Deathcore band Slaughter To Prevail has issued a comprehensive response to recent allegations made by their former drum technician, Thomas Finch. Last week, Finch publicly criticized the band’s management, citing what he described as a chaotic and disrespectful touring environment.
In a detailed social media post, Finch claimed his departure from the tour was due to “mismanagement, financial instability, and blatant disrespect” towards crew members. While Finch commended the band members themselves as “wonderful, fun-loving humans,” he directed his grievances squarely at the group’s new manager and tour manager.
His accusations included weeks-long delays in payment, which he stated were only resolved after direct contact with a band member. He further alleged that crew members were compelled to arrange their own return flights, faced issues with a non-functional band card for food and lodging on days off, and that over $128,000 was purportedly spent on unusable inflatable props. Finch also claimed a lack of a clear pay schedule, routinely ignored invoices, and instances where crew members covered expenses out-of-pocket without guaranteed reimbursement. As an example, Finch stated he purchased pizza for the crew when they were left without meals, only to be told by management that reimbursement was unlikely, and he claimed he had still not been paid for it at the time of his post. He concluded his message by urging fellow crew members to demand contracts and clear pay timelines before agreeing to work with the band’s camp, asserting that “There are too many great artists out there who DO take care of their people.”
Slaughter To Prevail has now formally addressed these allegations, issuing a counter-statement to clarify their position. The band firmly stated: “We always pay our crew. We do everything we can to run this band properly and fix any problems as they come up.” They expressed surprise at Finch’s public post, asserting that he never raised any concerns during the tour and had, in fact, asked to continue working with them up until the day he left. The band found it “strange” that he chose to air his grievances online immediately rather than addressing them directly, suggesting he may be using the opportunity to promote his business.
Slaughter To Prevail‘s statement continued, “We’re shocked to see him use this opportunity to grow his business when it should be about genuine crew issues that we could fix easily. Which he knew that we could as we had fixed issues for him before.” They believe the true reason for Finch’s departure was a conversation with their manager, who informed him he would not be continuing as their drum tech on upcoming tours, as the band already has a full-time drum tech based in Australia. The current shows were initially booked as one-off festivals, making it impractical to fly Finch over.
The band indicated that the public accusations and slander began after this conversation. They described the exchange as “tense but it was mutual and direct between adults,” occurring in a public area of the green room with crew, venue staff, band, and friends present. Slaughter To Prevail refuted many of Finch’s claims, providing a specific response to claims that the crew had no place to stay. They stated that when the crew bus broke down, the band gave up their personal hotel rooms and converted them into twin rooms to ensure the crew had a place to sleep while awaiting repairs.
Regarding the delayed payment claim, the band stated it was “not accurate,” attributing the initial delay to Finch providing incorrect bank information, which caused the payment to bounce. They acknowledged a subsequent short holiday taken by their business manager but stated payment was made within two weeks of the show. Slaughter To Prevail admitted that they could improve by issuing proper agreements to all short-term contractors to clearly state all conditions and payment schedules, aiming to avoid similar situations in the future.
As foreign nationals, the band acknowledged the challenges of setting up a business structure, including credit cards and banking, in the United States. They explained that security issues with their debit cards had caused difficulties, but they worked hard to find solutions to keep the tour running smoothly. They asserted that in rare situations where crew covered small expenses on their behalf, it was “normal and reimbursed quickly through standard recharge invoices.”
Slaughter To Prevail concluded by stating that they conducted a full internal review into crew conditions after the accusations were made, speaking to everyone involved to ensure a professional, respectful, and fair environment. They found “no evidence of any mistreatment or wrongdoing” and have welcomed all advice for future tours. The band also revealed that they had received warnings about Finch before the tour but chose to “give them a chance and stayed quiet,” never publicly sharing his past or present behavior. They stated that “line has been crossed” now. They also mentioned that another crew member close to Finch was not asked to return due to poor work, and that the band issued a standard non-disclosure agreement to protect their team and business, a common practice in touring.
