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Ask Kerry King from Slayer about his band's standing in the world of heavy metal and he's adamant. "We're first," cackles the big, bald and bearded guitarist. "I'm a little bit biased though, you know."
But it's a fair comment and at the risk of being lynched: Metallica
are - virtually - dead, long live Slayer.
"Oh yeah, I don't know what the hell is going on with Metallica," says King flippantly, from Los Angeles.
Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth and Metallica were the four big thrash bands that made an impact in the early 80s, not only influencing the thrash and death metal genres but heavy music in general.
Of those, Slayer, who play the St James on Saturday night with Atlanta metallers Mastodon, were the most aggressive and vicious. But they've also been the most consistent and they're still going strong more than 25 years on. The release of their tenth album, Christ Illusion, last year, is testament to that durability.
"Realistically, to the metal world, we're like AC/DC," laughs King. "When we put out a record you can be pretty sure that you're going to dig it because we've never done anything to make our fans think otherwise. It's almost like a guarantee.
"And I'm still a fan so chances are if I dig it then fans are going to too. So we just roll with it."
Slayer formed in 1981 when King and fellow guitarist Jeff Hanneman met and started playing Judas Priest and Iron Maiden covers. They recruited bassist and singer Tom Araya and drummer Dave Lombardo, started gigging at clubs and parties, recorded demos throughout 1982, and in 1983 released their amateurish-sounding debut, Show No Mercy.
In those days King says he was never into what was happening in the news or in the world, so many of their lyrics were fantastical and "just kids making up shit".
Later, Slayer's lyrical themes would revolve around war, murder, religion and human weakness.
"In the beginning we did do covers like any other band. We started out doing not so heavy stuff, but we kept getting heavier and heavier because that's what we were into. So by the time we were doing originals we had escalated to the point where we were already doing [songs from] Black Metal by Venom and messing round with Motorhead riffs, so we were already doing fast stuff. But I listen to Show No Mercy sometimes and they're killer tunes but the lyrics are just not there.
"Then we just kept going and going until we got to Reign In Blood and that's kind of like our trademark sound."
Reign in Blood, from 1986, is widely regarded as a metal classic. It's debatable whether it's the heaviest album ever, but it's certainly one of the most thrilling. King believes the reason it sent such a shockwave through the metal scene was because of the "sonic difference" between it and previous album Hell Awaits.
"Essentially, it was just the next 10 tunes in the life of Slayer, but at that point in history it was the first time anyone had ever heard anything that aggressive and right in your face ... it didn't have the reverb to make it sound all demonic, as we thought we were back then. Take out the reverb and it becomes a lot more street and it becomes a lot more threatening."
Even now, playing Raining Blood live (a song off Reign in Blood) still sends a chill up King's very staunch spine.
"No matter where it is in the set, it's just a highlight because kids go [expletive] apeshit. Lately we've been playing it the last song before the encore and the crowd is electric. A lot of the stuff we play is old, the riffs are just fun to play, and that's why we do it. But a lot of people want to hear Skeletons of Society [from 1990's Seasons in the Abyss] but we'll probably never play it because it's dull as [expletive] live," he laughs.
He rates Reign in Blood as Slayer's benchmark album, but reckons Seasons was also important because it showed a more complete sounding Slayer.
"Reign In Blood is totally one-sided - it's fast, that's all it is, whereas Seasons was the perfect marriage between South of Heaven [from 1988] and Reign in Blood."
There's been a few bumps along the way, like a 1996 lawsuit against the band by the parents of a young girl, who accused them of encouraging their daughter's murderer through their lyrics. The lawsuit was dismissed.
There's also been band ructions. In 1992 Lombardo was fired - he also left the band for a time in 1986 - due to conflicts with other members and supposedly because he wanted to bring his wife on tour. He formed his own band, Grip Inc, and in the late 90s joined Mike Patton's Fantomas.
However, Lombardo is now back and Christ Illusion is the first album the original Slayer line-up has played on together since Seasons in the Abyss.
"When Dave left, at that point we'd pretty much run our course," says King. "But the cool thing about him coming back was that we didn't really have contact all those years ago - I think I went and saw him play with Testament once, but I never spoke to him - and when he came back we'd all grown 12 years and what ever bothered us back then doesn't bother us now. So we were able to just pick up from where we left off and move on."
King believes the state of heavy music is in good shape thanks to the popularity of bands like System of a Down and Lamb of God and the acclaim bands such as Mastodon and the Dillinger Escape Plan are receiving.
Mastodon, whose album Blood Mountain was in most top album lists last year, including TimeOut's, support Slayer on Saturday night. King admits he's not a fan. He prefers his metal more straightforward, by the likes of Chimaira and In Flames, than the often frilly yet brutal heaviness of Mastodon.
"They're some of my best friends. But I can't watch them play. They bore me," he scoffs, like a spoilt kid.
King has no intention of growing up. He's still having a blast. "But it's a weird thing in society that people think that once you get to a certain age you can't be a metal head and like hard music anymore and you have to grow up. Well, I don't understand that. It's like a job and when you're touring and travelling it sucks. But when you're on stage and interacting with the fans it's the best thing in the world. It's my income and it's my way of life."
