Slayer Frontman Explains Unholy Alliance Trivium Slot
Band Photo: Slayer (?)
In a recent interview with Thrash Hits, Slayer frontman Tom Araya explained why more established acts like Trivium and Mastodon were being given slots on the Unholy Alliance tour instead of younger groups. An excerpt from the conversation is as follows:
Q: Some people would say that you, Slayer, are in a position to give smaller bands much-needed exposure by taking them on tour with you, rather than taking Trivium and Mastodon out who are already established.
A: "I hate to say this, but at this stage of the game, for as many years as we’ve been out as a band, it’s about income. When it comes to having a band who you would love to give exposure to, in all honesty, you would have to be really wowed by that band. I can honestly say that there’s only been one other band in recent times that has done that for us, and that’s SYSTEM OF A DOWN. Nobody knew them, but we heard them and we were like ‘Fuck! Let’s take these guys out on the road’. And look what happened."
Read the full article at Thrash Hits.
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58 Comments on "Slayer Frontman Explains U.A. Trivium Slot"
Member
2. writes:
"I can honestly say that there’s only been one other band in recent times that has done that for us, and that’s SYSTEM OF A DOWN. Nobody knew them, but we heard them and we were like ‘f***! Let’s take these guys out on the road’. And look what happened."
f***, I miss those days when System ruled... :(
Senior News Correspondent
3. writes:
Jackrum you are joking yes? Good one mate. Yes, yes that must be a joke!
As much as I hope that it is because I will vomit with rage, I wasn't gonna go anyway lol. Didn't go to the last two so I'm not gonna bother this time.
Now playing: Spineshank- Self-Destructive Pattern (God I miss this band!)
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Senior News Correspondent
5. writes:
Well that a real kanick in the kanackers. I've only ever bought Terrorizer once as it happens which was August 2004 'cause they had a load of detail of Megadeth's "The System Has Falied" album which I was crapping myself over and wanted to read as much about as possible. It's not a bad magazine but I don't tend to buy magazine's much as due to coming on MU everyday, I usually go through it and find myself going "yeah old news, yeah I know" all the way through and find I've just wasted a fiver.
Supporter
6. writes:
I support Terrorizer not only for the mag content, but I also enjoy the writing aspect and the way they present the mag. I have also discovered great bands with their compalation c.ds. I could listen to them online, however I am a cell phone only net user and can use the time I am on the bus or doing house chores to listen to the compalation. They are also great for when I am in an indesicive mood.
7. writes:
I haven't looked @ a Terrorizer mag in 4ever! Although I agree with post 6...I too have discovered great bands in the past. N.E. ways, Tom is right, it's good enough that a band like Slayer needs to support well established bands. It ain't no stroll where you can just expect exposure b-cuz of Slayer.
Bands that wow the world must be intact with other great bands too.
Member
9. writes:
i could understand the income point but....theyre slayer....really......do they even need the "major defnite income" aka mainstream sellout band?
idc....slayer is slayer....and well im just looking at the uk run as SLAYER + the band thats gonna be boo-ed left and right
really....how r they even gonna make it through night one?
matt queafy: WE ARE TRIVI....AWH ....really?....piss bottles again....AWWHHH...sh**tt!?!?....sh** bottles?!!........OWWW! wat was ...::GASP::....i just got pelted with 3 trivium cds ....wow...and wats this...trivium sucks.....u knowwwwwwwwww..............................................................................................night after night with this bullsh**
11. writes:
"I hate to say this, but at this stage of the game, for as many years as we’ve been out as a band, it’s about income."
Wow fail right there. I just lost a WHOLE lot of respect for Tom Araya and Slayer all together. f***in Sellouts. Your no better than the scum your bringing on tour with you now. Piece of sh**.
Now that I got that out of my system. I still and pretty ashamed to read what he said. Yeah, you are doing a job and you expect to make a certain amount of money and such. But, come on, thats sh**. You honestly believe Trivium is going to bring you a good fan base. There's plenty of young acts that would be more deserving than Triv-pieceofsh**-ium. The Absence, Arsis and Meshuggah just to name a few.
