Sure, Dave Lombardo is easily the one of the five-best heavy metal drummers of all time. But, the former Slayer and current Testament, Dead Cross, Misfits, and Mr. Bungle drummer is certainly a punk rocker at heart. Which should really be no surprise given his style and the bands he's performed with, all of which maintain or maintained a punk aesthetic.
As Lombardo and his mate Mike Patton gear up for the release of the sophomore Dead Cross LP—the aptly titled II—on October 28, Metal Hammer recently asked Lombardo what the five greatest punk rock records of all time were.
"Oh, wow! An easy one there! Minor Threat's Out of Step, Circle Jerks' Group Sex, Dead Kennedy's In God We Trust. Oh, man… GBH's Leather, Bristles, Studs And Acne and one more… DRI's Dealing With It. That's just off the top of my head with what I grew up with. There are others, but they stand out."
But then, another classic popped into Lombardo's mind. "Oh, The Exploited, they were awesome, and they still are. Mr. Bungle covered "Fuck The USA" recently and that was a lot of fun. I'd like to add The Exploited in as well."
Man, that sure is a great crop of records there. I don't think I could argue with a single one. Dead Cross recently released the third single from II, "Christian Missile Crisis" which you can check out below. According to bassist Justin Pearson, "'Christian Missile Crisis' takes an obvious jab at organized religion, NRA-holes who clearly compensate for their lack of masculinity by fixating on gun ownership and gun 'rights,' and the fact that a large enough amount of Americans have the inability to negotiate peace and prefer oppressing others." Pre-orders for II are available here ahead of its October 28 release.
