.