SLAYER Frontman TOM ARAYA Talks About DIMEBAG's Murder

SLAYER frontman Tom Araya recently spoke to KNAC.com 's Brian Davis about his upbringing and the murder of DAMAGEPLAN/ex-PANTERA guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, among other topics. An excerpt from the interview follows:

KNAC.com: Jeff has his thing with war, and you have a kind of fascination with serial killers. What is it that intrigues you about them?

Tom Araya: "Just how we could do something like that to each other. Why? I'm trying to see where these guys are coming from so maybe I'll understand. It's always kind of intrigued me… Why? I read a book recently by a psychiatrist who was able to interview a few serial killers and she had a thesis on how you could figure these people out. And she thinks that there are things that could tell you whether someone has the potential to do that."

KNAC.com: Early warning signs.

Tom Araya: "Yeah, early warning signs. As to what to do about it, she said she didn't know, but there were tests that she was doing. She wrote a whole thesis about it, and it was really interesting. They have some really interesting traits, things to pick up on. But it's just, 'Why?' You have to ask that with a lot of stuff. Like the suicide bombers. Now they're calling them homicide bombers, which I think is kinda cool, because that's exactly what they are."

KNAC.com: It's more than just a suicide.

Tom Araya: "Right, it's more than just committing suicide -- they're out to kill people. They're homicide bombers. But it's just fucked up — people do some fucked up shit."

KNAC.com: Like what's just happened to Dimebag…

Tom Araya: "Yeah, that's FUCKED! Why?? Why? I mean, it… it was pretty brutal to walk up to someone and just point blank… and not just once but several times. It's like, 'What the fuck was that about?!? What the fuck's your problem?!?'"

KNAC.com: How does a person come to that?

Tom Araya: "Yeah, how do you get there? What happened? What happened in that one little span of time to make you do what you did?"

KNAC.com: Yeah, it's definitely beyond me. There are a lot of crazy things in this world.

Tom Araya: "Yeah. I can't say that it's… like I would consider this area on the bus safe, or the backstage area safe, but not as safe as we thought."

KNAC.com: It'll make you rethink that.

Tom Araya: "Oh hell yeah, it makes you rethink a LOT. It makes me rethink some kid standing there wanting an autograph… now it's like, 'Uh…'"

KNAC.com: What's in those pockets?

Tom Araya: Yeah. 'I don't have a metal detector on me, and uh…'

KNAC.com: And that's a terrible shame, too. It's your art and you're here contributing this positive thing…

Tom Araya: "We shouldn't be afraid of that."

KNAC.com: Somehow people twist it and just fuck it up for everybody.

Tom Araya: "That shit [with Dime] the other night was just… it's just fucked up. That's one thing that goes through your mind — it's like, 'Fuck, how safe are we?'"

KNAC.com: It could've been you… it could've been anybody.

Tom Araya: "Yeah, it could have been anybody. I mean that's never… that's never happened. Nobody's ever been shot on stage."

KNAC.com: And to be some totally positive guy, not malicious, just a carefree guy.

Araya: "Yeah, he just made sure they were good hosts and threw a good party. That's why it's like… That's the most confusing part. It's just fucked up, you know?"

Read Tom Araya's entire interview with KNAC.com at this location.