TOM ARAYA: Why DAVE LOMBARDO Is No Longer In SLAYER

During a brand new interview with Brian Aberback of New Jersey's Steppin' Out magazine, SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya was asked about the band's decision to part ways with drummer Dave Lombardo bring back Paul Bostaph.

"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," Tom began. "Like all things like that, you have to have agreements, so nobody feels cheated. We had ongoing issues 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. A lot of the claims he made were untrue. Part of the agreement is you don't do that. Kerry [King, SLAYER guitarist], Jeff [Hanneman, then-SLAYER guitarist] and I got on the phone and made a collective decision and we let Dave go and gave Paul a call. Paul said he'd be happy to come back. He has brought some life back into our live performances. He's in hyper drive and kicking ass, which makes us play faster. People have commented on how energetic we've been lately. We're playing faster than we would have. It's good injection of adrenaline."

Lombardo sat out SLAYER's Australian tour in February/March due to a contract dispute with the other members of the group. Filling in for him was Jon Dette (TESTAMENT, ANTHRAX).

During an interview with the KZRADIO.NET alternative radio station in Israel conducted on May 1 — just one day before the tragic passing of SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman — Lombardo stated about his the circumstances that led to him being absent from SLAYER's current trek: "Basically, I had to renegotiate my contract two and a half years ago and I got an attorney because it was too complicated for me to do it myself. And my attorney was asking questions. And the answers she got from her questions, they weren't correct; they weren't the right answers. So we worked on it for two and a half years. And 2013 came around and SLAYER had to go on tour, and I said, 'Guys, I can't go on tour unless we resolve this, I've been advised.'"

He continued: "What I need is clarity — clarity and transparency.

"You go and make money for somebody, and if somebody is gonna pay you a percentage, you need to know where all this goes. They say I don't deserve to know, but I think if you're gonna pay somebody a percentage, they deserve to know. Because how are you gonna know what you got paid when you don't know everything else?

"It's a little complicated, and there's more to it as well.

"They feel that because I left in 1992 and I left for 10 years, they feel I don't deserve [to know all the details of their business].

"I mean, I love the guys — they're like my brothers — and I wish this didn't happen. But now there's like this wall between us."

Regarding some fans' criticism that money should not get in the way of the members of SLAYER making music together, Lombardo said: "What people don't understand is that, being a musician, you have to be a part businessman. There's contracts… If you're a musician and you don't have a contract and you don't follow up on your business, people are gonna take from you and they're gonna steal from you.

"Chuck Berry, Ray Charles… all those guys in the early days, they made, let's say, $500. Well, a poor musician will be happy with $100. 'Wow, I made $100.' Well, what happened to the other $400? Who took the other $400?

"[Being] musicians, you have to understand business as well as your art and your music, and you have to be professional."

Bostaph was SLAYER's drummer from 1992 until 2001 and recorded four albums with the band — the gold-certified "Divine Intervention" (1994),the 1996 punk covers album "Undisputed Attitude", "Diabolus In Musica" (1998),"God Hates Us All" (2001) that received a Grammy nomination for "Best Metal Performance", as well as the DVD "War At The Warfield" (2001),also certified gold. In addition to SLAYER, Bostaph has been a member of FORBIDDEN, EXODUS, SYSTEMATIC and TESTAMENT.