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A Slayer reunion after their final shows in 2019 seemed impossible. Kerry King was gearing up for his new band, Gary Holt went back to Exodus, and Tom Araya had wanted to retire for years leading up to the end of the band. So the metal community was a little shocked when Slayer all of a sudden announced two festival dates for later this year.
But what the hell happened? Why now? According to Tom Araya‘s wife Sandra Araya on social media, she had a lot to do with it. Sandra said Tom was absolutely done playing, but she harassed him for the past year to get back into it, and now we are.
“Let’s clarify for the trolls: Tom was done with playing,” she wrote. “I have harassed him for over a year. He agreed FINALLY. We shared that news with Slayer‘s awesome managers and they did the rest! So yes without Tom it wouldn’t have happened.. without me BUGGING HIM it wouldn’t have happened. But go ahead with your drama! I however will be enjoying a few shows and I’m thankful he loves me and the fans enough to do this.”
I’m not really sure how this clears up any of the drama surrounding the situation, but apparently it does. I think the “drama” is twofold, and neither has to do with Araya – one, Slayer has been broken up for barely five years; and two, Kerry King has a solo thing that’s now overshadowed by Slayer. But uh… there you go.
Tom Araya himself hasn’t commented further on the reunion outside his initial, brief statement: “Nothing compares to the 90 minutes when we’re on stage playing live, sharing that intense energy with our fans, and to be honest, we have missed that.”
