Tom Araya needs to check his math, during a recent interview, asking about thoughts on the new album, Araya responded thusly:
"When I heard it… After I heard the whole thing, 'My God, this is Slayer.' It's Slayer. When someone [asks], 'How do you feel about the record?' I say, 'It's Slayer. Well, half of Slayer, but it still sounds like Slayer.' It sounds like a Slayer record. When you listen to it, you go, 'This is Slayer.' But then you have to sit back and [go], 'Well, part of Slayer… It's half of Slayer.' You know what I mean? Because of what we've gone through. I listen to it and… Inside, yeah, I feel like, 'Okay, well this is…' Because of my perspective, it's half of Slayer. But when I listen to it, it's Slayer; it's identifiable."
He continued: "I think it's really good for half of Slayer. That's what I'm saying. When you listen to it, [you go], 'Oh my God, this is Slayer.' I said that without the thought that it's just me and [guitarist] Kerry [King from the original lineup]. I said it with, 'Oh my God. this is Slayer.' 'Cause I'm a fan. You know what I mean? And my concern is, 'What are people gonna think?' 'What am I gonna think?' And so when I heard it, I was, like, 'Oh my God, this is Slayer.' But deep inside, I know… I know that Jeff's not here, and that we were lucky enough to have a song of his on the record. So that, to me, was… 'Oh my God, this is Slayer.' But inside I correct myself. I go, 'Well, half of Slayer, but this is Slayer.' As a fan, I can sit back and go, 'My God…' And it sounded awesome."
And I thought, oh maybe if I actually watch the piece of video where he said this, I would understand the context:
Nope, he definitely said it and in the context I assumed from seeing the transcript. Here is how I am interpreting it: hey, we're no longer Slayer without Jeff Hanneman, but even though our team is reduced we are still delivering on what the Slayer brand has become. Also, seeing as though he is not mentioning Dave, and clearly harbors a lot of resentment, it's odd that he would say "half of Slayer" and not "two-thirds of Slayer."
Tom Araya has made it no secret in the past that he is absolutely over it, saying that he basically sold his soul to the band. Perhaps if Araya is so down on Slayer as a band, maybe don't book him to do interviews anymore so that he doesn't further tarnish the brand.
What do you think of the new Slayer album, Repentless? If you missed it, here's what we think.
