Slayer Drummer Replaced for Australian Tour

Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo will not be joining the famed metal act on their upcoming Australian tour following a disagreement with fellow band members about the band’s finances.

In a post on his Facebook page, Lombardo apologized to fans that he would not be sitting behind the kit before outlining the events that led to his removal from the Australian tour leg. “I’m saddened, and to be honest, I am shocked by the situation,” he wrote.

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Last year, Lombardo said, he discovered that 90 percent of Slayer’s tour income was being deducted as expenses, including fees to management, costing the band millions and leaving them with about 10 percent to split four ways. While he and bassist/singer Tom Araya hired auditors to figure out what had happened, Lombardo says he was never allowed to see any of the information obtained.

“I spent the Christmas and New Year holidays realizing I had toured all over the world in 2012, but yet, had not been paid (except a small advance) or provided a proper accounting for a full year’s sweat and blood,” writes Lombardo. The drummer added that he was told he wouldn’t be paid until he signed a longform contract that didn’t tell him how much management would be paid and stipulated he couldn’t see any of the band’s financial documents or give any interviews or make statements about the band. Lombardo called the contract “in effect a gagging order.”

According to Lombardo, he spoke with Araya and Slayer guitarist Kerry King at a rehearsal last week about a new financial model, but King was not interested “and said if I wanted to argue the point, he would find another drummer.” When Lombardo showed up to the band’s next rehearsal, he was the only one there, then received an e-mail hours later from the band’s lawyers saying he’d been replaced for the Australian dates.

“I remain hopeful that we can resolve our issues,” wrote Lombardo at the end of the statement. “But once again, I sincerely apologize to all of our fans in Australia who spent their money expecting to see the three of us original Slayer members.”