Slayer's Kerry King: 'We've Never Tried To Be Anything We Weren't'

On first impressions, Kerry King stands as an imposing figure. Heavily tattooed, dark shades that his eyes and his long, thick beard helping to complete a picture of one of metal’s kings of evil. Yet, behind the persona, it is a totally differing contrast.

King is just a normal down to earth cool guy, the sort you can hang out with at a local bar finding yourself immersed in conversations for hours on end. Friendly, open, honest, not afraid to voice his opinions, passionate about his music and life and most importantly genuine in the way he lives and performs. Kerry King is that and more. On Slayer’s recent tour of Australia – their last being back in 2001 – Joe Matera caught up with Kerry King for this exclusive interview for Ultimate-Guitar.

Ultimate-Guitar: How does this Australian tour compare to others you’re currently doing in different territories around the globe?

Kerry King: It’s hard for me to compare because we don’t come here that often. They’re not really different though. But in general with all the tours we do, it doesn’t differ. It’s the same fuckin’ story, just different song.

How do you go about making your live performance as intense as possible?

It is hard to say. But I just think of it like this… all these people have paid a lot of money to see me perform so it is up to me to deliver. And with that mind set, I just go out and attack.

A recent UK report declared that Slayer were one of the music choices of child prodigies. That is in stark contrast to an Esquire article back in 1992 that claimed one out of five kids who kill love Slayer?

Well we do cover a broad spectrum! (laughs) I think that it is all because we’ve stuck around so long that we are now a household name, which I think is how we won the Grammy. When we got that and when we were up for that second one, I thought to myself, 'who goes about voting for this?' So I tried putting myself in the situation of a voter where, if I was voting and it came around to rap or hip-hop, I wouldn’t know who the hell to pick. I’d pick somebody who I had heard of. I figure 65% of our votes probably came from that sort of situation where people had never heard of us, never heard of our music but had heard of our name. I don’t care for stuff like winning a Grammy any way. The only stuff that means something to me is the fans because they’re the ones into it and they’re the ones living it.

What do you think has contributed to the Slayer’s longevity in the music industry known for its fickleness?

All the way back to our very first record, and though you can look back on it today and it is a little bit corny, you have to realise we were 19 year old kids trying to find out what the hell we were doing. But central to that point is that it has always been real for us. Slayer has always been really street wise. We’ve never tried to be anything we weren’t. Like for example, I don’t believe in God or the Devil but I do put religion on trial because that is who I am and so that translates into the music. If people get that and they like us they will cling onto us. A Slayer record or a Slayer show to me is almost like a guarantee, you know that if you like Slayer, then you’re going to dig it all. And we’ve always come through and done it. 90% of what I write, I like to throw it out there in a way that you might have ten kids who read the lyrics while another ten kids will walk away with something different from it.

"I don't care for stuff like winning a Grammy any way."

Going back to the band’s early days, how do you now look back on your debut Show No Mercy?

We still play songs off that album, like tonight we’re playing two songs off that album. We don’t play anything from the 1990s because Dave wasn’t part of the band. I mean that is not the full reason but now that Dave is back, and because this is the first time Australia has seen us with Dave, we’re totally focused on that. We do play stuff off God Hates Us All but nothing from the 1990s. I mean except for Seasons but that is not really the 1990s, we don’t do anything off Divine or Diabolus or Undisputed for that matter.

Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits, proudly displayed a lot of the band’s influences?

Absolutely, when we were making those records we were really into Mercyful Fate, which is why the Hell Awaits songs are so long. We were really into them and that is why there are ten thousand riffs and all those songs. But that album was the last time you could totally see an influence on us. I think that was the last time when were impressionable. Now we know what we do and we know what the formula for a Slayer song is. I mean, I know the difference between liking someone and being influenced by them. But I think a lot of musicians don’t.

Venom were another heavy influence on the sound and musical direction of Slayer?

