Slayer’s Kerry King says Tom Araya is “not the guy I started the band with”: “He became a very different person…”
Slayer’s Kerry King has opened up about his relationship with bandmate Tom Araya, noting the frontman is “not the guy I started the band with”.
In a recent chat with Cucamonga’s Luiz Cesar Pimentel, King reveals how the death of Slayer founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman in 2013 had affected his relationship with Araya, with whom he founded the band.
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“I think Jeff’s passing weighed harder on Tom than it did me,” King says [via Blabbermouth]. “And I don’t mean that from any kind of friendship perspective. It’s just my taking wasn’t as bad as Tom took it. Of course it was horrible, and no one ever wanted that to happen, but it really weighed on Tom.”
“I think that’s what led to him wanting to retire earlier than me, because I think he felt the band was different,” the guitarist adds.
Slayer officially announced their decision to retire in 2019 (“Tom was just done,” King once said of the decision), though they have since reunited for a handful of shows, including appearances at Riot Fest, Aftershock Festival, and the upcoming Louder Than Life festival this September. They’ll also play Black Sabbath’s final hometown show in Birmingham this July.
Of Slayer’s return to the stage, King says, “Out of nowhere, Tom decided he wanted to play some shows last year, and I went, ‘Well, I never wanted to stop playing shows. So, yeah, let’s try it out.’”
Circling back to his friendship with Araya, King explains that while they were never especially close offstage, the years have only widened the distance between them.
“Just like it was in [the earlier years of] Slayer, [Araya and I] don’t talk on the phone. We rarely text each other. And that’s just because when you’re together for 40 years – he became a very different person. He’s not the guy I started the band with. Not personally – just him; he’s a different person,” King says. “I basically stayed very similar to who I’ve been in my twenties. And I like Tom. We’re cool.”
“We got together [last year to rehearse for the Slayer reunion concerts]. It wasn’t weird. We did those two shows. He was super happy. We got together after the second one, had a shot after the show. He’ll drink tequila and I love tequila, so that’s what we had.”
As for what’s ahead, King maintains that the Slayer reunion wasn’t driven by any long-term plans – just a desire to make good on a missed opportunity and, ultimately, to play for the fans.
“I think the first idea to play [with Slayer again] this year was for the [Louder Than Life festival] show we missed last year ‘cause of the hurricane,” he says. “So we rebooked that and [I] said, ‘If we never play another show, I wanna make that right with the promoter,’ because it wasn’t our fault. But he wanted us to play. So we’re playing there this year. And this year we get to play that Black Sabbath show. I can’t fucking wait.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
