LORD Parts Ways With Drummer, Announces Replacement

Australian metallers LORD have parted ways with longtime drummer Tim "T.Y." Yatras and have replaced him with Damian Costas.

Commented mainman Lord Tim, "One of the things that we all agreed on when LORD was formed was that everyone does it for all the right reasons. If your heart is no longer in it, don't wait until it impacts on our friendships or the stability of the band, speak up and if it's time to move on, then so be it; no hard feelings at all.

"T.Y. injured his back recently after some excessive partying after a gig earlier this year which caused him to miss a few shows. This break gave him time to think about his life and he came to the conclusion that he wasn't feeling the hunger for LORD any more and wanted to try other things. We remain great friends and are all very sad to see him go, and wish him all the best with his other projects and whatever band he will no doubt be playing for next. In my opinion, he is one of the best metal drummers in Australia, so it won't be long until he's out and about again tearing up the stage.

"We'd like to introduce everyone to our new drummer Damian 'Damo' Costas. Damo has been a long-time fan of LORD and DUNGEON prior to that and his previous bands had supported lord several times. We would often remark on what an amazing talent this guy had and that if he kept at it, he would be something special. When T.Y. was forced out of playing live for us, Damo stepped in with just one rehearsal and played our set flawlessly, having already known the entire LORD and DUNGEON back catalogue back-to-front. After T.Y. announced he wanted to leave, Damo was the logical choice as his replacement.

"T.Y. will continue to play with LORD until the final gig on the first leg of our 'Set In Stone' tour on June 12 in Sydney, and from that point onwards Damo will be the new face behind the kit. We'd love everyone to come along to wish T.Y. a fond farewell and a warm welcome to Damo."

The follow-up to 2007's "Ascendence", "Set In Stone" will be released later in the year. Lord Tim previously stated about the upcoming CD, "I would describe this as not necessarily better than our last album, but more so this is more true to what LORD is about; the definitive LORD album, as it were. If I were to draw comparisons between LORDand DUNGEON [the band that spawned LORD when it disbanded in 2005], 'Ascendence' would be the equivalent of the 'Resurrection' album, and 'Set In Stone' would be the equivalent of 'A Rise To Power' — the album where most people would agree DUNGEON really hit its stride."

A promotional video for the new LORD album can be viewed below.

LORD was born from the ashes for DUNGEON, one of Australia's longest-running and most well-known metal bands until their dissolution in 2005. The band has gone on to tour with QUEENSRŸCHE, NIGHTWISH, SAXON, NEVERMORE, GAMMA RAY and more, and have released two albums — "A Personal Journey" and "Ascendence" — and an EP, "Hear No Evil", which contained a cover of the KYLIE MINOGUE song "On A Night Like This", which has gained national mainstream Australian radio airplay.