Out May 5th; “Journey of The Host” Single Launches

- advertisement -

Photo credit: Ekaterina Gorbacheva

  Dave Lombardo, inarguably one of the most influential, innovative and prolific drummers of modern music, releases his debut solo album, Rites of Percussion, on May 5 via Ipecac Recordings.

The 13-track collection, previewed with today’s release of “Journey of the Host” (Seen BELOW), 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 FANTOMAS, 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.”

“When the pandemic hit, I thought, ‘Well, I can’t tour now,’“ 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 album 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 tracklist:

• "Initiatory Madness"
• "Separation from the Sacred"
• "Inner Sanctum"
• "Journey of the Host"
• "Maunder in Liminality"
• "Despojo"
• "Interfearium"
• "Blood Let"
• "Warpath"
• "Guerrero"
• "Vicissitude"
• "Omiero"
• "Animismo"