Dave Lombardo is a man of many bands, and one of them will be without his services for the remainder of 2023. The drummer revealed to Blabbermouth that he will be sitting out the rest of Testament's touring for the year, while putting his focus musically elsewhere.
Speaking about his priorities for this year, the former Slayer stickman explained, "Let's start with Suicidal [Tendencies]. I haven't been able to play with Suicidal became he [Mike Muir] is not on tour as often or as much as I'd like. When I joined them in 2016, man, it was on. But then the pandemic, and I believe he has [health] issues. I think he's had a couple of surgeries on his back. It's limited the amount of shows he does a year. I haven't played with them in a while."
He continued, "I"m focusing on the Misfits, Mr. Bungle, Empire State Bastard, and in 2022, when I was on tour with Testament, I had stuff lined up that was starting to build for 2023. With Testament, we were having several scheduling conflicts. I couldn't back out of them. I won't be joining them on their upcoming tours for 2023. My focus is on Bungle, who I've recorded an album with back in 2019 and we did a live album. Empire State Bastard, I recorded an album for them in 2020. That's finally going to see the light of day later this year. We've already released a single."
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He added, "I'm not doing the shows with Satanic Planet ... I won't be performing with them. Instead of doing live shows, I really like to just be more on the production and songwriting side [with them]. It's very industrial, very dark. It's got a very evil vibe, but great guys nonetheless. Some of the most kindest people I've met in my life, which contrasts with the music."
As for whether there's a future with Testament, which he stepped into after Gene Hoglan's exit in 2022, Lombardo said, "I don't know, because everything is starting to snowball with Mr. Bungle and Empire State Bastard and the Misfits." He went on to call his status "wait-and-see," adding, "I can't guarantee anything because of my commitments. I did fulfill my contractual commitment for 2022, which was quite extensive. We did one of the longest tours I have done. It was like seven weeks in Europe, which was great. I really needed to get out there and build my chops after the pandemic. That was a lifesaver. We'll see. The relationship is good. The doors are open. The communication is there. I told them that I was seeing some clashes coming up. This was in the first week of January when I reached out to Eric [Peterson] and told him. This has been brewing for a while."
As for who will be filling the drum slot on Testament's forthcoming dates, it appears that drummer Chris Dovas of Seven Spires, who previously filled in for Lombardo on the band's 2022 tour leg, will be handling those duties. Recent photos shared by bassist Steve DiGiorgio (seen below) on his Instagram revealed Dovas was rehearsing with the band for their South American tour. Stay up to date with Testament's touring here.
