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If you’re looking for a sonic palette cleanser from the mundane, Venamoris’ new album To Cross or To Burn is the aural experience you didn’t know you needed. Out now via Ipecac Recordings, the album is a seductive, shadowy, and soul-baring effort from the duo of Paula and Dave Lombardo. Yes, that Dave Lombardo—drum god behind Slayer, Mr. Bungle, Misfits, Dead Cross and countless other boundary-pushing projects. But this isn’t thrash, metal, or hardcore. Instead, it’s something far more intimate and atmospheric—part gothic lullaby, part cinematic fever dream, and entirely its own thing.
Think: a darker, stranger Portishead raised on vintage synthesizers and heartbreak. And you’re only halfway there.
Venamoris, a name derived from the Latin vena amoris ("vein of love"), is a reflection of the real-life partnership between Dave and Paula Lombardo. The musical bond they’ve cultivated runs just as deep. Paula’s roots include everything from backing up Las Vegas legends like Wayne Newton to chasing a singer-songwriter dream in Nashville. With this project, she brings a magnetic presence—equal parts elegance and eerie introspection—on vocals, piano, and synths. Every lyric feels lived-in; every melody, emotionally raw.
Engineered and produced by Dave Lombardo, mixed by David A. Lombardo, and mastered by the acclaimed Golden Mastering team, To Cross or To Burn shimmers with sonic depth. Every note and nuance is deliberate, yet full of danger. The Lombardos handle all instrumentation themselves, with Paula on vocals and synths and Dave handling drums, guitars, and more.
The album also features contributions from a formidable group of guest musicians, including:
- Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk) – contrabass on “Stay With Me”
- Ra Diaz (Suicidal Tendencies, KORN) – bass on “Stain of Pain”
- Alex Skolnick (Testament) – guitar on “Stain of Pain” and “Burnt Paper”
- Gary Holt (Slayer, Exodus) – guitar on “Animal Magnetism”
Each guest adds a unique brushstroke to the darkly emotional soundscape, enhancing but never overshadowing the central force: Paula’s haunting voice and poetic songwriting.
The album’s opener, “Stay With Me,” is a cinematic dive into surrealist romance—starting in lo-fi crackle and ending in full digital immersion. "Holding On to Nothing" flexes Paula’s lyrical teeth as she dissects betrayal with Ben Folds-style piano wrapped in Sabbath-inspired gloom.
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