THE BEAST

Ex- SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo has told Drum! magazine in a new interview that he doesn't pay attention to what his former band is doing. "I don't keep track of SLAYER ," he said. "I have too much to deal with over here."

The 54-year-old musician, who splits his time between crossover pioneers SUICIDAL TENDENCIES , horror-punk icons MISFITS and hardcore supergroup DEAD CROSS , went on to say that he has no intention of calling it quits anytime soon.

"People at my age talk about retirement — that's not even in my playing cards," he said. "When you're given something like this, where you get to do something you love so much, you don't disrespect it. I feel most alive when I'm onstage, when I'm working. In 25 years, people will be saying, 'That's Dave Lombardo ? He's still playing? Who's he playing for now? Who the hell is that?'"

Lombardo was effectively fired from SLAYER after sitting out the group's Australian tour in February/March 2013 due to a contract dispute with the other bandmembers. He has since been replaced by Paul Bostaph , who was previously SLAYER 's drummer from 1992 until 2001.

Shortly after his dismissal, Lombardo said that he discovered that 90 percent of SLAYER 's tour income was being deducted as expenses, including fees to management, costing the band millions and leaving them with about 10 percent to split four ways. While he and bassist/singer Tom Araya hired auditors to figure out what had happened, Lombardo said he was never allowed to see any of the information obtained.

A few years ago, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King said that "when Dave was in [the band] this last time, I figured I'd be on the stage with him until one of us fell off the stage, dead. Things change. He got some bad advice and listened to some bad advice, gave us an ultimatum ten days before we went to Australia [to do the Soundwave festival tour]. And I said, 'I can't have this over my head.' And I feel bad for Dave to this day; I really feel bad for him because he shot himself in the foot. Maybe he thought he had the upper hand, but you ain't gonna get me." Via Blabbermouth