Sacked Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo has revealed the last time he heard from his former bandmates was when Tom Araya texted him to say Jeff Hanemann had died.
Lombardo was dismissed in February last year following a contractual dispute. Guitarist Hanneman passed away three months later as a result of the alcohol-related condition that had sidelined him for the previous two years.
The drummer tells Rock na Mochila: “We lost communication ever since February 2013.
“The only text message I received was from Tom, and he said, ‘Dave, Jeff died.’ I went to Israel and did a drum clinic, and I landed in Los Angeles and I received that text from Tom. That’s the last communication I’ve had.”
Asked if there was any chance of returning for a fourth stint with the thrash giants, Lombardo recently said: “They can knock on my door – but I don’t know if I’ll answer.”
Meanwhile, Slayer have confirmed they’re in the studio working on what will be their 11th album. The follow-up to 2009’s World Painted Blood is to be their first with Exodus guitarist Gary Holt, who’d been standing in for Hanneman since 2011.