Slayer Co-Founder To Release Debut Solo Album

Dave Lombardo, one of the best drummers of all time, period - not just in metal, but definitely right up there if you wanted to rank metal drummers - is releasing his debut solo album, Rites Of Percussion, on 5 May via Ipecac Recordings. You can check out the first single, Journey Of The Host, below.

Lombardo co-founded Slayer with bandmates Kerry King, Tom Araya and Jeff Hanneman in 1981. He was fired from the band in February 2013, just before Slayer were due to perform at (the best ever) Soundwave Festival. 

They played on without him, adding Jon Dette as a touring drummer. From 2014 until the band's disbandment in 2019, the band toured and played with Paul Bostaph.

Since his acrimonious departure from Slayer, Lombardo has played in the Mike Patton-led projects Mr Bungle, Fantômas and Dead Cross, as well as Testament, Suicidal Tendencies, and Misfits. 

Now, though, it’s time for the legendary drummer to go out on his own, something Patton has urged him to do for decades, Lombardo revealed in a press release.

“He [Mike Patton] introduced me to Tito Puente’s Top Percussion album,” Lombardo said, per Consequence Of Sound. 

“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 Covid-19 and the lockdowns began, Lombardo believed he’d never tour again. So, like many artists, he knuckled down and made an album. 

“It was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had,” he continued. “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.”

Pre-order Rites Of Percussion here.