Certainly, Dave Lombardo would be a front-runner if there was a “most valuable player” award for heavy music. Long considered one of the best and most influential metal drummers of all time, Lombardo currently splits his time between several renowned projects, including hardcore-thrashers Dead Cross, horror punkers Misfits, thrash-metal vets Testament, crossover-thrash pioneers Suicidal Tendencies, and experimental rockers Mr. Bungle.
As a founding member of Slayer, Lombardo is often credited with helping popularize the now-standard “double bass” drumming style, including his work on such classic albums as Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, and Seasons in the Abyss.
On October 28th, Dead Cross — featuring Lombardo, singer Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle), guitarist Michael Crain, and bassist Justin Pearson — will issue their sophomore effort, the appropriately-titled II. Once again produced by Ross Robinson (who oversaw the group’s self-titled 2017 debut), II proves that the quartet are still as intense and unpredictable as ever, as heard on such standout tracks as “Love Without Love,” “Heart Reformer,” and “Ants and Dragons.”
In addition to Dead Cross, Lombardo has upcoming shows with the Original Misfits and Mr. Bungle, and earlier this year he joined Testament as a full-time member of the band.
The drummer recently caught up with Heavy Consequence, and discussed Dead Cross, Testament, Misfits, and Mr. Bungle, as well as the pros and cons of being a touring musician. Pick up Dead Cross’ new album II here, and read our full interview with Dave Lombardo below.
What are the similarities and differences between Dead Cross’ II and the self titled debut?
Well, the similarities are the same four guys, which is kind of cool! [Laughs] The difference between both records is obviously one was a little urgent — which was the first one. I feel where it’s just, “Come on, let’s get this done. Let’s create these insane, short, little, spastic punk songs.” And this particular one — Dead Cross’ II — is a little more thought out. We wanted the songs to be a little bit longer, we wanted to have a little more dynamic … we wanted to approach it a little bit different. Whereas the other one was like, “Hey, let’s get this out, let’s create these really fast songs,” this one was like, “OK, let’s wait and check out here what we’re creating and take a better look at it.”
