Dave Lombardo has surfaced in another unlikely place. The ex-SLAYER drummer plays on "Revolution.exe", a new single by film composer and producer Tyler Bates in collaboration with British synth-wave act GUNSHIP.
The track is out on Gravel And Echo Recordings, Bates's newly launched label, and it is the release the imprint is being built around. It is politically charged and blunt about it — the lyrics aim at power, control and complacency, hung on an insistent hook and driven by an electronic backbone that pairs GUNSHIP's retro-futurist signature with Bates's cinematic instincts.
For Bates, it is a continuation rather than a first meeting. "My history with GUNSHIP began a few years ago when we wrote 'Berserker' for the 'Dark Nights Death Metal' album," he said. "'Revolution.exe' picks up where we left off. Dave Lombardo's drumming is pure fire. This song is a banger. I hope y'all love it!"
The collaboration was assembled remotely across time zones, with Bates and GUNSHIP writing and producing at a distance. Grammy-winning engineer Robert Carranza mixed it, and Abbey Road Studios engineer Stefan Brown handled the master.
Bates is a familiar name to anyone who has looked closely at heavy music credits over the past decade. Across a career spanning more than thirty years he has scored blockbusters including "John Wick", "Atomic Blonde", the "Guardians Of The Galaxy" films and Rob Zombie's "The Devil's Rejects", and worked with Marilyn Manson, EVANESCENCE, Jerry Cantrell, MASTODON, BUSH and IN THIS MOMENT. He co-produced and co-wrote Manson's "The Pale Emperor" and "Heaven Upside Down", along with both chapters of "One Assassination Under God", and has toured with Manson as a guitarist. The new label is positioned as the launch point for a wave of solo work and outside production.
Lombardo, meanwhile, continues to make a habit of turning up everywhere. Born in Havana and raised in Los Angeles from the age of two, he co-founded SLAYER in 1981 — and designed the band's logo. Rolling Stone called him the "Cuban speed demon" on its list of the 100 greatest drummers of all time, Modern Drummer named him "The King", and Drummerworld dubbed him "the godfather of double bass". His discography runs past 100 recordings, taking in GRIP INC., FANTÔMAS, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, MR. BUNGLE, MISFITS, TESTAMENT, EMPIRE STATE BASTARD, VENAMORIS, DEAD CROSS and work with John Zorn.
He was effectively fired from SLAYER after sitting out the band's Australian tour in February and March 2013 over a contract dispute, and was replaced by Paul Bostaph, who had already held the seat from 1992 to 2001.
Source: blabbermouth.net