To Cross or To Burn Venamoris & Dave Lombardo

• 1 Stay With Me 02:01
• 2 In the Shadows 03:52
• 3 Truth 03:32
• 4 Stain of Pain 02:50
• 5 Spiderweb 03:47
• 6 Burnt Paper 02:45
• 7 Holding on to Nothing 03:10
• 8 Animal Magnetism 05:20
• 9 Numb 03:30
• 10 To Cross or To Burn 04:26
• Total Runtime 35:13

Info for To Cross or To Burn

The sophomore release of soulful dark pop from legendary drummer Dave Lombardo and singer-songwriter Paula Lombardo.

Dave and Paula Lombardo's relationship is tailor-made for a romantic comedy. Imagine: The man who raised the bar for heavy metal drummers has a tryst with a beautiful woman whose musical background includes working in Las Vegas as a backing singer for big-name bands and wanting to make it as a singer/songwriter in Nashville. Fortunately for the world, their musical bond has manifested itself in Venamoris, whose Ipecac debut To Cross Or To Burn (out February 28) is far from shattering preconceived notions while building captivating new possibilities.

Of course, the tireless Dave Lombardo's qualities as a world-class drummer are well known. But while he laid out the blueprint that would define thrash metal drumming, he has also applied his finesse to solo drumming (2023's Rites Of Percussion, also on Ipecac), hip-hop and classical music, and he has made boundary-pushing recordings and performances with everyone from John Zorn's ensembles to punk icons Misfits and Mr. Bungle. To Cross... is another milestone in a storied career that has seen him expand his sonic capabilities to include guitar, bass and notable production techniques. "The only thing that can compete with the many drums we have [at home] is the many guitars Dave has," Paula says, laughing. "So he plays quite a lot of guitar on this album."

Paula is a truly dynamic musical force with impressive vocal abilities, skill on the piano and synth, and a keen sense for seductive lyrics, melodies and arrangements. By the age of 18, she was a backup singer at entertainer Wayne Newton's Las Vegas enclave, where she learned to handle the pressure of performing multiple acts in one night and being required to be perfect every day. She left Vegas and went to Nashville to pursue her music career, but, as she says, "it just wasn't the right thing."

The name Venamoris comes from the Latin vena amoris ("love vein," which supposedly runs from the left ring finger to the heart). Venamoris' first public recording was "The Gift," a Christmas song the Lombardos released on Bandcamp. Their debut album, Drown In Emotion, was released shortly afterward, which is characterized by Paula's singer-songwriter vibe, as if it had been plucked from the FM radio in 1975 between the deep cuts of Carole King's "Tapestry" and "Heart's Dog And Butterfly."

Paula Lombardo, vocals, synthesizers, piano
Dave Lombardo, guitar, bass, drums
Trevor Dunn of Mr. Bungle, double bass
Ra Diaz of Korn, bass
Alex Skolnick of Testament, guitar
Gary Holt of Slayer, guitar

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