was Dave Lombardo just fired?

[RelentlessOblivion]

Statement From Dave Lombardo Regarding Slayer Australian Tour 2013 I want to personally apologize to all of our fans in Australia who have bought tickets for the tour expecting to see me in my usual place on the drums. So that you all know the truth, as of the end of the business day on February 14th, I was notified that I would not be drumming for the tour in Australia. I’m saddened, and to be honest I am shocked by the situation. ... Last year, I discovered 90% of Slayer’s tour income was being deducted as expenses including the professional fees paid to management, costing the band millions of dollars and leaving 10% or less to split amongst the four of us. In my opinion, this is not the way a band’s business should operate. I tried rectifying it by letting my band mates know, and Tom and I hired auditors to figure out what happened, but I was denied access to detailed information and the necessary back up documents. 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. On top of this, 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. Last Monday, I sat down with Kerry and Tom to rehearse for Australia and to propose a new business model that I felt was the best way forward for Slayer to confidently protect itself so we could do what we do best . . . play for the fans. Kerry made it clear he wasn’t interested in making changes and said if I wanted to argue the point, he would find another drummer. On Thursday, I arrived at rehearsals at 1 pm as scheduled, but Kerry did not show. Rather, at 6:24 pm I received an email from the lawyers saying I was being replaced for the Australian dates. I remain hopeful that we can resolve our issues. 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. Sincerely, Dave Lombardo

[BlutAusNerd]

Yeah, I just read that on another forum, pretty legitimately fucked up. The band is definitely being mismanaged if just the name Slayer can pack any venue, but they can't afford to pay their drummer. Kerry probably doesn't give a shit because he's making money from being in those Jagermeister commercials, or maybe he's helping to facilitate the fucked up accounting, who knows. I don't care a ton because Slayer sucked when I saw them live, and they haven't released an album that I've cared about in over 20 years, so maybe it's time for them to throw in the towel.

[gus666]

Yeah' date=' I just read that on another forum, pretty legitimately fucked up. The band is definitely being mismanaged if just the name Slayer can pack any venue, but they can't afford to pay their drummer. Kerry probably doesn't give a shit because he's making money from being in those Jagermeister commercials, or maybe he's helping to facilitate the fucked up accounting, who knows. [b']I don't care a ton because Slayer sucked when I saw them live, and they haven't released an album that I've cared about in over 20 years, so maybe it's time for them to throw in the towel.

It's kinda funny this happening and you writing this, Blut, coz I was going to say more or less the same thing in the Controversial Metal Opinions. From a career (and, yes, business) point of view, they should have split about 15 years ago and did the 'original line-up comeback' routine. They maybe wouldn't be so ropey live or have produced so many piss-poor albums. And for this to happen over money? Jesus H Christ. How desperately sad.

[BlutAusNerd]

Slayer's old stuff ranks among my favorite metal albums ever, so it's not easy for me to say that, but I was immensely disappointed by their live performance. They were sloppy, unenthusiastic, and played a terrible set list with nothing from their 2 best albums (IMO of course), but people still want to come see them to hear Angel of Death and Raining Blood, which seems like a waste of time.

[ReturntoCarthage]

Who fucking cares. Slayer have been shit for two decades now, and if King wants to run that awful hack of a band now into the ground let him.

[forge]

Nothing about this here yet: Slayer News | The Official Slayer Site That is a big shock to me. I've been listening to them more than 25 years, and I don't plan on giving that up. Just pissed off, I guess.

[RelentlessOblivion]

just thought I'd report this but so far as I'm concerned Slayer have released only four albums worth owning those are: Show No Mercy, Hell Awaits, South Of Heaven and Divine Intervention, everything else is either generic as fuck or is just completely boring, or sacrifices songwriting in the pursuit of speed, I have to admit though I've never really been a huge Slayer fan I think they're extremely over-rated

[gus666]

It's probably heresay, but I do feel that Lombardo is over rated as a drummer too. But I suppose he's part of the 'set up' in much the same way as Phil Rudd is with AC/DC.

[forge]

Kids today.

[BlutAusNerd]

No way, Lombardo is every bit the beast he's made out to be. Nobody was playing as fast, hard, and crazy as he was that early on, he was instrumental in pushing metal's drummers into more extreme directions.

