SLAYer GOeS TO 11
THRASH BAND DOWN TO TWO ORIGINAl MeMBeRS FOR 11TH AlBuM, ‘RePeNTleSS’
Slayer’s past few years in hell started with a spider bite.
On the receiving end was guitarist and songwriter Jeff Hanneman, who contracted the flesh-eating disease necrotizing fasciitis, which does in fact sound like the name of metal song.
That was in early 2011, and he was replaced on tour by Gary Holt of Exodus. He then died in May 2013 of liver failure related to alcohol.
Behind the drums, there was a different personnel problem. Original drummer Dave Lombardo, who had been in and out of the band a few times, was fired over a financial dispute and went out in flames, posting personal Slayer business on Facebook and generating a PR nightmare for the band, including a fan backlash.
Although work had begun on the follow-up to 2009’s “World Painted Blood,” neither of the two remaining members, singer-bassist Tom Araya and guitarist Kerry King, were exuding confidence about the future. Asked about Slayer continuing as a duo plus two, the singer told the PG in November 2013, “I don’t know … me and Kerry have to sit down and talk and see what we want to do. It definitely changes things.”
Nearly two years later, Slayer is spending the summer headlining the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Tour, with guitarist Holt and drummer Gary Bostaph (doing his third stint with the band), and is about to release the new album, “Repentless,” on Sept. 11.
Reached on a tour stop earlier this month, Mr. King was asked about the singer’s doubts about Slayer’s future in ’13. “I got a feeling that was shortly after Jeff passed, and [Tom] just had to go out, do the tours, make sure it was what he wanted it to be, make sure the product is still good, make sure from a fan’s perspective everything is still intact. It was a matter of going out and realizing it IS Slayer, it’s completely Slayer, the new stuff sounds like any part of Slayer through history, so he was just getting used to the idea, maybe. But I understand. I had that thought.”
Based on the tracks that have been previewed, “Repentless” does sound completely like vintage Slayer: hard,
fast, brutal. It contains a few pieces the late guitarist worked on, including the song “Piano Wire,” but it is essentially the first Slayer album made without him.
“For me, it was a little odd,” Mr. King says. “I’ve done his parts for a long, long time, except for leads, so that was business as usual. The thing for me was just his presence in the studio wasn’t there, his extra opinion. The most difficult thing is there’s no swing vote anymore, there’s no third vote, so if I say yes and he says no, we gotta find a middle ground that says maybe. It’s just figuring out how to move forward in situations like that.”
In releasing the 11th Slayer album, and first in six years, Mr. King says he wasn’t concerned with competing with what the band had done in the past.
“Like, when we did ‘Reign in Blood,’ we weren’t trying to outdo ‘Hell Awaits,’ or something. It was just the next 10 songs, really, and that’s the way I look at it to this day. I’m always trying to outdo what we’ve done, certainly not dwelling on beating anything. I like to say I’m in the quest for the perfect riff. I don’t know if it’s ever findable, but that’s what keeps me going.”
The title track opens with the frontman raging, “Arrogance, violence, world in disarray/dealing with insanity every [expletive] day/I hate the life, hate the fame, hate the [expletive] scene.”
Mr. King, who wrote the bulk of the material, has described the song as reflecting the worldview of the late guitarist. Elsewhere, he says, “The only thing I really went out of my way to convey on this record was a sense of unity: first, among Slayer and, second, among Slayer and fans. There’s a couple songs that have really unifying lines in them. There’s been so much turmoil and adversity in the Slayer camp over the last two or three years, I just wanted to convey a strong sense of unity between us and the fans.”
He’s getting instant feedback watching crowds react to the three new songs Slayer is playing in its 75-minute Mayhem set.
“Everybody that’s heard the new material or even seen us play a new song or two live, they’re almost giddy at how it sounds. You can’t really fake giddy. That’s a true feeling, and they’re just really excited for the rest of the record, so I think if anybody gives it a chance, they’re going to be as pleased as can be.”
As for the rest of Mayhem 2015, he says, “Other than White Chapel, I don’t even know who’s on [the second stage]. I don’t get there very early, but I see a little bit of Hellyeah and a little bit of King Diamond every day [on the main stage]. If you ever liked King Diamond, he sounds amazing. I gotta say I was a little bit skeptical, but he came out and he just kills it. Funny thing is, I remember me and Gary Holt were talking when we were in Europe a year ago, if we were to tour with anyone who would we tour with, and the name that came up was King Diamond and Mercyful Fate.”
King Diamond and Kerry King both had birthdays in June, turning 59 and 51, respectively.
“I think a 50-year-old person today is very different than what a 50-year-old person was when I was 20,” the guitarist says. “I think this lifestyle, believe it or not, keeps me young. The music helps keep me young. I don’t feel 50, other than more aches and pains than when I was 25. But I know we’re still making good music and having a good time while we’re doing it. I don’t know what our expiration date will be, but hopefully we get this record out and another record after that and regroup and see what’s going on then.”