Member
12. writes:
its 2:23am here and im waisted but thats beyond the point. Yeah i think itll bring a good fanbase because look how much fanbase there is for trivium. i think a lot of younger people like trivium that dont really know too much about slayer. A lot of people dislike trivium because they are "sellouts" etc. I for one like trivium but i do see how headlining over SLAYER is bullsh**. I am a huge SLAYER fan and dont get it why no one is raggin on them for playin for income, when if this was metallica people would go crazy with hate posts (not to be off topic). Regardless im fans of both, and i will be regardless how much money they make.
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Member
14. writes:
Their are a tons of bands Slayer could of have taken out with them that could of generated just as much money as Trvium, obviously the record company has them by their old shriveled up balls. And you know what f*** that Nazi loving midget Kerry King! I never liked him or his stupid f***ing tribal tatoos all over his fat body. Way to anihilate your fan base SLAYER!
15. writes:
Come on! Oh sweet lord of darkness, do you all really believe that Slayer is any different from any other band. They want to play their music and they want to make money doing it. DUH. If they don't make enough money they can't afford to tour, nor pay their bills or raise their kids. Besides you all act as if they are some righteous band that is infallable. WRONG! They are a group of dudes that don't even believe anything they say anymore. They just happen to know what will please the people that buy their songs, no wonder they have stayed the same for so long. Kerry writes the words and Tom (an active catholic member) sings them. All bands that can afford to go out and have a major tour have sold out. If they don't they would be club bands you never hear of in some hole in the wall. All of you need to understand how the world works before you get out of the basement. Slayer aren't gods, they are riff masters with really retarded solos that write scary songs about the devil ... OOOOH. How evil is Kerry King when he is playing with his kids, not really at all. It's an act on stage to make you bang your head and pump your fist and buy their cd's. Slayer is one of my all time favorite bands but I don't stop listening if they take a band i don't like on tour with them. Hell they could take Justin Timberlake for all i care, If i don't want to hear it i won't listen. Now officially Slayer can be lumped in with Metallica as that sell out band that everybody hates because they have found the "Ecstasy of Gold". Piss off all of you, stop thinking bands are so perfect. their f'n bands that play music for a living. IT'S A LIVING not a revolution.
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Member
17. writes:
The only reason I see selling out as an option, is if I had mouths to feed, in which case I don't, so in their shoes, I'd stay trve for the art and die of starvation before letting a sh*t band like Trivium take a slot where bands like Kvlt ov Azazel, Averse Sifera, and Scourge should be.
Speaking of which, anyone know where I can find music from the boston-based Death Metal band Scourge (I specify because there are apparently 2 bands with that name, so I specify that I want to listen to the band from Boston).
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Member
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Member
21. writes:
post 10 needs to get hit with a bottle of piss. ahaha
to post 15. they're f***ing slayer. they don't need anymore money then they already have. they probably make the most f***ing money in the goddamn business. when you pay for slayer you get what you pay for, unlike trivium who are one of the worst live acts its ever been my misfortune to see. metallica2.0.
Member
22. writes:
slayer are trying to reach out and grab more fans by putting on more mainstream and accesible (spelling?) bands such as Trivium and Mastadon.
i still think it is a bad idea and bands like The Red Chord, Whitechapel, Born Of Osiris or The Boy Will Drown should take their place instead =]
Supporter
24. writes:
Sellouts? Think about it, they have been doing it for years, they have said they wont be doing it for much longer and fact of life is you need money to live. Tom is like 47 now, they need to think about their future after the band too.
Plus they said they will if a band WOWs them, but I agree, far too much sh** for the past 10 years or longer.
25. writes:
I wouldn't go as far as to call Slayer as 'Sellouts'. How do we know how much their management / American recordings / Warners pulls the strings on the U.A. They way I see it, Tom meant that they will have to pick 'relatively' known bands just in order to get the financing etc etc for the whole tour. I bet Slayer isn't financing the whole thing out of their pockets, that's for sure
Member
26. writes:
Kalis, I tried looking online. NOTHING! And they're so awesome! All I have is a 5 track sampler, and its so brutal! Bands like Scourge should be getting some recognition.
(I'll probably upload the tracks I have online and post the link somewhere for all of you here to download).
