David Lombardo (born February 16, 1965) is a Cuban-American drummer, best known as a co-founding member of the thrash metal band Slayer.

Unimpressed with their son coming home at 4:00 am, Lombardo's parents pressured him into quitting the DJ gig or face military school.

He performed Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" with a guitarist named Peter Fashing during the school's talent show.

Knowing her son was set on pursuing a life on the stage, Lombardo's mother asked him to at least graduate high school.

With Slayer's line-up now complete, Lombardo stabbed out the now iconic logo and the band began to develop their groundbreaking sound.

[13] Lombardo recorded drums on Slayer's 2006 release Christ Illusion, promoting the album on The Unholy Alliance tour.

[16] Chris Steffen of Rolling Stone wrote, "Christ Illusion is God Hates Us All without the memorable riffs, at least their awesome drummer Dave Lombardo shows off some chops, particularly on the raging 'Supremist.

AllMusic reviewer Vincent Jeffries singled out Lombardo for praise on the album, saying Slayer fans would "enjoy the drummer's double bass work and overall aggression throughout the disc.

Lombardo was once again praised for his drumming on the album by Jeffries, who stated his style is "expressive and technically excellent tom work on cuts like 'Bug Juice' and 'Lockdown.

[10] In 1997, Lombardo began collaborating with vocalist/guitarist Gerry Nestler and bassist Juan Perez after the demise of their former band, Civil Defiance.

Lombardo and Nestler both guested on DJ Spooky's 2005 album, Drums of Death, and eventually reformed Philm in early 2010 after a jam at the famous Rainbow Bar and Grill in West Hollywood, CA, recruiting War's Francisco 'Pancho' Tomaselli on bass.

[26] The band initially recorded a three-song demo with producer Piers Baron;[27][28] The first release came in August 2010 in the form of a 7" single, a cover of the Black Sabbath classic Symptom of the Universe.

[29] Philm would play a run of U.S. dates as openers for Halford in late 2010[30] and signed with Mike Patton's Ipecac label for the release of their 2012 debut album, 'Harmonic',[31] which included updated versions of the songs "Amoniac", "Dome" and "Meditation", written by the original Philm line-up and first released by Kkleq Muzzil on the M album.

In October 2013, Lombardo, Nestler and stand-in bass player Dan Lutz performed the world live premier of composer Christopher Young's Suite from Ghost Rider with the Golden State Pops Orchestra at the Warner Grand Theatre in Los Angeles, CA as part of an evening of horror movie scores performed with a 75-piece orchestra.

[32][33] In July 2014, Philm announced a new partnership with German-based company UDR Records for the release of the group's sophomore effort, 'Fire From the Evening Sun'.

In a September 2015 interview, Lombardo talked about plans for the next Philm release, a 19-song double album recorded in New York City.

In 1998, Lombardo joined a side project called Fantômas with Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton and Melvins' guitarist Buzz Osborne.

With ruthless, hardcore punk music, Rolling Stone described the band as a "vicious statement of renewed intent from Lombardo, the most influential drummer of the past 30 years.

In 2019, Lombardo was announced as the drummer for the seven upcoming Mr. Bungle reunion shows in 2020 in which the band performed their 1986 demo The Raging Wrath of The Easter Bunny.

In 1999, Lombardo performed drum work on the Testament album The Gathering, rounding off a veritable "supergroup" with Steve Di Giorgio and James Murphy.

On March 1, 2022, it was announced that Lombardo had rejoined Testament as the replacement of Gene Hoglan, who had left the band nearly two months earlier.

[45] His return to Testament occurred just one month before the start of his first major tour with the band, and they also plan to record a new album with him.

Lombardo played an epic drum solo accompanied by a swarm of angry bees on the track "The Man in Black".

[4] Scott Peace-Miller of Glide Magazine noted, "Lombardo's influence is front and center in the driving, up tempo "Quantum Cyborg Drum Machine," and the almost straight-up thrash of Kultur Krieg.

[50] Lombardo has contributed to television and film scores including Dawn of the Dead,[51] Insidious: Chapter 3,[52] and the seventh season of the Showtime series Californication.

[54] Lombardo named Bill Ward, Mitch Mitchell, John Bonham, Ian Paice and Ginger Baker as main influences at early age.

As well as considering him an influence, Arch Enemy drummer Daniel Erlandsson feels Lombardo is "really tasteful in his playing, and doesn't overplay.

German newspaper Die Zeit named Slayer's Reign in Blood #79 on their list of 100 Classics of Modern Music,[61] with critic Matthias Schönebäumer writing: Above all, Reign In Blood is a big drummer's record: Dave Lombardo's fast and precise groove are at the eye of this metallic storm, which ends in a ghostly finale.Lombardo's work has been an influence on many rock and heavy metal drummers.

"[64] Richard Christy, former member of Death was "blown away" by Lombardo's performance and double bass on the album Reign in Blood,[65] as was Cannibal Corpse drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz.

[66] Raymond Herrera of the band Fear Factory cites Lombardo as one of his major influences,[67] as do Pete Sandoval (Morbid Angel),[68] Igor Cavalera (Sepultura, Cavalera Conspiracy),[69] Chris Pennie (The Dillinger Escape Plan),[70] Adrian Erlandsson (Paradise Lost, Cradle of Filth, Brujeria),[71] George Kollias (Nile, Nightfall),[72] Joey Jordison (Slipknot),[73] Dirk Verbeuren (Soilwork, Megadeth),[74] Derek Roddy (Aurora Borealis, Nile, Hate Eternal),[75] Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, Adrenaline Mob),[76] James Sullivan (Avenged Sevenfold),[77] Steve Asheim (Deicide),[78] Michael "Moose" Thomas (Bullet for My Valentine),[79] Tony Laureano (Dimmu Borgir, Nile, Angelcorpse, Malevolent Creation),[80] Dave Witte (Municipal Waste, Burnt by the Sun, Black Army Jacket),[81] Max Kolesne (Krisiun),[82] Patrick Grün (Caliban), Nick Barker (Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir), and Jason Bittner (Shadows Fall).