Two decades after they were introduced backstage at a FANTÔMAS show, Dave Lombardo and Lustmord have finally made a record together.
LUSTMORD LOMBARDO release their debut album, "The Pulse Of Atoms", on October 2 via Ipecac Recordings. The first taste, "Paleomagnetic Resonance", is out now.
The pairing puts one of heavy music's most influential percussionists inside the work of a founding figure of dark ambient — and Lustmord is emphatic that the result should not be filed anywhere familiar. "One thing about an album like this is that you can't really point it out as being part of any specific genre or hopefully any specific period," he said. "Is it from last year? Is it from 10 years ago, is it from 20 years ago, is it from 5 years in the future? It's trying to create something that has its own sound, not tapping into whatever musical language or history you're familiar with."
He went further. "This is the sound of planets dying or of stars being born. It's about a bigger picture. It's the sound of the birth of the universe and the death of the universe; it's not rock and roll."
The two met through mutual friend Buzz Osborne around the time Lustmord and MELVINS released their collaborative album. The method they eventually settled on inverts normal songwriting: rather than composing songs, Lustmord built evolving walls and vortices of sound and left space inside them for Lombardo to add percussion and synthesizer layers. Lustmord then handled mixing and mastering, which he describes as a balancing act between two very large musical presences.
"I'm very proud of this collaboration because it's so different from anything else that I've done," Lombardo said. "And to create this body of work with Lustmord — this guy is legendary! He rattles the plaster off of venues."
The album is billed as showing an unheard side of Lombardo while pulling Lustmord back toward his industrial roots — cold and distant in places, frantic in others.
"The Pulse Of Atoms" track listing: "An Eternal Presence Part I: Unknown", "An Eternal Presence Part II: Relentless", "Paleomagnetic Resonance", "Beyond The Vast Cold Waste", "The Desolate Shore Part I: Submergence", "The Desolate Shore Part II: Emergence", "The Abyssal Deep".
Pre-orders are open, including two limited vinyl variants — clear and smoke — plus CD and digital.
Lombardo, a Grammy winner and founding member of SLAYER, has also worked with FANTÔMAS, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, DEAD CROSS, MR. BUNGLE and MISFITS. His 2023 solo debut "Rites Of Percussion" was praised by NPR as "a very different side of one of metal's most punishing drummers". Lustmord has been active since the early '80s, building immersive pieces from field recordings, low-frequency drones and cinematic sound design across dozens of releases.
Source: blabbermouth.net