Slayer insulted by Rubin record deal

Slayer’s split with producer Rick Rubin came after his label offered an “insulting” deal for their 11th album, says Kerry King.

Repentless, due via Nuclear Blast on September 11, is their first without Rubin since 1985’s Hell Awaits.

And Tom Araya says that, despite the perception that the band made the split, it was the producer who cut the connection with his label American Records.

Slayer previously said the switch took place because the band wanted to foster a more direct connection with fans.

But King tells The Metal Hammer Magazine Show’s Alexander Milas: “Solidarity is far stronger than jumping ship and going somewhere else. I thought we’d still be on American – but when we got the offer from American, I was insulted.

“That to me just said, ‘Good luck, you’re not gonna have good luck here anymore.’ So we found our new friends at Nuclear Blast.”

Repentless was helmed by Terry Date, who’s previously worked with Slipknot, Pantera and Deftones, among others. King says: “ I think this is gonna be a nice little progression going forward. However many records we do in the future, I hope Terry’s free.”

Araya adds that Slayer didn’t end the 28-year relationship with Rubin. “It was more like he broke the news to us,” the frontman says. “When we started this record it was on the pretext that we’d be working with Rick – but things didn’t pan out. We’ve sort of moved on.”

Repentless is also the band’s first album without late guitarist Jeff Hanneman – and Araya admits some followers have resisted the idea of continuing without the co-founder. “The fans are pretty ruthless, man, and with social media it’s bad,” he says.

“People have opinions. Some are positive, and a lot of them are pretty fucking negative. It’s hard to believe – especially considering these people are fans of the band.”

But he adds: “Nothing that I or Kerry say will change what some of these people think or feel.”

Stay tuned to TeamRock Radio’s The Metal Hammer Magazine Show for the full interview. Slayer have confirmed the first three dates of a European tour with Anthrax and Kvelertak, with more to be announced:

Oct 25: Tilburg 013, Netherlands

Oct 26: Paris Le Zenith, France

Nov 07: Vienna Gasometer, Austria

Slayer: The Hanneman Years

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.