Yeah. Recently Cronos came around to one of our shows in Birmingham in England and I went ‘that is fuckin’ Cronos there man!’ I never paid attention to the band once Cronos had left. He was the only reason why I was into the band. I dug his Venom personality. A funny thing happened recently too. I was doing autographs in Germany for one of their music shows and Mantas was there too whom I had never met before so I didn’t recognise him! (laughs) He doesn’t look anything like he used to. Anyway he’s telling me all these stories and I’m like ‘yeah I was on that tour’ and he’s like ‘well I’m Mantas!’ And I go ‘fuck off, no you’re not!’ (laughs) I still listen to them all time on my I-Pod.

When it comes to writing guitar parts, do you do it before going in to the studio or do you tend to do a lot of it during the recording sessions?

The leads are usually the last thing we address because it’s just me and Jeff’s personal thing. The song has to be a song first. The lyrics have to be part of it before you can move on and that is not to say that they’re an afterthought. But our leads are very rarely made up before we have any lyrics done. Once we have got Tom pointing in the right direction singing wise, me and Jeff will then kick back in the hotel and make up our leads. The only thing that comes before anything else like the lyrics, are the riff. I think I’ve written lyrics only once before I had any music. I just wrote some stuff down, not like a poem or anything but I knew I had these lyrics but also had no music. But I wrote them down and knew that I would use them some day.

When you guys get together in the rehearsal studio, do you jam with each other?

We never jam! I’m not a “jammer”. I mean I get offered to jam by so many people, like an all-star jam kind of thing. But I can’t jam dude. I wouldn’t know where to start. You know, for me it has been very methodical. This is what it is and there is no room for a jam session to come out of it like a lead in South of Heaven or something. I can’t do that to a lot of music. It is not Deep Purple music you know. I make up all my own riffs. When we rehearse, we rehearse. We don’t just come in and fuck around. We’re all grown men now who have very separate lives at home. But in the old days, it’ll be like I’d be playing guitar and Jeff would jump on the drums and vice versa and we would both make up riffs from that.

As a guitar player what do you think are the required elements that can make a good riff?

It is hard to say and it is hard for me to put it into words. But some of my favourite riffs are ones that are memorable and compelling at the same time.

"The only stuff that means something to me is the fans because they're the ones into it and they’re the ones living it."

When you and Jeff are laying down your duelling guitar lead work, do you tend to have a healthy competitive spirit emerging between yourselves?

There is probably something there from both sides. There have been times where I went in and did my three solos and his parts were blank. Then he came in and did his three and did something that made mine sound like shit or vice versa. So I redid mine in order to make them better.

I recall a comment Judas Priest’s Glenn Tipton once made where he stated that he and K.K sometimes find themselves competing to out do each other’s guitar solos?

It seems funny to me because I think Tipton is in a league of his own. Tipton is like the guitar guy and K.K is like the one that picks up the scraps!

On the current tour what is your gear set-up like?

On tour here in Australia it is stripped back because we’re so far away and we don’t need half the things that normally I have in the rig. Live, I’m playing my new Marshall signature head that they’ve got coming out soon. I think it just went into production. It’s not going to be a limited edition like Zakk’s and Slash’s models. It is a production model. I had it designed so I can come to any country and if my gear does not show up, I can grab that head, plug it in and play. So I’m running that, a Shure wireless, a Zakk Wylde Cry Baby and an A/B Box. I don’t have a speaker cab running my clean channel as I run my clean directly into the monitor board that goes directly through the PA. It runs through a Chorus of some kind, just so it doesn’t sound plain. It is a very basic set-up. And the guitars are obviously all B.C Rich.

You have contributed guitar solos in the past to Pantera, Ice-T and Hatebreed songs. Can we see Kerry King doing something similar again soon?

It really depends. I did the Pantera thing just because Dime was my friend. I was so blown away when he said ‘I want you to do a lead in this song’ and I was like ‘why? Why the fuck do you need me for?’ (laughs) But it comes to a point where everybody asks and you pretty much have got to shut the door because if you turn somebody down and in six months you turn up on somebody else’s record. Then that’s wrong. I don’t want to be that guy. It would take the right opportunity to do another one. I’ve always talked about doing something with Zakk and I’m sure we’ll do something some day. Before Dime passed away, me, Dime and Zakk were going to do something. And Dime was the glue because I was better friends with Dime than Zakk. Now, Zakk and I have become better friends because Dime is not around anymore. Me and Dime, when he was doing press for the Damageplan record, I called him up one day and said ‘dude you and I have got to do this song. I don’t know what we’re going to do with it, but it is you and me’. And he was like, ‘what is it King?’ I said ‘we got to do Snortin’ Whiskey, Drinkin’ Cocaine’. He was like, ‘I’m in. What’s it for?’ ‘I don’t care. I just think we need to do it’. So we were going to do it but they got all busy with press and I said to Dime, ‘there is no reason to rush as we have all the time in the world to do’. And then I never saw him again…

