I even remember the interviewer being nervous about interviewing Mayhem:laughing:

Yea I'll keep listening to them every once in a while and see if I start to like them. It's the same thing i do with bell peppers! (except with eating... not listening...)

Ultimately I am of the school that music is separate from the life of the musician. But the fact that i know they are christians makes it hard for me to swallow all their anti-christian bull****. I'd way rather listen to bands like mayhem and burzum who's member(s) actually practice what they preach (even if it isn't something I agree with).

Liars is actually a bad choice of words on my part, sorry. I'd say they are fakes.

Their logo is a pentagram... a satanist symbol. They're album covers feature such images as a bloodied bible with nails in it. And here is a sample of their lyrics:
Satan our master in evil mayhem
Guides us with every first step
Our axes are growing with power and fury
Soon there'll be nothingness left
Midnight has come and the leathers strapped on
Evil is at our command
We clash with God's angel and conquer new souls
Consuming all that we can

satan our master??

I do understand that they can present all of these images without necessarily claiming that they agree with them and that they are just presenting them for effect... but I think the image they made for themselves was intended to seem real and for some reason it just bothers me to know, when i listen, that they are just kidding.

Now I am, in a way, contradicting myself because I listen to death metal and I'm pretty sure that the members of the bands don't actually skull rape virgins... but... it is so extreme that it is obvious that its not true. It's a part of the nature of metal to be extreme.
But the subject matter of slayer's lyrics and images isn't that extreme, it's just anti-christian... it just seems weird to me to be a deeply religious person who dedicates his entire musical career to an anti-christian message...

and perhaps I'm just biased against religious folks.

Could someone who knows more than i do about slayer tell me if they have always been open about their religious beliefs? Because I am under the impression that they didn't really start talking about that until way later in their career.

In which case... aren't they the epitome of sellouts? Going against their ideals to make money? Cuz you can make great metal without the anti-christian message if metal is really what it's about for you. It just seems to me that they put forth that image to look cool, and that for a long time they weren't very open about the fact that they don't actually believe in what they are saying.

I admit though that I know way less about slayer than most of you guys and I was born in the 80's so I wasn't exactly there to experience it...

But for instance... If a band sang about the same things that amon amarth does, but they were from ohio and not descended from any scandinavian blood... i probably wouldn't be able to take them seriously. If their music was amazing, I would probably listen to them. But if I couldn't stand their singer... there would be no way. So i guess it's the combination of those things.

I think I love slayer minus tom araya. that's probably blasphemy but... i do love their instrumentals.

They make stories out of their songs. It is entertainment. It doesn't have to be serious. If you don't like Slayer, you don't like Slayer. While I was surprised to find out they were all Christians, it didn't really affect my enjoyment of their music.

I'm not trying to convince anyone that it isn't ok to like slayer. i was just exploring the various reasons for liking/disliking slayer. It's different for people who find different things to be important. Plus their being religious isn't why I dislike them. I mostly dislike them cuz I don't like the vocals. I could overcome the catholic thing if i was totally in love with their band. And I agree that instrumentally (excluding the instrument of the voice) they are really great.
Just discussing... that's all... wasn't that the point of this thread? Not to convince anyone of anything but just to discuss the various reasons why we like or dislike things?

i think i would be scared to interview them too!

I thought we were discussing. I was discussing why I still like them despite them being Christians. So, no worries...discuss away.

Am I the only one that can tune out vocals if I really don't like them? I'll admit there are a few bands out there where the music is top notch but the vocals get to me. I usually just focus on the music and ignore the vocals...I'd say 90% of the time I end up getting used to the vocals and actually enjoy them.

I'm a vocalist so it's the first thing I hear and the hardest thing for me to ignore :(

Personally I can`t see the issue here. Whether they`re christians or not I find quite unimportant. If they`re christians and want to sing about satan or anything else for that matter, its just their topic of choice and nothing more! Metal has always had a shock value and Slayer are just part of that image.

Music is entertainment for the listener, and whether those making that entertainment practice what they preach is quite irrelevant really.

I'm not a vocalist but I'm the same way, it's very hard to look past a singer that puts me off, no matter how good the music. I can ignore lyrics no problem, but I can't ignore vocals.