Slayer fires Dave Lombardo on Aussie tour over contract complaints

By August Brown

Feb. 22, 2013 12 AM PT

Slayer may have helped create thrash metal with its songs about apocalypse and hellfire, but apparently contract complaints are the real abomination.

The band’s drummer and co-founding member Dave Lombardo has been kicked off the group’s upcoming Australian tour, and he posted a long Facebook note detailing his side of what happened. In short, Lombardo said that after questioning the group’s expenses and accounting practices on tour, he was informed by the band’s lawyers that he wouldn’t be needed on the upcoming tour and would be replaced by fill-in Jon Dette (who played drums for the band between 1992 and 2002).

Lombardo also accuses his bandmates of forbidding him to speak to the press and that they coerced him into signing a long-term contract where the accounting details of tours would be kept hidden from him. “I was told that I would not be paid until I signed a long form contract which gave me no written assurance of how much or on what basis management would deduct commissions, nor did it provide me access to the financial budgets or records for review. It also forbade me to do interviews or make statements having to do with the band, in effect a gagging order,” he wrote. The full post is here.

In response, Slayer released its own statement on the matter, saying in part that “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.”

It’s not clear yet if the switch is temporary or for a longer term. Lombardo closed his post on an optimistic note, however: “I remain hopeful that we can resolve our issues,” Lombardo said. “But once again, I sincerely apologize to all of our fans in Australia who spent their money expecting to see the 3 of us original Slayer members. I look forward to seeing you in the future.”

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