Check out Kerry King (photo) greeting Ultimate-Guitar.com at this location.

2007 © Joe Matera

Comments

[jessejames1414]

that first picture where he's holding the ultimate guitar thing is golden XD

[not_dead_enough]

… all these people have paid a lot of money to see me perform so it is up to me to deliver. And with that mind set, I just go out and attack.

Bullshit. I saw them on the Australian tour and it was pretty obvious they did not care about our city. It was just another night at the office; they didn't want to be there, and I wasn't impressed.

We don’t play anything from the 1990s because Dave wasn’t part of the band.

That sux; a band is an entity in its own, and Paul Bostaph was and is an important part of Slayer's history. The 90's saw some great Slayer albums IMO and its a shame they don't play them; a bit arrogant of Dave don't you think??

[sticknick]

Man, what's with the beards these days?

Kerry looks like ****ing Gimli from the LOTR movies.

[hardrocker64]

South of Heaven and Seasons of the Abyss are my favs. These dudes are rippin. Come to Raleigh,nc Kerry

[Deathfru]

i saw them at the unholy alliance tour they were ****ing fantastic! my body got chills when they played there final song Angle Of Death, at first i thought they wernt gonna play it and i was sad but at the end omg i ****ing went crazy

[Kreuger]

I remember him saying that he Dime and Zakk were gonna do a metal G3. That would've been gold

[Shabalaba]

Kerry i a good guitarist but in the album Reign in Blood his solos are all practically the same, i cant speak for any other albums but it may be the same

[Pacifica112J]

Slayer's a great band, but Kerry King is a tool.

[Nightstrider]

Slayer's a great band, but Kerry King is a tool.

Funny, I was just going to ask if anyone found Kerry King as irritating as I do. Seriously, the billions-of-notes-a-secon
d solos aren't going to save a band that's been sliding downhill since the mid '90s.

[zigslip]

kerry king isn't all that good, but if you want just something heavy to mosh to, then pfft, raining blood FTW!

[ChaoticVengence]

Kerry is definately one of the greater metal guitarists, but why isn't Jeff the ultra popular one? he's teh one that writes pretty much all of the amazing stuff, angel of death:jeff, and most of the solo in that song are all him, as much as i love kerry is somewhat overrated

[sambargun]

Its sad that they're not doing anything from the 90s because 'divine intervention' was one killer album. For those of you who think that kerry is a loser, hey at least he's honest enough to admit some stuff, like that he's not a 'jammer'. Lots of pseudo guitarists love to go on about jamming here and there. At least he admits that he cant do it and doesnt want to do it.The part about Dimebag was nice.....

Checked.

[Y00p]

I personally got bored with Slayer a long time ago, but, and I think this is true for about everyone who once loved a band, they'll always have a special place.

Anyway, the bit about Dimebag was indeed very nice, and I love Zakk, so I hope they get together once.

As for his solo's... why is it in plural, anyway...?

[rik23]

His tatoos are mint!

[jewbaby667]

Everyone can say what they want about King and Slayer, but you have to admit that Seasons and South of Heaven are 2 of the staple metal/thrash albums in history. It will be hard for them to tarnish their name to the point of making those albums bad. Long Live Kerry King!

[ProxXect]

Kerry King:

The leads are usually the last thing we address ...

And it shows. Hahaha...

[HellAwaits]

The single greatest band is not slayer. but its not a negative reflection on slayer. see slayer cant be the greatest band BECAUSE SLAYER IS THE ONE TRUE GOD!!!

ps, the greatest band ever is a tie between Vital Remains and Behemoth. lol

[DeathForAll]

Great, now I know when I see them live in August, they won't play anything from Divine Intervention. GOD! I loved that album...

