Through the Persistent Onslaught

Slayer’s Dave Lombardo talks thrash
Words by Bobby S. Gulshan – Photo by Mark Seliger

I was 13 when Slayer released Seasons in the Abyss. At the time of its release, the United States was engaged in a war with Iraq. Around this time, I toyed around with the idea of becoming a writer. Grunge soon exploded on the scene, and the Seattle sound put the last nail in the coffin of glam metal. Meanwhile, seminal thrash metal records, such as Megadeth’s Rust in Peace and Anthrax’s Persistence of Time, fueled a burgeoning and bludgeoning style of metal called thrash.

Indeed, the tapes confirm it. World Painted Blood shows a return to form, while a renewed sense of creative vigor promises to keep fuel on the fire.

You guys are going out with Megadeth and Testament on the first leg of the American Carnage Tour, and will be joined by Anthrax on the second leg. What inspired this group of bands to get together?
A bunch of agents and managers got together and said, “Hey let’s put this together.” I don’t know how these things come up, we just get word, like, “there is a possibility of Slayer and Megadeth and Testament getting together,” and they ask us if we want to do it and we said, “Hey, why not?”

I want to talk a little about the latest record, World Painted Blood. It seems to me that the record picks up in some sense where Seasons in the Abyss left off, sort of a return to form, if you will. Was there something you did differently as a drummer when approaching this record?
I was in a whole different state of mind when I worked on this record. I had a different approach, a wiser approach and more song constructive ideas when it came to the structuring of the drums, so I think it’s just a very mature record.

I was looking at some videos you had done for Modern Drummer magazine and you mentioned a quote from Art Blakey, when he said he heard violins in his cymbals. In talking about World Painted Blood, did other music such as jazz or groovy sorts of things inspire the work?
Yes, definitely. It’s music but also the movement of the music, how its rhythm is composed. It’s so deep, I don’t know. I live and breathe rhythm and music, and it’s hard to pinpoint.

I also noticed you talked about changing the actual configuration and setup of your kit, eliminating some of the toms and coming in with a slightly smaller set. Did that new configuration provide new ideas in terms of what you do physically?
Absolutely, yeah. It had me think and approach the drums in a whole different way.

Maybe giving you some new ideas to do different things that you haven’t tried before?
Exactly. And it’s like the rolls that I do, the way they come out when you take away some of the toms. When you’re improvising like I am–I don’t write things out, whatever comes out at that moment, whatever inspires me at that moment is what gets recorded. When you take these pieces [of the kit] out, it sort of impacts that ability in a different way. And you are forced into performing something totally different than if you have the extra tom.

Gets you out of the box, so to speak.
Yeah, gets you out of that rut.

You said that World Painted Blood was a bit of a wiser record. I read somewhere that you said the record had a special sort of magic to it. What exactly do you think that is?
I don’t know, I can’t pinpoint it. I can only relate that there are these records that you buy and you listen to from beginning to end and enjoy every bit of music on there, and that can be of course mastery of your songwriting or your art. But sometimes you need more, you need chemistry between the musicians that are executing the hits and strumming the strings. And when you get that combination, plus good songwriting, it’s a magical record. They play off each other. They know how to play off each other, having done it so many years on stage and in the studio, you kind of work out this instinct when you’re playing, you know what the other guy is going to do.

A sense of anticipation.
Yeah, definitely.

I understand that this record was a different approach for the band, in general. You guys went into the studio to write, as opposed to having the material all written beforehand. Do you think that made a difference?
Absolutely. Usually we would have everything ready and go in and bang it out. No, we had to write some songs and we had to work on things for a while, which was good because it put us under a constructive pressure. It wasn’t negative or a deadline, just constructive.

And it probably fostered another level of communication between the four of you.
Yeah, because we didn’t have time to fuck around. We had to get the job done and that’s it. Ain’t no time to go whine or whatever because they aren’t using a piece of your music. Instead we thought, “Let’s just throw everything in the fuckin’ pot and make this album the best as we could possibly make it.” That was my approach, and I sensed that from the other musicians as well. The camaraderie during the recording was unlike any other record that we’ve had.

And how did working with Greg Fidelman affect that process?
He’s like a fifth member of the band. It was amazing.

What advice might you give to aspiring musicians out there?
Never give up. And even if you don’t achieve the status you dream of, it’s always fun to keep playing. You don’t ever need to stop playing, whether it’s jamming at your friend’s house or playing at the local bar. As long as I’m playing, that is happiness for me.

After the tour, what’s in the future?
After this we are touring, after that we are going to tour, and then after that a little more touring.

I sense a trend.
And put out another record. Not maybe, definitely put out another record.

The American Carnage Tour featuring Slayer, Megadeth and Testament will hit the ARCO Arena on Sept. 1, 2010. For more info and tickets, go to www.ticketmaster.com and search “American Carnage.”