Slayer have released a statement regarding yesterday’s news that drummer Dave Lombardo had been fired from their Australian tour. While the band do not openly refute Lombardo’s version of events, they claim the substance and timeline of the drummer’s statement is incorrect and refuse to shed light on their side of story “out of respect” for the drummer.
The statement also confirms that Jon Dette will fill in on drums and suggests that the band had to replace Lombardo as the band were unable to “meet [Lombardo’s] new demands in the short amount of time available prior to leaving for Australia”.
Yesterday Lombardo took to his Facebook page to announce the news of his firing and stated that he too was shocked by the turn of events. Lombardo wrote that his termination was a result of differing with Kerry King over the possibility of a new business model that allowed Slayer to better profit from their tours.
The news came as quite a shock given Slayer’s Australian tour commitments, which includes performing as part of Soundwave 2013 and a headlining date in Sydney.
Slayer’s statement (via Blabbermouth):
“SLAYER confirms that Jon Dette will drum for the band on its Australian tour that starts this Saturday, February 23 in Brisbane. As regards Dave Lombardo’s Facebook post, SLAYER does not agree with Mr. Lombardo’s substance or the timeline of the events, except to acknowledge that Mr. Lombardo came to the band less than a week before their scheduled departure for Australia to present an entirely new set of terms for his engagement that were contrary to those that had been previously agreed upon. The band was unable to reach an agreement on these new demands in the short amount of time available prior to leaving for Australia. There is more to the account than what Mr. Lombardo has offered, but out of respect to him, SLAYER will not be commenting further. SLAYER is grateful to its Australian fans for their understanding of this unfortunate last-minute change, and very much looks forward to seeing them at these shows.”
