Even Tom Araya Thinks Slayer Should Call it a Day

What.

The.

FUCK.

Guitar World‘s upcoming Jeff Hanneman tribute issue apparently has a whole lot of interesting info in it — like that fact that even Kerry King was worried about Hanneman’s drinking (which makes the fact that he’s been publicly toasting Hanneman as a way to “honor” the late guitairst that much more distasteful) — but the single best part may be this quote from Tom Araya, which is either gonna bite him in the ass, bite Kerry King in the ass, or bite them both in the ass:

“After 30 years, it would literally be like starting over. To move forward without Jeff just wouldn’t be the same, and I’m not sure the fans would be so accepting of that drastic a change. Especially when you consider how much he contributed to the band musically. And you can have someone sit in for him, but there’s no one on this planet that can do what Jeff did. There’s no replacing him.”

So even Tom Araya thinks Slayer should call it a day in the wake of Hanneman’s death. Which makes me wonder why the hell he’s even moving forward with the band’s summer touring plans. Does he see it as a farewell tour? By Hanneman’s ghost, I hope so. Although it would be hilarious (albeit depressingly so) if King tried to continue Slayer without Araya.

Elsewhere in the article, Hanneman’s widow, Kathryn, reveals that even Hanneman was initially against Slayer proceeding with a different guitarist, telling his wife, “No. No. There’s no way in hell this band is going out without me.” She says that he eventually “became okay with it, but it’s the implication that doesn’t sit well with me — because it means that initially Hanneman was told the band was going to tour with Gary Holt, not that he had any part in that decision. That’s pretty fucked up.

[via Metal Insider]