SLAYER Frontman On RANDY BLYTHE: 'I Hope That It Gets Settled And He Can Get Home'

SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya (pictured below) is one of a number of musicians who have come out in support of LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe, who is facing manslaughter charges in the Czech Republic.

Blythe, 41, is accused of causing the fatal injury that occurred at LAMB OF GOD's May 24, 2010 show in Prague. The singer allegedly either pushed or struck a 19-year-old fan named Daniel N. — a guitarist in a local metal band — and that person died almost a month later of bleeding in the brain.

Randy has been charged with causing "bodily harm of the fourth degree, resulting in the death of a fan" and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Speaking to Fitz Madrid, afternoon DJ at the Phoenix, Arizona radio station 98 KUPD, Araya said (hear audio below),"[Randy did] what anybody in a band would do — a kids gets up on stage and you push him off, and that's where the discrepancy is. I haven't seen [video footage of the alleged incident], and [the people that have supposedly seen it] said it's pretty obvious in the video clip what was going on and what happened. I haven't seen it, so I can't tell you what I think. But it's like anything else — a kid gets on stage, and you push him off. And whatever happens to him down there afterwards… First [and] foremost, they have security there so kids don't get on stage. But they also have security there so the kids don't hurt themselves when they come over the [barricade or when they try to come up on stage]. So it's like a two-deal thing."

He added, "I feel sorry for [Randy], 'cause now he's stuck in this spot. It's kind of hard to say if it would have been a different outcome had he not touched the kid or if it'd still be the same outcome. I hope that it gets settled and I hope that he can get home. That's just not cool."

He continued, "Nowadays, you have to really think about that kind of shit. I hate to say this, 25 years ago, stuff like that, if it happened, it happened. Nowadays, if it's happened, everybody's discovered that they have 'rights.' Rights are great, but you also have to share in the responsibility. You have to be a responsible person. You have to be responsible for your own action. Randy has to be responsible for his action of whatever he did. But the kid has to be responsible for the action he took upon himself to get up on the stage. [He] took the initiative to do that. [The security] guys [apparently] said, 'No, you can't do that.' And apparently [the kid] tried several times [to get up on stage].

"To me, we all carry the burden of our own responsibility — being responsible for our own actions and ourselves; we all share in that. Everybody needs to understand that, and that's something that people don't understand these days. Now, whenever something happens, it's like, 'You did this to me.' It's like, 'Well, we told you not to go there and you did it ten times. And the tenth time, we're like, 'OK, buddy. How you're gonna get it through your thick skull? Get the fuck out.' You know what I mean?!"