TOM ARAYA THINKS HE’S KERRY KING
Every metalhead knows that Kerry King likes to talk shit like he’s being paid by the insult, but isn’t Tom Araya supposed to be the more even-keeled one? The dude who brings his family to the Grammys and thinks it might be time for Slayer to call it a day and openly admits that he’s a practicing Catholic who doesn’t believe Slayer’s anti-religion message so much as he thinks it’s just a great theme for evil sounding metal?
Well maybe Tom is tired of King getting all the attention, because in a recent interview with Stormbringer Webzine, he took a page from his longtime bandmate’s playbook and slammed Metallica’s latest album, Death Magnetic:
“I heard the album. That’s all you wanna know. I heard the album… That’s why when they [the SLAYER management] said, ‘We wanna release this [new SLAYER song], ‘Psychopathy Red’.’ And this is after listening to the [METALLICA] album. I’m like, ‘Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Let’s release this song and give it away, because at least the fans will know what they’re getting with our album.’ [Laughs] I’m being serious. When I heard the METALLICA album, it didn’t appeal to me at all. And all I could think about was, ‘Man, what happened?’ And then they wanted to record three songs to help sell the tour, that we’re working on new material, and I’m like, I thought it was a great idea to release this song. Because people then can have something to compare something to — [show them] that Rick [Rubin, SLAYER and METALLICA producer] still has it. It wasn’t Rick. And that was kind of a way to show people, ‘Hey, it’s not Rick Rubin. It’s the band. It’s what the band brings to the table. People are always comparing albums. So now they have something that they can compare it to. And they know that this is what they’re gonna be getting with our record. You’re gonna be getting SLAYER.”
Wow. The funny thing is, even those whose disappointment in Metallica is ongoing (like me) think Death Magnetic is the best thing the band has done in years. At least Metallica get the last laugh – I’m fairly certain Hetfield could buy and sell Araya several times over.
You can check out Slayer’s new song, the aforementioned “Psychopathy Red,” here. Whether you think Araya is an asshole or not, it’s hard to deny that this song rules hard.
-AR
[via Metal Injection]
