Lombardo was dropped ahead of an Australian tour in February then later replaced by Paul Bostaph, who's now on his third stint with the thrash giants. "Dave had been jamming with us for a while as a working member of the band, but he wasn't a partner," Araya tells Steppin' Out.

"You have to have agreements so nobody feels cheated. We had ongoing issues, and finally he put us in a position where we had to find someone to replace him.