Slayer's Dave Lombardo Shares First Song From Debut Solo Album

03-08-2023

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(Speakeasy) Slayer cofounder Dave Lombardo has shared "Journey Of The Host", the first track from his forthcoming debut solo album, "Rites Of Percussion", which will arrive on May 5th.

The 13-track collection is the result of a 40-year career that saw Lombardo rise to prominence as a co-founder of Slayer, earn two GRAMMY-Awards, and expand his repertoire across genres. The Havana-born Lombardo's resume includes outings with the acrobatic, Mike Patton-led Fantomas, the critically-revered John Zorn, experimental hip-hop artist DJ Spooky and the resurrected punk icons, The Misfits.

"[Mike] Patton originally gave me the idea as far back as 1998," explains Lombardo. "He introduced me to Tito Puente's Top Percussion album. I was already familiar with Tito and was a bit shocked that Patton was so musically diverse, and that he surrounded himself with musicians of the same mindset. That inspired me. I have had ideas that I've recorded on cassette over the years, but Patton kept insisting that I had to do a 'drum album.' So, the idea behind the album is years in the making. I just had to find the right time-for me-to do it."

"When the pandemic hit, I thought, 'Well, I can't tour now,'" he says. "I immediately started working on the record. It was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had. I had my studio, all my drums. Nothing was in storage for once! My home became a place where I could be free and creative. On the one hand, the touring part of my livelihood had been taken away, but on the other, I finally had the time to educate myself on different software and recording techniques. It was a very educational and gratifying experience."

The recording process of the film score-like album had a simple mantra: drums had to be drums. Mixed in early 2022 by Lombardo's son, David A. Lombardo, the self-produced release features a large concert bass drum, a timpani, a grand piano, and a flock of shakers, maracas, Chinese and symphonic gongs, Native American drums, congas, timbales, bongos, batas, wood blocks, djembes, ibos, darbukas, octobans, cajons, and cymbals.