Slayer have certainly been in the headlines a lot of late. After the controversial sacking of original drummer Dave Lombardo over a pay dispute, came the tragic passing away of guitarist Jeff Hanneman.

Many presumed the band would reinstate Dave Lombardo after the passing of Jeff Hanneman, in an attempt to preserve as much of their original lineup as possible.

Slayer however, has revealed that former drummer, Paul Bostaph will be rejoining the band. Bostaph first joined Slayer from 1992-1996 and once again from 1997-2002. He contributed to three full-length Slayer records, 'Divine Intervention,' 'Diabolus in Musica' and 'God Hates Us All,' along with the band's 1996 covers album, 'Undisputed Attitude.' He has also palyed for Testament, Exodus, Systematic, Forbidden and Queensryche.

Dave Lombardo found out about the news via Twitter as no one in Slayer bothered to contact him.

Jeff Hanneman's replacement Gary Holt is also a former member of Exodus prompting some to suggest a merger of both bands into SLEXODER.

Below is the offical statement from Slayer..

SLAYER WELCOMES PAUL BOSTAPH BACK TO THE FOLD.

Slayer's Tom Araya and Kerry King are very pleased to announce that Paul Bostaph has rejoined the band on a full-time basis. Bostaph will be behind the drum kit beginning June 4 when Slayer kicks off the first leg of its 2013 international tour in Warsaw, Poland. Gary Holt will continue to fill in for fallen guitarist Jeff Hanneman.

Slayer's 2013 itinerary will have them playing 35 dates that will include headline shows as well as a number of major summer festivals in Europe, Eastern Europe and South America between June and October. The complete itinerary is below.

"Paul's a great drummer and a good friend, and we're very happy that he's decided to rejoin the band," said Tom Araya. "We're still pretty numb from the loss of Jeff, but we don't want to disappoint our European fans, and we need to begin moving forward...having Paul back in the band makes that a whole lot easier."

"I'm very excited to be rejoining Slayer," added Bostaph. "We spent a very intense ten years of our lives together, had a lot of fun, made a lot of great music, so for me, this feels like coming home."

Bostaph was Slayer's drummer from 1992 until 2001 and recorded four albums with the band - the Gold certified Divine Intervention (1994), the 1996 punk covers album Undisputed Attitude, Diabolus in Musica, (1998), God Hates us All (2001) that received a Grammy nomination for "Best Metal Performance," as well as the DVD War at the Warfield (2001), also certified Gold. In addition to Slayer, Bostaph has been a member of Forbidden, Exodus, Systematic and Testament.

Paul Bostaph with Slayer live for "Raining Blood"

Footage of a video tribute to Jeff Hanneman at his funeral.