(T)om (A)raya: Kerry met our guitarist Jeff. Then Kerry by accident met our drummer Dave which he could use for his new band, since he was playing drums. I was the last to join the picture – at first we copied names like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Scorpions and Black Sabbath. Our first – selfcomponed songs saw the light on the lp ”Show No Mercy” which came late 1983.

M: How big are you guys in the US now?

TA: A little bigger than last year (laughing). We became pretty well-known after our show at the Hollywood Palladium. The place was filled and almost a 1000 people had to stand outside and listen. That caued riots where people got beat up very easily. The cops were alarmed and they were pretty rough on people. By mistake they beat up a guy from Geffen Records. In the TV they told that it was Slayer who started the riots. We didn’t really know what happened until afterwards.

M: You have a very dark image – that also shows on the covers of your lp’s!

TA: Well, Slayer means ”Murder” …

M: But are you evil?

TA: All people are evil once in a while. If you do something wrong, like hurting another human being – then I guess you’re evil yourself.

M: What kind of music do you listen to yourself?

TA: You would be surprised if you saw my cd-collection. It features among others ”Bob Marley” – which is one of my favorites, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Bill Haley, Mozart and Beethoven so as you can see – it’s a pretty wide collection.

M: But what about your own music – do you like it?

TA: Of course

M: Are there any plans about singles and videoes?

TA: A single will be released in England soon, but if we have to do a video, it will be a live one. Only when Slayer are onstage you can feel the intensity in our music.

M: Do you have any hobbies?

TA: I read alot. Then I also do a little exercise by playing basketball but I try not to overdo it – ha ha. What I read alot is newspapers – and that is where I often get ideas for my songs. What I think is the worst to read about is terrorism. It hurts so many innocent people. Nobody can be safe really! Say you are in a train station and someone just put a bomb there… I also hate the nucklear race. Actually, I write poems too!!

M: Are you afraid of dying?

TA: No

M: Do you have anything special you want to tell the readers of Metalized?