Dave Lombardo recently explained why Slayer was ‘better’ than Metallica, Anthrax, and Megadeth while speaking with Metal Hammer’s latest issue.
The topic came up when the host asked Lombardo which member of the Big Four was the best, and the drummer said:
“Slayer. Ha ha ha! Who else could I pick?! We were brutal man, we were on top of our game, and if you watch the videos, we were on fire. We really showed everyone else how it should be done – we tore everyone a new one.”
He then recalled how Slayer used to watch the other bands of the Big Four on stage and realize they felt to be ‘better’ than their peers:
“We’d watch a lot of those bands from side-stage anyway. I remember whispering to [Jeff] Hanneman [guitarist], ‘We’re better’, or ‘We’re faster,’ haha! It wasn’t necessarily arrogant, but it was inspiring if we watched a band that couldn’t deliver the ferocity we were because it made us feel amazing, like, ‘Oops, failure.'”
Still, although they felt good to be better than others, Lonbardo cleared that the band had no ill intentions:
“It was a youthful approach – you want to be better than the guy before you, you want to blow everyone away, and that was our mantra…”
The rocker then praised other metal outfits, especially paying respect to Exodus drummer Tom Hunting:
“When we left LA and went to San Francisco I saw [Exodus] and was like, ‘This guy is badass’ and you know what? He still is. We played a show with those guys in Testament, and that guy is stronger than ever. He’s made an amazing comeback after his illness [Hunting was treated for stomach cancer in 2021], and I’m so proud of him.”
He then continued by discussing how although Slayer and other bands had competition, they were still friendly:
“We were competing, but not in a negative way. We wanted to be the best, we wanted to be the heaviest, the fastest. So our rivals were any band that’d open up for us – we’d be like, ‘Let’s blow ’em out the water!’ I can’t think of a single band we had a real negative relationship with.”
You can read the full chat on Metal Hammer’s latest issue.
