DWF 2014 - Dave Lombardo

Photos: Margriet Cloudt and Jan Kloosterboer

He was for decades the engine behind the ultimate speed metal machine Slayer. The journey began over thirty years ago and only ended in 2013. Though he occasionally stepped away to focus on projects with Grip Inc, Testament, and Fantomas, Slayer was the band where he could fully unleash his incredible technical abilities and dizzying speed. Now, Dave Lombardo is coming to the Drumworld Festival for a clinic.
To our knowledge, this clinic at the Drumworld Festival marks Dave Lombardo’s debut in the Netherlands. He is a pioneer of thrash metal drumming, a man who deserves a statue in the heavy metal heavens for his groundbreaking drumming that could be both brutally hard and funkily grooving.

Power Groove is the title of the book where his heavy rhythms are written down. He co-authored it with Chuck Silverman, who wrote in Slagwerkkrant: “Dave believed the book had to be well-produced, packed with useful and practical information, and not lazily thrown together. He doesn’t care if reviews are positive—it’s about making a project rock solid. Dave always says you can learn a lot by studying the things you already know and master, then building and experimenting from that base. That’s what Dave has always done and always will do.”
Dave Lombardo played on epic Slayer albums like Reign in Blood. In total, he appeared on 14 albums with the thrash metal band. He also shines on Nemesis by Grip Inc, The Gathering by Testament, and more recently on Harmonic by Philm and The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart by Sepultura.
Born in Cuba, he moved to the U.S. at age two. Inspired by Santana and Led Zeppelin, he started drumming. By age ten, he was playing in high school bands. At 18, he co-founded Slayer. The rest is history.