Member
27. writes:
There's no explanation for Trivium's slot. It's just sad. And as far as SOAD, I was "wowed" by them until my mind couldn't take their nonsense anymore. I despise them now, and if Tom Araya and Slayer are responsible for ANYTHRING of SOAD's, it's their long overstayed welcome, and their battering assault of repetition and incoherence. Or something.
Supporter
Member
Member
31. writes:
To post 29, I love Slayer and all but maybe a split is not so bad. It's better to split when they're doing well than to live in mediocrity. As I've said before, I love Slayer, but "Christ Illusion" was kind of a disappointment. It's like Tom's voice kind of went to sh*t.
Member
34. writes:
whatever happened to option C, go out with a bang, like a massive world tour that stops in new jersey! They're slayer! i love slayer. Sure the day slayer is no more will be sad indeed, but it will also leave a big space for new bands to rise to the occasion to fill the shoes they left behind. Metal is coming back, especially with the reformation of legends like carcass and at the gates. The genre certainly has a future.
NP: Immortal-Blizzard Beasts
Supporter
38. writes:
A final tour for Slayer would be great! I just can't stand the fact that there are people out there who go as far to call 'em sell outs cuz I disagree with that. I don't care how Slayer decides to go on (with certain bands), however I NEED to see them leave the stage in a respectable way: they deserve that as much as the fans do.
Member
40. writes:
they have sold out...i know bands need to make money too but saying it's all about the income and come on it's slayer...i doubt they are poor. They are one of the biggest "real" metal bands out there. PLus if you want to get all big and rich mabey you shouldn't join and metal band.
Member
41. writes:
Whoa, At The Gates got back together?? Where the f*ck have I been that I didn't know this?!
And another tour would be great.. I saw them once and they were phenomenal. I was in line to get inside with a friend of mine and Tom walked by us and I was the only one who recognized him! I said hey to him and told him how much I loved Slayer and everyone around me was asking me who that was. I couldn't believe it! How can you go to a Slayer concert and not even know who Tom f*ckin' Araya is?!
42. writes:
First of, I hate Slayer. I've never enjoyed their music, thats just me. Kerry King annoy's me to no end. That being said, I will defend them here. I'm betting that they're not wanting to make money for themselves, they're probably wanting to make money to pay for this tour. Tour's are not cheap. And the UA is probably pretty costley. Bringing on a band like Trivium would bring in their fanbase, thus more money to pay off the concert. The more money this tour brings in will make investors more likely to put money in it which, in turn, will possibly lower ticket and merch cost. That would be better for you, the fan. And please, before you start calling anyone a sell-out, just think, you would love to be able to buy nice things. And I know that Slayer are already rich, but just because they want to make more money doesn't mean they've sold out, it means they're good business men. Metal, true metal, isn't about how much money a band makes, it's about the music they make. And if Slayer continues to make the music you the fans have loved for 20-someodd years, isn't that all that matters? But what do I know, I'm not a Slayer fan.
43. writes:
that article in terrorizer is saddening. trivium, my most hated blasphemours of metal, playing above gods slayer, f***ing sickening news beyond belief. anyone there teach them a lesson in the pit and leave after slayer.
on a happier note the carcass atricle is good. cant express what an amazing experiance it was to see them at hellfest
45. writes:
Take a look back to post 15. Dude makes ALOT of valid points. Slayer FCKIN RULES. But in the end their kids need to eat. It's a business. Most of you on this board are kids. Kids who don't know what real life is. Your mom & dad give you money. You don't work. You go to school & think that that's the real world. When you finally grow up you'll realize why bands (& people for that matter) do the things they do. Slayer can not be lumped in with metallica cuz metallica just gave up musically. Sure Slayer is not the same band they used to be. But the have not changed their style or their philosophy.
46. writes:
^Most of the people on this board are kids? Really? How does one come about that logic Sherlock? In fact, I'm actually one of the few regulars on here under 20, and I still wouldn't call myself ignorant of "why bands (& people for that matter) do the things they do." The reason so many are angry on here about the reason slayer gives for touring with Trivium, is that Metalheads, as a rule, are genarally adamant about their principles, and Slayer has given up on theirs. I understand the need for money, sure, they need to pay their bills. Bu they don't need Trivium to do that. they got fairly wealthy in the first place simply BECAUSE they were Slayer. they recently released a cd, that actually did fairly well I hear. Their label doesn't need other big-name bands on the tour to help with the bill, they've paid the bill many times before under the assurance that the immortal name of Slayer would draw plenty of fans by itself, and it has, several times so far.
