Dave Lombardo announces debut solo record, Rites of Percussion, out on May 5th via Ipecac Recordings

Dave Lombardo, inarguably one of the most influential, innovative and prolific drummers of modern music has just announced he will be unleashing a debut solo record! Entitled Rites of Percussion, this 13-track collection – previewed with today’s release of “Journey of the Host”, which you can listen to below this article -, 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 Fantômas, 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”. Dave began working on the record at a time when touring was not possible. 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 record 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, batás, wood blocks, djembes, ibos, darbukas, octobans, cajóns, and cymbals.

Rites of Percussion will be released on May 5th via Ipecac Recordings. Pre-orders are now available here.

Photo credit: Ekaterina Gorbacheva