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SLAYER's TOM ARAYA Says JEFF HANNEMAN's Death Brought Band Closer Together

April 22, 2015

SLAYER frontman Tom Araya has told Metal Hammer magazine that the death of the band's co-founding guitarist, Jeff Hanneman, has brought Araya and fellow remaining original member Kerry King closer together.

Hanneman, who passed away in May 2013 from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver, is credited for writing many of SLAYER's classic songs, including "Angel Of Death" and "South Of Heaven".

"Losing Jeff has brought us together somewhat," Araya told Metal Hammer. "We've had to open up a line of communication."

He continued: "Kerry's very black and white. I'm not a black-and-white person, but that's Kerry. We've had to talk, and that's not been the case in the past."

Araya added: "I talked to Jeff a lot. I could pick up the phone and call him and we'd talk, but that's not been the norm with me and Kerry. But with everything that's been going on, we've had to open up a dialogue to make sure we can communicate our thoughts to each other without pissing each other off."

In the August 2013 issue of Guitar World magazine, King spoke about the personal relationship he had with Hanneman. He said: "[Any time we would finish a tour, Jeff] would just go home and detach. He might have lived only 45 minutes away, but unless you were part of his inner circle, it was hard to stay in touch with him. And it took me a few years to understand that. For a while I was just like, 'Why isn't this guy calling me back?' But as I got older, I just realized that that was who Jeff was."

"I don't think Jeff and I were ever best friends," continued King. "I think we were probably the closest in the band, but never best friends. To put it in a way that everyone could understand, Jeff and I were like business partners. Was he my friend? Of course he was my friend. But we didn't really act like that. The last time I was at Jeff's house was January 2003. We went to his place to watch the Raiders in the playoffs. And it sounds horrible, but it wasn't horrible. That was just how it was."

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