Jeff Becerra has challenged the impression created by a widely shared Cliff Burton headline, saying that Larry LaLonde personally told him the story had been taken out of context. The published interview itself also presents Burton’s remark as blunt honesty—not evidence of a lasting feud.
A provocative quote—and the context that followed it
A new Ultimate Guitar interview with Primus guitarist and former Possessed member Larry LaLonde drew attention through a headline built around a recollection involving late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton.
LaLonde recalled Burton telling him, “I hate your band. You guys are like a Slayer rip-off.” Read alone, the sentence sounds like an unequivocal dismissal of Possessed. In the published answer, however, LaLonde immediately changes the temperature of the story: he says Burton “wasn’t being mean”, describes him as honest and without pretence, and explains that he did not take the remark personally.
That distinction is central. The interview supports the claim that LaLonde remembers Burton making a very blunt comment. It does not, by itself, establish an enduring conflict, personal hostility or a settled judgment that Burton carried throughout the rest of his life.
The quotation and the interpretation are not the same thing.
LaLonde’s own explanation frames the memory as an example of Burton’s direct personality. A headline can accurately reproduce a sentence while still compressing—or obscuring—the meaning of the complete answer.
Larry LaLonde performing with Primus in Pordenone, 2012. Photo: Elisa Moro / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Cropped or resized by Altars of Metal if applicable.
Jeff Becerra responds from the official Possessed account
Writing in a public post on Possessed’s official Facebook account, Jeff Becerra disputed the hostile interpretation of the story. He said he found it difficult to imagine LaLonde seriously presenting Burton as an enemy of the band, particularly because Becerra and LaLonde remain friends and because his own memories of Burton are affectionate.
Becerra described Burton as a friend who attended Possessed shows—including performances connected to Ruthie’s Inn—and socialised with musicians around the Pinole area. He also allowed for a more complicated possibility: Burton may genuinely have disliked the band during its earliest period, when Possessed’s chaotic structure and extremity alienated many listeners, but later changed his mind.
That is Becerra’s recollection, not an independently documented record of Burton’s private opinions at every point in time. It is nevertheless materially different from the idea of an enduring feud. Becerra’s central objection is not necessarily that the words could never have been spoken; it is that the headline encourages readers to interpret them as Burton’s final and permanent view.
Becerra says he spoke directly with LaLonde
In a follow-up Facebook reply, Becerra said he had just spoken with LaLonde, who was in Europe. According to Becerra, LaLonde told him that the story was “taken out of context” and that he had not intended it to be understood as an attack on Possessed or as serious disparagement of Burton.
This is an important clarification, but it requires precise attribution. At the time of writing, Altars of Metal has not located a separate public statement from LaLonde addressing the controversy. The phone conversation was private, and its content is available to the public only through Becerra’s account.
Accordingly, it would be inaccurate to write that LaLonde has publicly denied the quotation. The more defensible formulation is that Becerra reports LaLonde objected to the way the recollection was framed and interpreted.
Confirmed in the published interview: LaLonde recounts the blunt remark and immediately says Burton was not being mean.
Confirmed as Becerra’s public statement: Becerra says he spoke with LaLonde and was told the story had been taken out of context.
Not independently confirmed: the exact wording and full content of the private telephone conversation.
Jeff Becerra of Possessed, 2014. Photo: Rubén G. Herrera / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Cropped or resized by Altars of Metal if applicable; derivative use remains under the same licence.
Jeff Becerra performing with Possessed in London, 2016. Photo: Sumy Sadurni / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized by Altars of Metal; derivative use remains under the same licence.
What the historical record supports
Becerra referred to the well-known San Francisco bill featuring Venom, Slayer and Possessed at the Kabuki Theatre and recalled spending time with Burton while Venom performed. Independent concert databases and surviving tour records generally place that show on April 12, 1985.
There is a minor archival inconsistency worth noting: an earlier post from the official Possessed account described the same bill as taking place on February 12, while Becerra’s new statement refers more generally to April. Concert Archives, Setlist.fm and other surviving listings converge on April 12. None of those databases can verify the private interaction with Burton, but they do corroborate the event around which Becerra places the memory.
Becerra’s broader description of long-standing ties with Metallica’s circle is also not new. In interviews published in 2017, he said that Kirk Hammett and members of Death Angel had spoken positively about Possessed while the band’s Nuclear Blast deal was developing. That evidence cannot tell us exactly what Burton thought in every year, but it does support a history of continuing relationships rather than a simple Possessed-versus-Metallica hostility narrative.
A remembered insult is not proof of a feud
The most defensible conclusion is that Cliff Burton may have delivered a blunt—possibly joking, possibly sincere—early assessment of Possessed, while Larry LaLonde remembered it as an example of Burton’s honesty rather than malice. Jeff Becerra’s response adds first-hand memories of friendship and says LaLonde objected to the modern framing. What the sources do not justify is the categorical claim that Burton permanently hated Possessed.
Sources
- Ultimate Guitar — Larry LaLonde interview and complete context of the Cliff Burton recollection.
- Possessed official Facebook account — Jeff Becerra’s public response and his account of speaking directly with Larry LaLonde.
- Concert Archives — Kabuki Theatre concert chronology.
- Setlist.fm — Slayer, Venom and Possessed at the Kabuki Theatre, April 12, 1985.
- BraveWords, 2017 — Becerra on Kirk Hammett and others supporting Possessed’s Nuclear Blast signing.
- Capital Chaos TV, 2017 — original extended Becerra interview on the Nuclear Blast deal.
Image credits
- Featured image: Possessed at Jalometalli 2008. Cecil / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped and resized by Altars of Metal.
- Jeff Becerra, London 2016: Sumy Sadurni / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized by Altars of Metal.
- Jeff Becerra portrait, 2014: Rubén G. Herrera / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Cropped or resized if applicable.
- Larry LaLonde, Pordenone 2012: Elisa Moro / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Cropped or resized if applicable.
Editorial note: Becerra’s Facebook statement is public, but his account of the private conversation with LaLonde remains explicitly attributed to him. No separate public clarification from LaLonde was located at the time of writing. Concert databases can help corroborate the date and bill of the Kabuki Theatre show, but they cannot confirm private interactions or personal opinions.
About the Author: SLATAN
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