[NTNR]

No way' date=' Lombardo is every bit the beast he's made out to be. Nobody was playing as fast, hard, and crazy as he was that early on, he was instrumental in pushing metal's drummers into more extreme directions.[/quote'] He still has it. When ban and I saw them two-three years ago he was on fire. Literally. If Slayer has degenerated into Kerry's project then fine. I haven't cared about them since 97. The fact that Kerry's played all the guitar parts minus Jeff's "solos" for probably 15 years now, should speak volumes to their actual commitment to the craft. I remember reading an interview with Tom a few years ago where he said Slayer had one album left (this was before World Painted Suck) before they were going to move on. The fun is over, the desire is gone, but they're institutionalized. They can't just go down to a local business and make what they're making now. Reading what Dave said only adds to my point. I've been saying for years that Slayer is a high price cover band and that's because they are. Most of their sets over the last 10 years have been exclusively Reign in Blood, that's pathetic. As one of the big four, perhaps the one with the most die hard following, they should be making more than the paltry 10% that Kerry lets them have. No manager is worth more than 5% of what you make and if they're spending more than that on it then ya, somethings wrong. Dave left before due to money and I don't blame him. He was married and with child when he quit back in the 80's because he couldn't afford the rent where his wife was staying. Despite the common view, musicians should be paid for their work. They begged him to come back and he refused until they altered his contract. I'm sure he didn't make much more but they had him where they wanted him. Sadly, he could've started or joined for that matter, another band and probably been a bigger success and happy. Instead he has to deal with this. His relevance has long since passed even though he's an excellent drummer, making it necessary for him to stay with Slayer. It's bad situation.

[RelentlessOblivion]

agree 100% about Lombardo's drumming, he is fantastic and it's a great tragedy that he never went on to bigger and better things, he really should have

[H34VYM3T4LD4V3]

I agree aswell, he is a brilliant drummer, he was wasted in slayer though.

[RelentlessOblivion]

as I said on the previous page Slayer have four albums worth owning that's it, but those four albums are very good and that's the only reason I bothered to buy a Slayer shirt (the four albums are Show No Mercy, Hell Awaits, South Of Heaven and Divine Intervention)

[gus666]

No way' date=' Lombardo is every bit the beast he's made out to be. Nobody was playing as fast, hard, and crazy as he was that early on, he was instrumental in pushing metal's drummers into more extreme directions.[/quote'] Oh I agree, he was/is a great drummer, but his importance as 'irreplaceable' is over stated. Just because you're ground breaking doesn't mean you're the best. His importance to Slayer is more to do with his style and nostalgia. Other drummers will maybe not 'fit the bill' but be better than him. I refer back to Phil Rudd because he's not technically brilliant, but his (technically better) replacements have tried to do it their way and it sticks out like a sore thumb. There's dozens of drummers better than Lombardo who could drum better than him, but the fans won't see it like that. They'll look at who's drumming rather than listening to the drumming. And they may not be wrong. But the whole thing that sooks the boaby is that a unique band, genuine legends, are squabbling over percentages. It's nothing new-The Damned fell out constantly over it, many have split over it and more have just chucked music altogether. It's the money men more than the bands themselves who're to blame. The suits take the dosh and let the creators of the dosh fight over the crumbs. That's the way of the capitalist world, unfortunately. And that's why I'm not a suit...

[Escape From The Sky]

Daves a great drummer, his side projects have shown him doing some crazy stuff, especially his work with Mike Patton. It is sad though things boil down to money, in this day and age where people mainly download albums, the only real money is from touring and sponsors really, so to only get 10% is dodgy. Split that 4 ways and it's chump change. Normally behind these kind of things will be one main person collecting the majority of the revenue, probably a manager or one of the band members.

[BlutAusNerd]

Re: was Dave Lombardo just fired?

Daves a great drummer, his side projects have shown him doing some crazy stuff, especially his work with Mike Patton. It is sad though things boil down to money, in this day and age where people mainly download albums, the only real money is from touring and sponsors really, so to only get 10% is dodgy. Split that 4 ways and it's chump change. Normally behind these kind of things will be one main person collecting the majority of the revenue, probably a manager or one of the band members.

Yeah, he's great in Fantomas, and pulls out some crazy blast beats that you would never hear him do with Slayer. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[theheavymetalblogger666]

i get the impression Kerry king is a arsehole. it seem like Dave was being pretty legitimate with his concerns and maybe steeped on a few toes with his questions . and got the boot for it. shame really this guy is a great fucking drummer and was the powerhorse in slayer. i hope they sort things out and they come back and make a great new album. oh wait they haven't made a good album in years ah fuck ig that's the end then

[forge]

i get the impression Kerry king is a arsehole. it seem like Dave was being pretty legitimate with his concerns and maybe steeped on a few toes with his questions . and got the boot for it. shame really this guy is a great fucking drummer and was the powerhorse in slayer. i hope they sort things out and they come back and make a great new album. oh wait they haven't made a good album in years ah fuck ig that's the end then

I've got to go mourn this properly, maybe with some quality vodka over the weekend.

[RelentlessOblivion]

now if Metallica can just call it quits and Anthrax can continue making albums like Worship Music the Big Four shows can be replaced by the Thrash Survivors shows (featuring Megadeth and Anthrax)