Former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo announces debut solo album

Former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo (also of Mr. Bungle, Testament, Suicidal Tendencies, Misfits, Dead Cross, Fantômas, Venamoris, and more) has announced his debut solo album. It's called Rites of Percussion, and it was made with an array of percussion instruments, including a large concert bass drum, a timpani, a grand piano, shakers, maracas, Chinese and symphonic gongs, Native American drums, congas, timbales, bongos, batás, wood blocks, djembes, ibos, darbukas, octobans, cajóns, and cymbals. The first single is the very drum-heavy "Journey of the Host," and you can check that out below. The album comes out May 5 via Ipecac (pre-order).

"[Mike] Patton originally gave me the idea as far back as 1998," Dave says. "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 adds. "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."

Tracklist
1. Initiatory Madness
2. Separation from the Sacred
3. Inner Sanctum
4. Journey of the Host
5. Maunder in Liminality
6. Despojo
7. Interfearium
8. Blood Let
9. Warpath
10. Guerrero
11. Vicissitude
12. Omiero
13. Animismo