Oh well, I'm still gonna go.

Didn't Diabolus In Musica and all those other crappy albums come out during the 90's? Also, what song did Kerry King do solos for with Pantera and Hatebreed?

[lord of stones]

Kerry King is cool!!!

[timbojones]

Bullshit. I saw them on the Australian tour and it was pretty obvious they did not care about our city. It was just another night at the office; they didn't want to be there, and I wasn't impressed.

If your talking about Adelaide, Australia, I couldn't ****ing agree more!!!

[OfantesOvFire]

ChaoticVengence wrote:

Kerry is definately one of the greater metal guitarists, but why isn't Jeff the ultra popular one? he's teh one that writes pretty much all of the amazing stuff, angel of death:jeff, and most of the solo in that song are all him, as much as i love kerry is somewhat overrated

That's exactly what I think. I always thought Jeff was the better guitarist and music writer.

[Night_Lights]

*predicts many comments on Kings whammy bar solos*


Come on guys, its his style, and the chaotic noise that emits from his guitar fits perfectly with the music of Slayer.

[Ivory_Soul]

He looks like the the bassist, Dave DeRoo, from ADEMA!

[not_dead_enough]

timbojones wrote:


Bullshit. I saw them on the Australian tour and it was pretty obvious they did not care about our city. It was just another night at the office; they didn't want to be there, and I wasn't impressed.


If your talking about Adelaide, Australia, I couldn't ****ing agree more!!!

Yes I was.

[chiliwillifreak]

not_dead_enough wrote:

… all these people have paid a lot of money to see me perform so it is up to me to deliver. And with that mind set, I just go out and attack.
Bullshit. I saw them on the Australian tour and it was pretty obvious they did not care about our city. It was just another night at the office; they didn't want to be there, and I wasn't impressed.

We don’t play anything from the 1990s because Dave wasn’t part of the band.
That sux; a band is an entity in its own, and Paul Bostaph was and is an important part of Slayer's history. The 90's saw some great Slayer albums IMO and its a shame they don't play them; a bit arrogant of Dave don't you think??

I was at the melbourne gig and the only thing that sucked there was the crowd. Slayer were playing their asses off and the crowd weren't responding... my frined got KICKED OUT of a slayer concert for trying to start up the crowd.

[Bubonic Chronic]

I deeply respect Slayer, a band who changed the world, yet never succomed to the pressure of the industry.

When MTV went looking for a song to put on TV it was like "the one about bodies of kids piling up in the basement or having your guts ripped out by machine guns?" You can't market that to the mass consumer. The reason it sells is because it's f*cking honest and now there are docs, schoolteachers and CEO's with Hell Awaits and Angel of Death in their IPOD's. All those kids of the 80's who connected with this sh*t are still listening!!

A trillion thanks to this legendary band.

[schizz]

I’m not a “jammer”. I mean I get offered to jam by so many people, like an all-star jam kind of thing. But I can’t jam dude. I wouldn’t know where to start. You know, for me it has been very methodical.

Dude that is a wide-load of bullshit right there. I'm a Slayer fan and all, but Kerry's leads are pretty much improvised, you can tell he spends like 5 minutes tops writing them. They function on just about the lowest level of music theory you can conjure and they aren't even all that audibly attractive. The riffs are what makes Slayer, Kerry King is pretty much filler.

[x_themetalfan_x]

I strongly disagree with the whole "Slayer is going downhill" thing. Christ Illusion was a solid album, they really haven't changed a bit in the years they've been together and that's the way I like it. I don't rip open a Slayer CD looking to be enlightened musically, I open it up to have my face melted off and my balls crushed (figuratively of course). They do a great job of what they do.

[soadrocker103]

christ illusion was definately a solid album, like themetalfan said. and also that part about dime and zakk was tight. I believe that king did the second solo in goddamn electric?

