Araya: Why Lombardo had to go

Tom Araya has broken his silence on why Slayer decided to fire founding drummer Dave Lombardo.

The frontman says the decision was taken jointly by himself, Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, ahead of the guitarist’s death in May.

Lombardo was dropped ahead of an Australian tour in February then later replaced by Paul Bostaph, who’s now on his third stint with the thrash giants.

Araya tells Steppin’ Out: “Dave had been jamming with us for a while as a working member of the band, but he wasn’t a partner.

“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 things that are legally binding and private.”

The bassist and vocalist says he found the drummer’s move “upsetting,” adding: “A lot of the claims he made were untrue. Part of the agreement is that you don’t do that.

“Kerry, Jeff and I got on the phone and made a collective decision: we let Dave go and gave Paul a call.”

Araya believes Bostaph’s return has injected new passion into the band, which continues to feature Exodus guitarist Gary Holt in place of Hanneman. “Paul’s in hyperdrive and kicking ass,” the frontman states. “It makes us play faster. People are commenting on how energetic we’ve been lately – we’re playing faster than we would have. It’s a good injection of adrenaline.”

Lombardo revealed in July that he’d heard about Bostaph’s return online, the same way Slayer fans did. Araya recently said he and King were planning to discuss the band’s future and whether it has one after their current touring duties, although Bostaph has confidently claimed they’ll keep going, partly in memory of Hanneman.