Drummer Dave Lombardo has served a couple of stints in Slayer, but the odds of him returning for another round appear to be pretty slim. In a new interview with Metal Hammer, Slayer's Kerry King and Tom Araya discuss their relationship with Lombardo and the chances that he would ever return.

Lombardo was famously ousted after discussing contractual details online and the band finding a fill-in drummer to play Australian tour dates on short notice after the blow up. Frontman Tom Araya states (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), "I hate to say it, but it wasn't the first time he put us in that position. In the end, he waited until we got on a plane to Australia, and then he's on the Internet, laying it all out for the world to see, when it was nobody's business but ours. We found out about it 16 hours after the fact. That should give you an idea of the personality involved. If it wasn't deliberate, it certainly came across that way."

When asked if the door was closed forever on Lombardo's potential return, King stated, "I would imagine. I've learned a lot ... [Laughs] I learn something new every day, let me tell you. But I never say never, because I thought that door had slammed shut the first time. But is it shut today? Yeah, that lock's on there pretty good."

As stated, Slayer initially called upon Jon Dette to fill the void while touring and eventually lured former drummer Paul Bostaph back into the fold. Bostaph joined the group on the road and will appear on the band's upcoming album.

In our recent interview with King, the guitarist stated of Bostaph's contributions to the new disc, "People are gonna be stoked when they hear what he did on this record. I used to say God Hates [Us All] was his Reign in Blood, but the new one is his Reign in Blood."

Look for the new Slayer disc this summer.

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