Time & Perspective Quote by Dave Lombardo

There’s a particular kind of humility that only lands when it comes from someone who’s already a legend. Dave Lombardo isn’t narrating a random gig; he’s mapping a lineage. Opening for Judas Priest in 1989 reads like a backstage origin myth, but the subtext is about legitimacy: thrash didn’t just explode out of nowhere, it arrived via the old guard’s doorway, carrying its own noise into the temple of metal.

Lombardo’s phrasing is tellingly plain: “really great,” “really cool.” No grand theories, no self-mythologizing. That understatement is the point. He’s describing an initiation ritual where awe and professionalism share the same cramped green room. “We had never met them” signals the distance between scenes that fans often flatten. In the late ’80s, Priest were arena royalty; Slayer were already ferocious and famous, but still coded as extreme, transgressive, younger. The excitement isn’t just fandom - it’s about crossing a threshold from outsiders to peers.

The most loaded line is “They were a big influence on Slayer.” It’s a quiet admission that even the most abrasive, anti-mainstream music is built from inheritance. In 1989, metal was splintering into subgenres, each policing its credibility. Lombardo’s memory cuts against that tribalism: influence isn’t contamination, it’s continuity. The coolness he’s naming is cultural permission - the moment a new wave gets recognized by the giants who made it possible.