SLAYER Guitarist HANNEMAN Is 'Expecting To Get Sh*t' For New Song 'Jihad'

Charlie Steffens of KNAC.COM recently conducted an interview with SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

KNAC.COM: You wrote "Jihad" for the new album. I read that it's being compared to "Angel of Death".

Hanneman: "That's being said because we're expecting to get shit for it. Either the Muslim community is going to embrace it or they're going to hate us for writing it or the victims of 9/11 are going to hate us for writing it. We just expect shit for it, but all it is, really is, I basically did the same thing like 'Angel of Death', it's just a documentary. But being SLAYER, we don't put it on the victim side, we put it on the bad guy side. The words are kind of coming from a terrorist point of view, not a victim. That's why we think we might get shit. Who knows?"

KNAC.COM: As a guitarist, are you a practicing musician?

Hanneman: "I play for fun when it has nothing to do with SLAYER. When we're not doing anything — I've got a home recording thing and I'll just lay down the drum machine beat, come back later and just play something over it just for fun. Sometimes a SLAYER riff comes out of it. Other times it's like blues or something that's heavy, but it's not heavy enough for SLAYER. To me I look at it as a hobby …it's just something I like to do."

KNAC.COM: Dave's [Lombrado] drumming is so fucking good. Aren't you guys glad to be back together again?

Hanneman: "Fuck yes! He's so much fun to play with 'cause he keeps you on the edge. You never know what he's going to do live. I mean, he rarely fucks up, but he always has that potential to fuck up 'cause he starts doing drum solos, like drum rolls out of nowhere. And you're going, 'What the fuck is he doing?' (laughs) It's fun, but he always comes in where he should …I'll turn back and give him a dirty look and he's like, 'What?'"

KNAC.COM: Which bands do you like right now?

Hanneman: "Right now there are not a lot bands that I'm into right now. And traditionally, throughout the years, I've always gravitated to bands that didn't sound like us anyway. We play what we play, so when I want to listen to something I want to listen to something else. I was a big fan of ALICE IN CHAINS and bands like that. They're still heavy, they're still dark, but it's not SLAYER at all. So I always gravitate to those kinds of bands, but there's nobody …right now there's nobody I can even think of that I listen to. I listen to TYPE O NEGATIVE. That's the kind of shit I like to listen to away from SLAYER. Kerry's the one that's more into always keeping abreast of what new bands are coming out. When SLIPKNOT came out I was into them — when they first came out. Even though it's kind of influenced by us, there's enough of a difference where it doesn't sound too much like us."

Read the entire interview at KNAC.COM.