TOM ARAYA BREAKS DOWN SEASONS IN THE ABYSS TRACK-BY-TRACK

We might not be getting a full-on sequel to D.X. Ferris’ amazing book (which now has a Facebook page!!!) about both the making and meaning of Slayer’s Reign in Blood, but writing for Cleveland Scene, he did recently get to sit down with one Mr. Tom Araya and get a track-by-track breakdown of Seasons in the Abyss, the album that I know many consider to be superior to Reign, and which Slayer is now performing in its entirety as part of the American Carnage tour they’re doing with Megadeth and Testament. (I don’t mind telling you that Seasons was actually the first Slayer album I ever owned; an older kid lent it to me by way of saying “This is the first Slayer album you should check out, noob,” and I never returned it.)

Here’s an excerpt… this is Araya discussing “Hallowed Point,” a song that still demands I stop and headbang every time I hear it:

“That’s a kind of bullet — hollow points. It’s about a gun and what guns do to a body. It can turn flesh into confetti. It’s about the motivations to use a gun. People ask, ‘Is it an anti-gun song?’ No. ‘Is it a pro-gun song?’ No. Guns are dangerous. But I’m not an anti-gun [advocate]. I’m a gun owner.”

If you love Seasons in the Abyss as much as any carbon-based lifeform ought to, you need to read the rest of this interview. Check it out here.

-AR