The first ever solo album from the legendary drummer. Dave Lombardo needs no introduction. His reputation as a drum innovator and musical bellwether is unsurpassed. Whether it was his decades-long tenure with thrash metal titans Slayer, his four-album stint with influential experimentalists Fantômas, or his work with prestigious composer/saxophonist John Zorn, Lombardo’s passion for, and spiritual connection to, sound transcends all boundaries.  His long-awaited solo album Rites of Percussion is instinctual and cinematic. It’s not entirely a drum album, but it’s a drum album, the culmination of Lombardo’s experience, ambition, and tenacity. “It’s a combination of improvisational and composed music,” he says. “My ideas start freeform and as I develop them, they seemingly take on a life of their own. During the writing process for Rites of Percussion, everything developed slowly with layered instrumentation until I had a song that, in essence, spoke to me.”