Dave Lombardo, the legendary former Slayer drummer and current man behind the kit for extreme metal project Empire State Bastard, has come to the defence of Metallica icon Lars Ulrich. Speaking exclusively to Metal Hammer, Lombardo is robust in his answer as to whether he feels Ulrich gets unfairly dismissed as a drummer by many metal fans.
“Absolutely!" he agrees. "I saw Mario Duplantier recently talking about Lars, saying some kind words. I feel Lars is an essential part of that band – anybody else and it just won’t sound the same. I admonish the people who talk shit about him, I don’t like that. You have to embrace who Lars is, and his contribution to Metallica’s sound. They’re such an inspirational band, and everybody wants to be as big as they are, and you can only do that by taking risks. They shocked people when they cut their hair or whatever, but it was part of their evolution and they clearly knew what they were doing. I love that they’re still out there, kicking ass."
