Remembering Tom Hailey

I first encountered Tom Hailey when tuning in to WKNC’s Chainsaw Rock late Friday night in the early 1990s. Under the moniker The Unholy One, Tom meticulously curated the most legendary death, black, thrash, and doom metal radio show to grace the planet. He didn’t merely assemble a phenomenal playlist - he generated a pitch black atmosphere to surround it, and wielded his intelligence and unmistakable gift with language to deliver over the top yet hilarious monologues. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that Tom and his reign of Chainsaw changed my musical life forever. He introduced me to some of the most phenomenal and innovative metal I had ever heard - a majority of it emerging from one of the first waves of Scandinavian death and black metal.

Tom and I would later become friends, and through his Nightside Music import service, I was able to obtain albums like Dance of December Souls by Katatonia, Orchid by Opeth, and The Somberlain by Dissection not long after their release. Years later, when Tom was at Relapse Records, his advice, support and tough love for my then-fledgling band Daylight Dies meant so much to me.

Fun fact: when Tom moved on from Chainsaw, I was relieved his successor continued to host the show with extreme care and attention to detail, not to mention a similar dark atmosphere and aesthetic. That person was Guthrie Iddings, who later became the original vocalist of Daylight.

In February of 2025, after a decade or two of no contact (life just flying by, as it tends to…), I texted Tom to say hello. In our brief but humorous exchange, we decided to meet up again soon. Sadly, I didn’t act fast enough, as I learned that he had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly a few months later.

A few nights ago, I came across the Radical Research podcast, which had dedicated an episode to eulogizing Tom. I think it does a good job of capturing aspects of his personality so many of us loved, and it felt good hearing him remembered this way.