[cannibal_foetus]

I agree 100% with chilliwillifreak, i was also at the Melbourne show and it kicked ass!!! it was the best night of my life, the only let down was the crowd, me and my friend Braidy were the only people singing and headbanging and getting into it where we were sitting, i really expected more out of my fellow Slayer fans. As for all the faggots who think Slayer are going downhill, i say FUCK YOU!!! Slayer are the greatest band on the ****ing planet, always have been and always will be!!!!! Any true metal fan would agree, simply because metal would NOT be what it is today if it wasn't for Slayer. As a matter of fact, Diabolus and Divine Intervention are 2 of my favourite albums, so suck on that. Though i love every album, however i do agree that Jeff is indeed a better guitarist than Kerry King and deserves a bit more recognition, however, Kerry is Slayers frontman, which i also find odd seeing as the vocalist is usually the frontman for a band, but maybe its just not Toms thing, either way, I LOVE FUCKING SLAYER!!!!!

[ollie=]thrash]

saw them on the aussie tour! they were insane! caught lombardos drumstick and creamed my pants

[SMK626]

I find Slayer one of the best bands out there.

King is as the article says, a lot nicer in person.

I saw them in Unholy Alliance, they were amazing and haven't aged that much.

Also when the new album came out I got it signed at the exact same day =].

Yeah king is not the best guitarist expecially when it comes to music theory, but I don't really care that much. He fits perfectly when it comes to the music he writes. And they've made one of the biggest impacts in metal music.

At least they've never sold out in over 2 decades.

[$LAY£R]

I think christ illusion had great parts of it but overall i was hoping for it to be a bit better, and the fact that slayer aren't going to be playing anything from the bostaph era, completely sucks balls because tunes like 213, killing fields, live would b huge, i don't want to see them churning out the same old 12 greatest hit tunes everytime they play, which is nearly what maiden were doing until they brought out matter of life and death and dance of death, but in respect to their old stuff they do under play a lot of old stuff, i was lucky to see them at reading 05, wheree they only played tunes off their first three albums to makr the 20ths anniversary so that was by luck.but more to the point, slayer could come out with tunes that new slayer fans maybe havent heard due to this kind of issue, why block off a section of their music, are they never gonig to play dittohead live again? http://youtube.com/watch?v=JnT6UDAbn1I lol watch the fans at the beggining, they crack me up, the big dude ha, enjoy.

[Dr.Tomahawk]

I can't wait for whatever him and Zakk do, i'm sure it will be amazing whatever happens. That's if it ever happens, i hope it does.

[atari2600]

i saw them in melbourne and yeah it did seem like another day at the office for them. didnt stop me from havin a rockin time. fk my neck hurt the next day.
they didnt talk to the crowd much but then again who wants to listen to that crap.
"hi springdon"
"we thought they could rock in shelbyville"
[quote]cannibal_foetus wrote:

me and my friend Braidy were the only people singing and headbanging and getting into it where we were sitting, i really expected more out of my fellow Slayer fans. quote]

lol who the hell sits down at a slayer gig

[Eternal_One]

lol.

I love Slayer and always will. Fav band and influential in my guitar playing. But am I the only to who thinks the person who wrote this article wanted to ****/suck Kerry king while writing it?

"Friendly, open, honest, not afraid to voice his opinions, passionate about his music and life and most importantly genuine in the way he lives and performs."

Translation: I wanna suck Kerry's cock.

[Eternal_One]

Oh and Kerry is talking a load of rubbish by saying:

"Then he came in and did his three and did something that made mine sound like shit or vice versa"

I HIGHLY DOUBT that Vice versa part. Jeff totally makes King like a nOOb when It comes to soloing and actually adding MELODY to song structure.

[Skarr]

I understand why some people come on here and bash/flame Kerry King and Slayer for their music, but it is their style. If all the bands played the same way, music would suck. But if you look at it this way...they're one of the very few bands that are still around today that started back in the 80's.

[hippie_punk]

I love slayer, i mean they're the band that got me into metal, but Christ Illusions was terrible.

