In a new interview, drummer Dave Lombardo has revealed that all of his classic Slayer drum kits were stolen in various thefts over the years.
Lombardo offered up the awful news during a recent appearance on YouTube metal program “Hangin’ and Bangin’”. In addition to having two storage units broken into, a Slayer rehearsal room in Riverside, California, was also pilfered, resulting in the loss of Lombardo’s classic kits from his long stint as a founding member of the legendary thrash band.
When asked the standard and typically innocuous question of how many drums he owns, Lombardo took a somber tone, replying, “Unfortunately… I don’t have many. Two storage units, at two different times in periods of my life, were broken into. So, I think, probably five-six drum kits out of the first storage unit were stolen. It was cleaned out — everything, road cases…
He continued, “And Slayer’s rehearsal room that we were at in Riverside was broken into; everything was stolen, all my classic drum sets. So I’m slowly building everything up again and trying to piece together some of my old classic kits, from kits that I see online that are similar.”
The disappearance of Lombardo’s classic drums is a loss for the history of heavy metal. After all, he pioneered the double-bass blastbeat technique that would become a staple of extreme metal. In the interview, Lombardo said he got the inspiration for the playing style from Motörhead’s Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor and that band’s No Sleep ’til Hammersmith live album.
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“I was inspired by Philthy Animal from Motörhead’s — when I heard one of the songs on their live No Sleep ’til Hammersmith album,” he recalled. “It just blew my mind. And I felt like, ‘Wow, this is where I want to go.’ I was a big fan of certain drum patterns that incorporated the bass drum and the hi-hat. And I can’t explain it, but I figured those patterns out — because I’m self-taught. But then later when I got my extra bass drum… I used the bass drum instead of the hi-hat to create the double bass pattern, and then it just went from there.”
Thankfully Lombardo is recreating the classic Slayer kits and still laying down crushing double-bass work. His signature thrash drumming can be heard on Mr. Bungle’s excellent reunion album, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo, released last year. Plus, he recently recorded a new album with Dead Cross, his hardcore band with singer Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle, Faith No More).
Additionally, Lombardo has become a member of crossover thrash veterans Suicidal Tendencies, and is in the touring lineup of the Original Misfits.
Watch the full interview with Lombardo below.
