Following the birth of his first child in 1993, Lombardo formed Grip Inc. with
Voodoocult guitarist
Waldemar Sorychta. The pair recruited bassist
Jason VieBrooks and vocalist Gus Chambers to complete the line-up, releasing their debut record
Power of Inner Strength (1995), distributed via
Metal Blade Records. Prior to the album's release Lombardo described leaving
Slayer as a career low, because he did not know what type of music to play.
AllMusic reviewer Vincent Jeffries singled out Lombardo for praise on the album, remarking that Slayer fans "will enjoy the drummer's double bass work and overall aggression throughout the disc." Sorychta said critics and music fans always spot mistakes in their music, because of Lombardo's popularity with Slayer – expecting the band to sound like Slayer and complain. However, when Lombardo uses the
double bass drum, Sorychta said people complain "now Grip Inc. sound exactly like Slayer." The band released
Nemesis in 1997. Jeffries praised Lombardo's "crushing drum work" which takes center stage on the album. Bassist VieBrooks left the band and was replaced by Stuart Carruthers in 1997. With a new bassist, the band released
Solidify in 1999, which was described as a step towards "progressive and exotic
rhythms,
structures, and instrumentations, while never compromising intensity" by Jeffries. == Members ==