Slayer’s Tom Araya Reveals Reason Behind Dave Lombardo’s Departure

Slayer frontman Tom Araya has elaborated on the reasons behind long-time drummer Dave Lombardo‘s departure from the band earlier this year. Previous reports indicated a pay dispute before the band were set to play Soundwave Festival saw him fired from the group.

“That whole issue came down to this: Dave had been jamming with us for a while, as a working member of the band, but he wasn’t a partner,” Araya told Steppin’ Out. “Like all things like that, you have to have agreements, so nobody feels cheated.”

“We had ongoing issues,” Araya continued, “and finally he put us in a position where we had to find someone to replace him. He wasn’t happy, so he decided to have his Facebook rant and told the world about a lot of issues going on within the band that are legally binding and private.”

“I thought that was wrong and it was upsetting,” explained Arya. “A lot of the claims he made were untrue…Part of the agreement is you don’t do that. Kerry, Jeff and I got on the phone and made a collective decision and we let Dave go and gave Paul [Bostaph] a call.”

Araya also recently told Steppin’ Out Magazine that the future of the band is uncertain following the completion of their current tour, even suggesting that the band may call it a day, saying:

“At the end of this tour, Kerry and I are going to have to sit down and talk as far as how we want to move forward, if we want to move forward. There hasn’t been time for me and Kerry [King, guitarist] to talk. We’ve been on the road but we haven’t really sat down and talked about it.”

Araya indicated that the passing of guitarist Jeff Hanneman has forced the members of Slayer to reassess their commitment to the band.

(Via MetalHammer)

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