SLAYER
Interview by Mike Gitter
Slayer, oh, wonderfully ugly Slayer. They're the
blackest, dirtiest post-Sabbath grunge-stomper ever
to crunch the living tar out of saccharine-sweet
southern California. Slayer is pure soul concrete
poured into willing and unwilling orifices. It's a band
that's found its sound and knows what to do with it.
Raucous chainsaw rhythms bury teeth in unblinking
post-pubescent teen faces and pull away mouthfuls
of pink baby fat. Senator's wives beware, Slayer is
your worst nightmare realized.
"You must be Mike," grins the surprisingly soft-
spoken Tom Araya, the band's bassist and lead
grunter. Sure, he may be a Che Guevara look-alike,
but for a guy who regularly scars his tonsils on lyrics
like "Ripping apart/Severing flesh/Gouging eyes/Tear-
ing limb from limb," he doesn't seem all bad. Surprise,
surprise, the Slayer lads aren't the psychopathic,
mass-murdering, grandma-defiling, Beelzebub-
hailing miscreants they're often made out to be. They
mostly keep to themselves, exuding an air of un-
mistakable shyness. Guitarist Kerry King and drum-
mer Dave Lombardo are married men, and they
regard their respective personal lives with the utmost
respect. Araya and lead guitarist Jeff Henneman are
more personable chaps who act as spokesmen for
the greatest mega-velocity band ever known.
Born in a North Long Beach garage in 1981 by the
same underground that spawned the more palatable
likes of Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeath, In L.A. they went overboard and called a full riot squad.
Slayer was unique. Combining evil ravings
They treated the kids like animals...clubbing them and
kicking them instead of simply asking them to move.
with the rage and power of hardcore,
Slayer quickly graduated from the world
of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden covers to
the world of original recordings with their
1983 debut, Show No Mercy, a worthy
contemporary of Venom's Black Metal and
Motorhead's Iron Fist. By 1985, after
releasing a three-song Ep, Haunting the
Chapel, and a second album, Hell Awaits,
their underground following was swelling
to epic proportions.
Enter Def Jam wunderkind Rick Rubin,
the twenty-five-year old noted for bringing
rap to the mainstream. He had no previous
experience with metal (other than being
a fan), yet Reign in Blood, the band's first
effort with Rubin in the producer's chair,
set the standard by which all thrash must
be measured. Clocking in at a mere
twenty-eight minutes, it was faster, louder
and heavier than anything that had
preceded it. It also marked Slayer's move
from the land of sadism and satan to the
land of social issues, sadism and satan.
Two years later, the four crusty Los
Angelenos and their bearded mentor pro-
duced South of Heaven, possibly Slayer's
finest moment. No longer a race to see
who can get to the finish line first, SOH
is a Sterno-fueled classic along the lines.
of Blue Oyster Cult's Tyranny and Muta-
tion or (dare I say?) Sabbath's Paranoid.
Ancient history
Tom We formed in 1981, practiced a
set of cover tunes, mostly old Maiden and
Priest, and then began to play around LA.
The only thing happening back then was
the early glam scene; Motley Crue and
Ratt were just starting to get big. We were
more interested in doing our own thing.
Jeff I was listening to a lot of punk.
After all that really tedious 70s metal, punk
was like a breath of fresh air. A lot of punk
bands like Black Flag and TSOL were so
much heavier and more intense than
anything I had ever heard before. I still love
the first TSOL record with "Abolish
Government" on it, the same with the first
two Germs records, Bad Religion's first
album, DRI...I even shaved my head one
night before we had a show.
Tom-We were supposed to play Gaz-
zari's in LA, and along comes Jeff with his
freshly shaved head, looking like Mr.
Potatohead trying to headbang. It was
hilarious, but we probably didn't think so
at the time. We were still playing lots of
covers and only had a few originals then.
Tom Araya-I think the future's with bands like us."
The Influence of Metallica
Jeff-They were totally influential. Back
in '82 Kerry and I used to go see Metallica
and they inspired us with their heaviness
and the fact that they wanted to be dif-
ferent. They had a lot of the same energy
as punk. To be honest, I'll say that they got
us started.
Kerry They were influential enough
to make me say, "Wow, they're doing
something different. Maybe we should try
a different approach." Our music was
similar but our lyrics were different.
Tom I can't believe people took that
whole satanic trip so seriously, considering
that it was meant to be completely for fun.
On Show No Mercy we had side 6 and side
66. C'mon, we couldn't be serious.
The Slayer/Megadeth connection
Kerry-I played guitar for Megadeth for
their first five shows out of the goodness
of my black little heart and I've been dog
ged ever since by Mustaine. He can say
whatever he wants about us; I'm above
saying anything about him. After I told him
I wouldn't join his band, I suddenly be-
came the worst guitarist he had ever seen.
Tom He asked me to be his singer,
but I said no because Show No Mercy had
just come out and was doing really well.
He then called Jeff, who also turned him
down. On top of all that, when Dave quit
Slayer for a little while. Megadeth had just
lost their drummer and lead guitarist, sol
Mustaine asked Dave to try out. Dave tried
out but just didn't like Mustaine at all. I
think the four of us totally burned the guy.
Is Reign In Blood the greatest thrash
album ever?
Kerry Yes. It was original and nobody
can copy Jeff's or my riffs. A lot of thrash
bands today are based more on chord pro-
gressions than riffs. Riffs are actually the
key ingredient to making your songs.
catchy and powerful. Metallica used to be
like that, but I don't think they're like that
anymore. I think it was the right sound for
the right time.
Tom I think that album made a state-
ment. Ten songs in 28 minutes, each song
having three verses, two choruses and a
couple leads thrown in here and there. A
full song structure in a minute and a half,
two minutes. When we rehearsed for the
record, we thought we had about forty
minutes worth of material, but when we
finished the final mix, we were in for some.
what of a surprise. Still, it's ten songs and
every one counts. ►