“We are not perfect but we are focused. We try to do the right thing and we care deeply about our music, our fans and the people we work with. Thank you for supporting us. We move forward. There will be no further statements but will happily see this through court if he wants to continue,” Slaughter To Prevail concluded, signaling an end to public discourse on the matter from their side, but an openness to legal recourse if the allegations persist. At the time of writing, Finch has not issued a direct response to Slaughter To Prevail’s latest statement, though his original post remains active on social media, leaving the situation a stark example of the complexities and tensions that can arise behind the scenes of a touring band.
Read the full Slaughter to Prevail statement below:
“We always pay our crew. We do everything we can to run this band properly and fix any problems as they come up.
“The person who made the public post never raised any concerns during the tour. In fact, they asked to continue working with us right up until the day they chose to leave. Which left us very shocked after he personally texted our drummer that he was leaving and never spoke to us about any issues beforehand. Instead he put his grievances online immediately, which is strange to us as it looks like he’s using this opportunity to promote his business.
“We’re shocked to see him use this opportunity to grow his business when it should be about genuine crew issues that we could fix easily. Which he knew that we could as we had fixed issues for him before. Despite his statement saying his wish the band to be successful, he left our drummer and pushed his statement as far as he could to hurt our reputation over problems we could have solved for him. Whilst we understand there is a protocol with leadership and crew grievances, he broke this on the first day with no consequences because his problem was solved easily but then he prefer to make this public instead of actually trying to fix the issues again. Which looks very opportunistic to us.
“We believe the reason he chose to leave was after a conversation with our manager who told him he would not be continuing as our drum tech on upcoming tours. We already have a full-time drum tech based in Australia. When we first booked these shows, they were intended as one-off festivals and it didn’t make sense to fly him over.
“After that conversation, the public accusations and slander began. We believe the conversations were tense but it was mutual and direct between adults. People spoke their minds. This happened in a public part of the green room with crew, venue staff, band and friends present.
“Many of the claims in the post are not true from our perspective. For example, on the day the crew bus broke down during a travel day, we had only booked day rooms at a hotel in El Paso. Because of the situation, the band gave up their personal rooms and had them converted into twin rooms so the crew could sleep while waiting for the repaired bus to arrive and take them to the next show in Tucson.
“The claim about delayed payment is also not accurate. The delay was started by the individual giving our business team incorrect bank information, which caused the payment to bounce. After that and a short holiday taken by our business manager, payment was made within two weeks of the show. Which is one thing we can improve is to make sure all short-term contractors are issued with proper agreements that clearly state all conditions to avoid situations like this in the future with correct payment schedules.
“As foreign nationals, we have tried our best to set up a business structure in the United States including credit cards and banking. It has taken time to sort, especially for credit cards as we had security issues with our debit cards that were out of control. We worked hard to find solutions to keep the tour running smoothly. In rare situations crew covered small expenses on our behalf which is normal and reimbursed quickly through standard recharge invoices.
“After the accusations were made we conducted a full internal review into crew conditions. We spoke to everyone involved to make sure the environment is professional, respectful and fair. We found no evidence of any mistreatment or wrongdoing and have welcomed all advice to make future tours better. We take these things seriously and want everyone we work with to feel safe and confident in their role.
“We also want people to know we had warnings about this person before the tour. We gave them a chance and stayed quiet. We never shared any of their past or present behaviour public even when we had reason to. But now that line has been crossed.
“Another crew member close to this individual was also not asked to return because of poor work. To protect our team and our business, we issued a standard non disclosure agreement. This is common in touring and protects everyone when private business or personal information is being shared publicly.
“We are not perfect but we are focused. We try to do the right thing and we care deeply about our music, our fans and the people we work with. Thank you for supporting us. We move forward. There will be no further statements but will happily see this through court if he wants to continue.”
