SLAYER Drummer On Reconnecting With MEGADETH, Making New Fans

Steven DiLodovico of the Philadelphia Indie Music Examiner recently conducted an interview with SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On touring with MEGADETH and TESTAMENT:

"We are reacquainting ourselves with all these old friends. I think it's great that we've reestablished these friendships. I hung out with Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH mainman] this morning. I walked out of my hotel and there he was. We went to the store together. We're all friends; we're out here to kick ass and have fun and do what we do best and that's what we're doing. And I anticipate that's how the rest of the tour is gonna go."

On touring:

"I would say about three quarters of the bands are out having good times while on the road. Tom [Araya, bass/vocals] is married, I was married and recently got divorced, but we're out there having a good time with the rest of the guys."

On how SLAYER's audience represents the full spectrum of genre-spanning fans of all types of aggressive music:

"It's been great. You see such a wide range of fans. You get the fathers with their kids, the teenagers, the twenty- and thirty-year-olds. It's awesome; it's longevity. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that our music has been all over so many video games, which is pretty cool. In a way the Internet ruined music, yet other things have sprung up that helped it along."

On SLAYER's latest offering, "World Painted Blood", which has been hailed by fans and critics alike as a return to the brutal form they established over 20 years ago:

"We can see that people really like the album. They sing along to all those songs, some of those songs, to me, have now become the classics like say, 'South of Heaven' or 'Seasons in the Abyss'. 'World Painted Blood' falls right in there.”

On SLAYER's live performance:

"People will hear my bass drums just pummeling them. From what I hear, it beats you up pretty good. We have a great soundman and, of course, SLAYER behind the instruments. There is no doubt that you will get a beating. For this leg we are currently doing two songs off 'World Painted Blood' which are the title track and 'Hate Worldwide'. Then we perform the entire 'Seasons in the Abyss' record. I don't know if we're gonna do that in the States, though. But that's what we're doing through Canada."

On the upcoming DVD release of 1995's "Live Intrusion" concert video:

"'Live Intrusion' was when I wasn't in the band. They blotted me out. They might have fixed it now, but they blotted me out. They released that when I was away from the band, so that's why they did that. I never questioned them about it, but I don't really care."

Read the entire interview from Philadelphia Indie Music Examiner.