Tom Araya Quotes

Tom Araya's page delivers raw, gritty reflections on faith, music and morality.

33 quotes

1. Sometimes. Sometimes when I've gone out and murdered somebody I go and confess and stuff. And then God loves me again.

2. They shouldn't even be considered. I don't know, man, they got a couple of hit songs, a catchy groove, great beat, I give them a 0.

3. No wonder I never have any money. We're going to be banned from playing New York, thanks to you fucking assholes.

4. I have nightmares about Metallica.

5. This is pretty cool

6. It's going to be brutal!

7. Yes... VIOLENCE!

8. Fuck man, I'm louder than you are without the mic

9. God... God doesn't hate, man. It's a great fuckin' title!

10. Regardless of whatever fucking religion you believe in, everybody knows that there are wrong things. Everyone knows there are things you do not do. And the people who don't understand that are just not connected with themselves spiritually.

11. I hate everyone equally.

12. I read true crime books, and I read when people do case studies of stuff. I'm into books like that. Case studies or forensics or murder - all that good stuff.

13. Growing up, my dad drank a lot of wine, so I got a taste for, and learned how to enjoy it. He spoke a lot about flavors and differences in tastes of wine. Also, our manager, Rick Sales, is a big wine drinker; he goes to a lot of wine-tasting classes, and he's taught me about the qualities of wine.

14. Our album 'Show No Mercy' came out in late '83, and we did three or four shows in San Francisco after the release. That was our first experience with stage-divers, crowd-surfing, people walking on people across an entire crowd.

15. A good wine has many qualities I think. If drunk moderately, it is healthy and good for your heart.

16. Fortune is either with you or it's not.

17. I was born and raised Catholic.

18. When I do interviews, I enter them with an open mind and try to answer the questions the best I can.

19. After that I didn't listen to music as much because '70s music just wasn't... I remember all the songs, but it wasn't because I was into them, you know what I mean?

20. I was born and raised Catholic, so it's in my blood. I don't go to church... I was born and raised Catholic, which is about the extent of my religion. My parents made one request: that I have my first Holy Communion.

21. I am not an atheist; I believe in God. But my religion ends there. I have my own personal belief system that is so strong it allows me to do what I do. I don't have to worry about going to Hell because of Slayer, you know? Everyone has a personal belief system and believes in life somehow.

22. Slayer fans are unforgiving. Early on in the career, if something changes, it's accepted. But 30 years down the road, in my opinion, they would rather see us do a three-piece than even try to replace Jeff, in a sense.

23. When you're in a club or a theater or even an arena, yeah, you want visuals, you want a good light show. But Slayer has always been about the sound. We have to sound good. It has to be tight.

24. When I heard the idea of a Slayer wine, I tasted the wines they suggested for us. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical at first before I tasted it, but once I tried it, I thought, 'You know what? This is actually really good. A really fruity and round type of flavor for a red wine.' It's very flavorful and tasted awesome!

25. As far as thinking about death and murder and various ways of killing people and how people die... I probably have the most twisted mind in Slayer.

26. 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.

27. I try to incorporate melody. Even though I'm screaming, I still like to think I bring melody into screaming.

28. I recommend anybody go to a bookstore, go down the self-help or new-age section, and just walk those aisles. See what book jumps out at you; there's a good chance it's a book you need in your life. That's basically how I find the books that I read.

29. From the heaviest of the heavy to classical to country, that's what I listen to, I listen to a variety and I enjoy good music, good songs.

30. I went to school for about 2 years on a technical course, and I learned a lot. I learned about air mixture ratios and all the stuff; I learned how to draw blood.

31. I believe in a supreme being, yeah. But He's an all-loving God.

32. Besides Slayer, which is a full-time job, I raise animals. I have a ranch in Texas. My wife takes care of the animals when I'm on tour. When I get home, I become a ranch hand.

33. I would have to work on the song and figure out how they wanted the song done, because they're such high-intensity songs. We figure that out first, then I go back and listen to it and go over and rehearse stuff with it and try to get a feel for the words.