Dave Lombardo Goes Deep Picking His Three Favorite Slayer Songs

The "favorite songs" question is one many artists like to diplomatically avoid, but former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo took on the task when pressed in a recent Metal Hammer interview for his three favorite songs that he recorded with the band. And the results may come as a surprise to most readers.

The drummer didn't choose some of the band's most popular songs, but shared insights and his reasoning behind three deeper cuts within the band's career. So what exactly did he choose?

Lombardo starts off with "Captor of Sin," a bonus track for both the 1983 Show No Mercy album as well as 1985's Hell Awaits. He starts by stating his intent to not give the obvious choices, before stating of "Captor of Sin," "The reason why is that is the first time I started to use double bass. I’m trying to get meaning here!” That musical exploration has obviously worked well for Lombardo over the years, but check out what he says are his double bass beginnings in the player below.

Slayer, "Captor of Sin"

The drummer's second choice, and seemingly going in chronological order, was "Ghosts of War" from 1988's South of Heaven album.

“'Ghosts of War' has a breakdown in the middle of the song, where I play these particular drum rolls over Kerry [King] and Jeff [Hanneman]'s riffing," recalls Lombardo. "It’s a certain break, and every time I played that section and that song, it would give me the goosebumps. It would just make me feel good. Whatever it is that music does to humans, stimulates your endorphins or whatever, that song uplifted me and gave me the chills when I was playing it.” Do you get the same reaction? Take a listen below.

Slayer, "Ghosts of War"

And finally, Lombardo digs into 2009's World Painted Blood album to recommend "Beauty Through Order."

“I have to go with something from World Painted Blood, as that was Hanneman’s last album. 'Beauty Through Order' – I remember recording that song, as the music had a natural crescendo, a natural de-crescendo too. We didn’t follow the grid and just stay metronomically correct, we went with the emotion of the song," recalls Lombardo. "The song started off, for example, 150bpm, but at the end of the song it was 175/180bpm, because it grew with intensity."

He adds, “I remember sitting with Hanneman on the 'World Painted Blood' tour, before he got sick, and listening to that song. We would laugh at some of the whammy bar parts that were overdubbed, it sounded like some kind of bird or something flying through the air.”

Slayer, "Beauty Through Order"

Since Lombardo went deep, what are your favorite Slayer deep cuts? Drop your responses in the comments. And where do these three songs land in Loudwire's rankings of every single Slayer track? Find out below.

These days, Lombardo remains busy with multiple projects with Dead Cross most recently dropping the new song "Reign of Error." It comes from the upcoming (due Oct. 28) album, Dead Cross II. Pre-orders are available here.