DJ Spooky has a knack for being part of big projects with diverse sets of collaborators that actually work out well. Drums of Death is certainly no exception. He joins forces with heavy metal drummer extraordinaire Dave Lombardo (Slayer, Fantomas). The duo also enlists the help of a host of heavyweight collaborators, including rapper Chuck D, bassist Jack Dangers, and guitarist Vernon Reid. The resultant music is a muscular hybrid of heavy metal, hip hop, and effects-laden electronica, a thick and heady concoction

Dangers, Spooky, and Lombardo supply sizzling energy to back up Chuck D on remakes of his "Brother's Gonna Work it Out" and "Public Enemy #1." Reid takes paint off the walls with his electric solo on "Quantum Cyborg Drum Machine" and creates spacey atmospherics on "Guitar DJ Tool Element." Lombardo and DJ Spooky excel in duo settings, too; "Incipit Zarathustra" is a wide-ranging and digressive musical duel which features showy 'table cadenzas and drum solos. "Terra Nullius" rocks with abandon. Glitchy electronics, thunderous percussion, and soaring guitars make "The Art of War" a catchy example of Drums of Death at its best. - Christian Carey