Dave Lombardo

As the engine that drove the ultimate speed metal machine, Slayer, Dave Lombardo cemented his place as one of metal's best drummers with his combination of technical playing and incredible speed. His contributions to Slayer's masterpieces like Reign in Blood and Seasons in the Abyss would have been enough to merit a place in music history, but Lombardo worked extensively outside of Slayer with projects as wide-ranging as the impressionistic fusion of Fantômas (a band with Faith No More's Mike Patton and the Melvins' King Buzzo), drumming for punk institutions like the Misfits and Suicidal Tendencies, and working across multiple genres with John Zorn, DJ Spooky, Philm, and many others. Lombardo also explored a wide range of drums, atmospheres, and rhythmic instruments on his 2023 solo album Rites of Percussion. Born the youngest of four in Havana, Cuba, on February 16, 1965, Lombardo relocated to Los Angeles with his family two years later. Fascinated with Cuban and Latin percussion from an early age, Lombardo was given his first drum set at the age of ten, and he proceeded to absorb the rock & roll rhythms of favorite bands like Kiss and Led Zeppelin, as well as musical styles as varied as blues, jazz, and even disco. But when he began forming his first bands in junior high school, it was Lombardo's love of late-'70s hard rock and heavy metal that held sway, eventually bonding him with another young fan and guitarist living in his neighborhood named Kerry King. In time, their fortuitous meeting would of course lead to the birth of Slayer in 1982, with guitarist Jeff Hanneman and vocalist/bassist Tom Araya. The brash quartet quickly graduated from playing Iron Maiden and Judas Priest covers to first help establish, and then come to epitomize, the thrash metal genre in the latter half of the 1980s. Lombardo's strength, agility, and sheer natural ability on the drums were defining ingredients of Slayer's trademark assault throughout their inexorable rise to the top, highlighted by their landmark Reign in Blood opus in 1986. But after a string of progressively more successful and influential albums, culminating in 1990's Seasons in the Abyss and 1991's Decade of Aggression live album, Lombardo shocked the metal community when he quietly turned his back on Slayer to explore new directions. Born out of his growing frustration over the limits that he perceived were imposed on Slayer's sound, Lombardo's seemingly abrupt decision had actually been brewing for some time, having been hinted at three years earlier when he was briefly replaced by Whiplash drummer Tony Scaglione during the Reign in Blood tour. This time the break was apparently final, however, and Lombardo indeed went on to pursue a far more eclectic musical agenda than he could have ever done with Slayer. Chief among these ventures was the 1994 founding of experimental heavy metal project Grip Inc. with renowned German guitarist/producer Waldemar Sorychta, and various other musicians, resulting in a slew of albums in years since. But Lombardo also availed himself as a session player for projects as diverse as albums by Bay Area thrashers Testament and avant-garde composer John Zorn, as well as offbeat conceptual artist Matthew Barney's second installment of his Cremaster Cycle. Additionally, Lombardo struck a fruitful and long-lasting relationship, both in the studio and on the road, with ex-Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton and Melvins guitarist Buzz Osborne as part of the art rock group Fantômas. Tied to no single genre, he also worked with ambient hip hop producer DJ Spooky on 2005 collaborative album Drums of Death, and frequently worked with Finnish symphonic metal band Apocalyptica. Lombardo reunited with Slayer in 2001 and would work with them for another decade and change before leaving the band again in 2013. Lombardo's drumming appeared on two Slayer albums in that interim, 2006's Christ Illusion and 2009's World Painted Blood. Following what seemed to be his final departure from Slayer, Lombardo did time as the drummer for Suicidal Tendencies, the Misfits, Mr. Bungle, and newer hardcore group Dead Cross with the Locust's Justin Pearson on bass, Retox's Michael Crain on guitar and Patton on lead vocals. In addition to all his various gigs, Lombardo began creating a solo album of rhythm-based pieces, working primarily in his home studio when the COVID-19 pandemic made touring impossible at the start of the 2020s. The album was a combination of composed work and improvisation, and though it focused mostly on a wide variety of percussion instruments, it also included ambient textures and melodic instruments that added to its cinematic atmospheres. The album, Rites of Percussion, was released in May of 2023 on Ipecac Recordings.
© Eduardo Rivadavia & Fred Thomas /TiVo