Drummer Dave Lombardo Names His Favorite ‘Big 4’ Thrash Band

One of many greatest ongoing disputes in metallic is which of the “Huge 4” of thrash – Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer – is actually on the prime of the checklist? Properly, former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo has weighed in, and unsurprisingly, he feels that he performed with the perfect of the bunch.

Within the newest difficulty of Metallic Hammer, Lombardo shares his transient however enough causes for why Slayer was probably the most excessive ­and commendable of the quartet. “Ha ha ha! Who else might I choose?! We had been brutal man, we had been on prime of our sport, and in the event you watch the movies we had been on hearth. We actually confirmed everybody else the way it ought to be achieved – we tore everybody a brand new one,” he boasts.

Elaborating on the band’s ambitions and accomplishments within the face of different thrash – and demise metallic – acts, Lombardo continues [via Metal Hammer]:

We’d watch numerous these bands from side-stage anyway. I bear in mind whispering to [Slayer guitarist Jeff] Hanneman, “We’re higher”, or “We’re quicker”, ha ha! It wasn’t essentially conceited, but it surely was inspiring if we watched a band that couldn’t ship the ferocity we had been as a result of it made us really feel wonderful, like, “Oops, failure!” It was a youthful method – you wish to be higher than the man earlier than you, you wish to blow everybody away, and that was our mantra.

That stated, he additionally admits that whereas Slayer was undoubtedly “competing” with the opposite three within the “Huge 4” – along with nearly each different in-your-face ensemble on the time – it was by no means “in a unfavourable means.” He explains [via Metal Hammer]: “We needed to be the perfect, we needed to be the heaviest, the quickest. So our rivals had been any band that’d open up for us – we’d be like, ‘Let’s blow ’em out the water!’ I can’t consider a single band we had an actual unfavourable relationship with.”

READ MORE: The ‘Huge 4’ Bands of 27 Rock + Metallic Subgenres

To his credit score, he’s supplied loads of reward to his style siblings over time. This previous August, for example, he overtly condemned individuals who disrespect his “excellent good friend” Lars Ulrich:

I noticed Mario Duplantier just lately speaking about Lars, saying some sort phrases. I really feel Lars is a necessary a part of [Metallica] – anyone else and it simply received’t sound the identical. I admonish the individuals who speak shit about him, I don’t like that. It’s a must to embrace who Lars is, and his contribution to Metallica’s sound. They’re such an inspirational band, and everyone desires to be as huge as they’re, and you may solely do this by taking dangers.

Final week (Oct. 16), Lombardo took to X (previously Twitter) to assist fire up Grammys consideration for his first solo album, 2023’s Rites of Percussion, and for Useless Cross’ 2022 LP, II. You’ll be able to see these posts under:

So, do you agree with Lombardo’s evaluation of Slayer? Tell us!