Angel of Death Double-Bass Tornado — Dave Lombardo (Slayer) Drum Lick | MetalForge
Learn the Angel of Death Double-Bass Tornado drum lick by Dave Lombardo of Slayer. From Angel of Death (Reign in Blood (1986)). The opening of Angel of Death is one of the most studied and most debated moments in the history of ...
Gear Deep Dives & Articles
1. Dave Lombardo's Signature Licks — The opening of Angel of Death is one of the most studied and most debated moments in the history of extreme metal drumming, and the double-bass tornado that Lombardo unleashes immediately following Tom Araya's iconic opening scream is its technical and emotional centrepiece. Unlike a conventional drum entry that eases the listener into the song, Lombardo's Angel of Death opening is an immediate, total commitment to maximum intensity: the double bass begins at full speed, the snare drives with full force, and the cymbals crash with no preliminary acknowledgment of dynamic range. The effect is one of the most dramatic and successful shock moments in recorded rock music, and it remains as viscerally powerful today as it was upon the album's release in 1986. The double-bass tornado technique that Lombardo uses in this opening is a specific application of his kick drum approach: both feet drive simultaneously in alternating sixteenth-note patterns at the track's full recorded tempo of approximately 210 BPM, but the tornado designation captures something beyond mere speed. The pattern has a spiralling, escalating quality — the combination of the blast tempo kick with the snare's driving pattern and the cymbals' crashing accents creates an acoustic whirlwind where no single element is individually overwhelming but the combined effect is total. Lombardo achieves this compound sensation through the precise synchronisation of his four limbs at extreme tempo, a task that requires years of technical development and a level of coordinative independence that places this performance firmly in the expert category regardless of the notation's surface simplicity. The musicological significance of this opening is also worth understanding: recorded in 1986, this performance occurred before the double-bass blast had become a codified vocabulary in extreme metal. Lombardo was, in real time, defining the parameters of what double-bass drumming could be at extreme tempos, demonstrating possibilities that other players would spend the following decade exploring and refining. His role as a founder of thrash metal's rhythmic vocabulary is nowhere more clearly demonstrated than in these first fifteen seconds of Reign in Blood. For drummers studying this technique, the approach must begin with isolated double-bass development at slow tempos, building complete evenness between left and right foot over weeks of practice before the tempo becomes relevant. The tornado effect emerges from the combination of the feet with the hands, so full-kit practice at moderate tempo — building the synchronisation between all four limbs — is essential preparation before any attempt at the recorded speed.2. Dave Lombardo Profile — Build complete evenness between left and right kick at slow tempo before any speed increase Develop full-kit coordination at moderate tempo — the tornado effect requires synchronised four-limb execution Execute the entry with immediate full commitment — no dynamic ramp-up, the pattern begins at full intensity Practice the transition from the pre-entry scream moment to the blast entry until it feels automatic Record yourself and compare to the original — kick asymmetry and snare inconsistency are immediately audible at these speeds
Visit MetalForge →