Slayer issue statement regarding Dave Lombardo's departure

Slayer have issued a statement regarding the sudden replacement of drummer Dave Lombardo with Jon Dette, which caused a huge stir Wednesday night and reverberated through the metal world on Thursday. Here’s what they had to say:

Slayer confirms that Jon Dette (Testament) will drum for the band on its Australian tour that starts this Saturday, February 23 in Brisbane. As regards Dave Lombardo's Facebook post, 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. There is more to the account than what Mr. Lombardo has offered, but out of respect to him, Slayer will not be commenting further.  Slayer is grateful to its Australian fans for their understanding of this unfortunate last-minute change, and very much looks forward to seeing them at these shows.

The fact that this quarrel has been so public probably means it won’t end well, but Slayer fans everywhere hope Kerry King comes to his senses because let’s face it, the band is now a fraud. Everyone was fine with Gary Holt ably stepping in for the injured Jeff Hanneman – the man responsible for the bulk of the band’s greatest songs – but to lose Dave Lombardo now, they can’t go out and call themselves “Slayer” now.

Many in the music world has an opinion on this mess, but musician and Decibel writer John Darnielle had the best line via Twitter, which sums up what so many of us are feeling.

No Hanneman, no Lombardo, no Slayer.