Slayer’s Tom Araya Weighs His Opinion On Death Magnetic

Now keep in mind that Tommy Araya was asked a question and simply answered it in this interview. He wasn’t taking a cheap, direct pot-shot at Metallica, but was answering a question and gave his opinion on it. Slayer has not done anything really epic in a long time, since Seasons In The Abyss, but they have been consistent with their music. The interview was conducted by Austrian Heavy Metal ‘Zine Stormbringer. You can watch a video there of the interview where he also talks about the recent election. (Thanks to Blabbermouth for the transcription)

During the interview, Araya was asked if he has heard METALLICA’s new album, “Death Magnetic”, and what he thinks of it. “You don’t wanna know,” Araya replied. “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.”

My complaints with Metallica’s Death Magnetic are the same as everyone else’s. It’s a good Metallica album…with a few exceptions. The songs are too drawn out and long and you reach a point where you’re like “ok, that’s enough. Moving one.”. There is such thing as overkill, and I’m not talking about a Motorhead cover. I’m talking about 8 minute songs that were really good up to a 4 minute mark. After that it sounds like they were just trying to add stuff to it to make it longer. The production complaint everyone has is that it is too loud. You hear that clipping effect from the drums and guitars at points where it becomes slightly distorted. Lastly, and I think I speak for a lot of people when I talk about James’ singing, adding the “AH!” to the end of almost every word. It has become redundantly annoying over the years and rears it’s ugly head high in DM.

That said, I still think it’s a good album that could have been done better had Rick Ruben spent more time with the band in the studio and if Metallica spent less time playing with pro-tools adding another 3 minutes of jam-along stuff after the song was already over. I said it before, I don’t think Ruben spends nearly enough time, nor the amount of time he used to with a band during the entire recording phase. Stop selling your name Rick and start PRODUCING again. You know, Producing. The act of being a part of the production phase?

And why does everyone always ask another band about Metallica anyway? Why not ask “What do you think of the new Testament?” or something along those lines. We all know why. Because everyone is interested to see what other people, metal musicians in particular, have to say about it.

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