Wild things can happen on metal tours, but have you heard of the infamous story where Slayer frontman Tom Araya pissed on Venom frontman Cronos? The story takes place in 1985 with the two bands touring together, and allegedly, Araya pissed in Cronos’ mouth during a drunken post-show party. There are a few variations of this story and how things played out (including some additional altercations between Araya and Cronos).
But in an interview with Classic Rock, Cronos has shared what actually went down with him and the Slayer frontman. Per Cronos:
“That story has been twisted so many ways. I’ve heard, ‘Tom Araya stuck his dick in the guitarist’s mouth’ and ‘Tom Araya tried to fuck the bus driver’s ear’…
“Here’s the truth. A gig got cancelled, so we let Slayer stay on our bus as they had nowhere to sleep. Then Tom got really drunk and pissed himself. I got annoyed, so I fucking headbutted him and knocked the guy out.
“The next morning he came in with a black eye and was all apologetic, like, ‘Sorry, I was out of order.’ I said, Not a problem, man. It’s metal!”
So if this is the case, the incident isn’t as wild as some may have believed it to be. That said, Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo told Decibel Magazine back in 2006 a different variation of the story (as shared by Blabbermouth):
Dave Lombardo: “I remember Tom getting punched by Cronos [VENOM]. We were in the back of the bus drinking, and we were just totally hammered. It was our first time on a tour bus. I remember VENOM started the tour with these extravagant tour buses, but by the end of the tour, they were bankrupt and driving around in cars. So Jeff and I were drinking in the back of the bus with Cronos — I think we were playing ‘Hell Awaits’ for him. Tom came in, hammered out of his mind, going, ‘I gotta take a piss! Where’s the bathroom in this thing?’ And Cronos goes, ‘Right here — right here in my mouth!’ And Tom took him literally. He pulled down his pants, whipped it out, and went to the bathroom on Cronos’ hair. Cronos got up, grabbed Tom, and punched him in the face. They spent the rest of the night blaming each other, and Tom did the rest of the tour with a black eye.”
What do you think actually went down?
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Words by: Michael Pementel
