Dave Lombardo

Dave Lombardo

David Lombardo (born February 16, 1965 in Havana, Cuba) is a Cuban American heavy metal drummer best known for his work with American thrash metal band Slayer. He has performed with Slayer on seven albums, including their groundbreaking 1986 release Reign In Blood and their 2006 release Christ Illusion, for which he received critical praise. Lombardo's music career has spanned more than 25 years, during which he has been involved in the production of 29 commercial recordings spanning a number of major genres with bands such as Grip Inc., Fantômas, Philm, and Testament in addition to Slayer.

Lombardo's musical interest was sparked by playing along to a Santana record with bongo drums and was later influenced by the musical styles of Led Zeppelin and Kiss. Lombardo is known as an aggressive heavy metal drummer and his use of the drums have been called "astonishingly innovative" and earned him the title "the godfather of double bass" from Drummer World. Over his career, he has had a significant influence on the metal scene and has inspired many modern metal drummers.