So now to have Slayer, the band that everybody who hated Metallica listened to, now travelling down that same dilluted road as those they once stood in contention to, is simply heart-wrenching. The use of the Satanic imagery was used for the same reason that punk music used the swastika; not because they actually believed in that image, but because it attracted the disenfranchised, it brought together the underdogs in the music scene. Slayer were the band for the outsider that everybody loved. Now, they let us know that it was all just a giant commercial machine?
As far as I'm concerned, yes they can be lumped in with Metallica, which is kindof ironic considering that they are touring with "The band who would be Metallica", Trivium. I will always treasure what they did with Reign in Blood, but as of right now, f*** em'.
Now Playing: CEPHALIC CARNAGE - Endless Cycle of Violence
47. writes:
fck_a_name, you ARE a kid with a kid's opinion (which means nothing). do you have a job? where do you live? with mommy & daddy? Just pointing out that these guys have jobs (do you, subway don't count). they may be rich, but hey this is america, if they wanna get richer by taking a crappy band with them, so be it. if you don't wanna listen to them don't. I still will & I vote, pay taxes & am a hard working law abiding american. are you?
48. writes:
Omg you are an idiot.
I still will & I vote, pay taxes & am a hard working law abiding american. are you?
Let's see, I'm 19, so I am a law abiding american, I work at Global Response Communications, so yes I have a real job, and before that, I've worked in Construction since I was 14 under three different companies that build houses in South Florida, so yes I would say I'm hard-working. yes, I do live with my parents, but only because with the housing market the way it is, It's less expensive to pay a little rent to my parents while I save up money for my own place. Oh, and I registered to vote when I was 17, so I've got that little tidbit taken control of as well.
Plus, just because the first person to respond to you may be what you qualify as a "kid", doesn't mean the point still isnt valid.
Now Playing: Cephalic Carnage- "Lucid Interval"
49. writes:
^Hey, fukk off of Fukk_A_Name. Age doesn't mean anything. You can be over 25 or 30 but that doesn't mean ya know everything. Yeah, I'm pretty young: I don't know everything either, but ur not a genius. By the way, POST 15 is dead on on most stuff. I also agree with post 46 with the first paragraph.
52. writes:
second, any one who uses the OMG (besides pre-pubesent girls) is a fag....
and what exactly qualifies you as the end all say all to what someone's internet speech patterns says about their sexuality? Simply because I believe the shorthand creates more emphasis upon itself than the entire drawn-out phrase in some specific cases automatically makes me a fag? I don't follow your logic sir...
Oh, and Jenny haha I was actually sort of defending the opinions of younger people in both my posts, I think you misinterpreted what I said.
NowPlaying: Cephalic Carnage- Endless Cycle of Violence
58. writes:
After checking out this topic, i had to say something. I would much rather go to a show with diversity in the bands then pay and sit through a show with 3 to 5 bands who all sound the f**king same. Its happens all the time, and its f**king gay. About the "income" comment Araya made, who gives a f**k. Who has not got there pay check from work, and been like "damn it, i wish i made more money" ? (if thats what he ment). Sellouts ? They have been around forever, and a lot (i.e millions) of people love them , buy there sh*t and pay to go to shows, so that makes a band a sellout band ? Because so many love there music ? That makes no f**king sense. This is not directed to everyone on here, but to the few, grow up. As for Trivium, they work just as hard at making there own music, as Slayer did and i guess still does. At least give 'em that, also the fact that there trying to bring back some old school thrash metal, and none of this f**king "as i lay dying,protest the hero,all that remains" Bull s**t.Everyones taste in music is different, even if the difference is slight, so get off your high and mighty horse and live your own life, stop telling other people how to live theres (and yeah i know thats how i sound right now , so don't bother pointing it out)
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Supporter
1. Jackrum writes:
In Terroriser magazine..
Trivium are headlining 3 of the 4 uk dates ABOVE SLAYER... Kerry King isnt even familiar with trivial and he hopes that the fact that they are above slayer wont P*ss off too many people..
no it wont kerry.. it will encite them towards pit violence against the emos