In a recent conversation with the U.K.’s Metal Hammer magazine, Dave Lombardo, the former drummer of SLAYER, stood up for METALLICA‘s Lars Ulrich.
When asked whether he believes Ulrich is unjustly disregarded as a drummer by numerous metal fans, Lombardo expressed: “Absolutely. I saw Mario Duplantier [GOJIRA] 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 s**t 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 a*s.”
Earlier this year, GOJIRA drummer Mario Duplantier said that maybe we should cut Lars some slack, adding he’s “tired” of people hating on the METALLICA drummer all these years.
“We need to bring some justice for him, because it’s not about moving tempo-wise,” Duplantier said in an interview with drummer Craig Reynolds of STRAY FROM THE PATH. “It’s what he created in the past. I’m a bit tired of seeing all this conversation about Lars because what he did create is quite unique. Listen to f**king …And Justice For All. It’s amazing.”
After Reynolds said that playing “long f**king [songs like] “Master Of Puppets” for two hours per night while being almost 60 years old definitely deserves praise, Mario added: “It’s very physical and what he brought to the table back in the day – you know, playing without shirts and doing all these faces, and standing up behind the kits – is almost more important than the rest. It’s the the personality on stage for me as a kid, I was just fascinated.
“It was not about the technique, you know? ‘Is it tight? Is he [playing well]?’ I didn’t care. I just saw someone behind the drums. A true personality.”