[theToXiCWaLTZ]

in my opinion, a lot of kerry's solos are just playing really really fast and messing around with the tremolo, not that kerry isnt a good guitarist, but jeff's solos are way more technical, cause jeff has harmonics and vibrato and stuff, and he can play just as fast, if not faster than kerry can

[operation ktulu]

I kinda hate Slayer why
1) Their singer..can't sing
2) The drums all sound the same
3) The rest is shit

But they must be doing something right, and good on em for that, i would rather listen to MEGADETH any day

[Fermixalot]

king's solos are pretty lame.

but like said above, slayer isn't about musical enlightenment its about ****ing slayer and kicking ass.


was i the only one to find this horribly saddening:

So we were going to do it but they got all busy with press and I said to Dime, ‘there is no reason to rush as we have all the time in the world to do’. And then I never saw him again…

[Xinlitik]

It's a shame they never tried to be good.

[Nhex (PT)]

i can only see people with a bad opinion about a great guitar player

but everyone has his or her opinion

[guitar.random]

slayer are going downhill, but i have to admit... they have been a major inspiration to many of the best bands out there. As for kerry's guitar playing, yeah his solo's are lame... but they can beat mine, and probably any1 out there's anydays. As for his riffs, i agree that they are pretty basic, but bring that original metal sound which is what slayer and metal is about.

[Rize]

"So we were going to do it but they got all busy with press and I said to Dime, ‘there is no reason to rush as we have all the time in the world to do’. And then I never saw him again…"

What a sad way to end an article. \m/

[E V H 5150]

This guy seems so...conceited. Not really Slayer fan, myself. But let me say this: If this guy were to do a shred off against Randy Rhoads, Slash, or EVH, he wopuld get pwned soooo bad. (assuming we found a way to resurrect Randy)

And what's wrong with jamming anyway? Is he saying that his stuff is too good to come out of a jam? I can get a lot of ideas from jamming. Maybe he's just not that creative.

It's heavy metal; it's basicly screaming and drop tuning anyway, right? Not much creativity...

[buckethead101]

hellyeah

[16kramer05]

E V H 5150 wrote:
It's heavy metal; it's basicly screaming and drop tuning anyway, right? Not much creativity...

Dude, you can't say that Heavy Metal has not much creativity. That's a completely biased and an uninformed point of view. There are too many heavy metal bands out there that are unbelievably creative (Dream Theater, Sonata Arctic, etc.) to say that.

[ThorOfValhalla]

man, i always though King was a bit of a "metal snob"...

but now, idunno, good article, it really showed a different side to the dude

[LitanY]

Nice interview!
I think you should't see Slayer as individual artists, but as one metal-machine.
It's true they aren't the best mucisians one can find, but they know how to play together and they make the songs sound amazing. Also glad that Lombardo is back, with Bostaph it just didn't sound right. (no offense, he is an amazing drummer )

[TDAJGuitarist]

Slayer ****ing rocks but I seriously hate the new album...They are getting the point where they are out of ideas.

But hey...I still love them!
Its ****in slayer!!!!
How can you not love them!?!?!?!

[Mass_debator]

People moaning about the Solos seriously need to hit up Seasons in the Abyss again. War Ensemble is Kerry's best solo by a long shot but the whole album is ****ing amazing. That dual lead in Bitter Piece (yes, yes, different album) is pretty ****ing sick as well.

[superfrood2000]

and I said to Dime, ‘there is no reason to rush as we have all the time in the world to do’. And then I never saw him again…

that's really sad...whatever you say about the guy at least he's human.

cool interview

[not_dead_enough]

TDAJGuitarist wrote:

Slayer ****ing rocks but I seriously hate the new album...They are getting the point where they are out of ideas.

But hey...I still love them!
Its ****in slayer!!!!
How can you not love them!?!?!?!

Sorry to double-post this point, but like I said, when they come to your city, you pay lots of money and they don't care about it at all and they play like crap, and then King has the nerve here to say he gave it his all...THAT'S how you can not love them!

Also, the whole Tom being a Christian thing - I personally think he lies about it, but either way, i'm not huge on it, not for this band.

IMO, everything good in Slayer is Jeff.

[slayersaves22]

slayer is the best thing in metal, there would not be metal if it werent for slayer, i couldnt car what ppl say about slayer solo's king and hanneman own all.
SLAYER RULZ!!!

[chiefmegadeth]

I love slayer new album is a ****ing master piece
there slayer and will never change...
And i love them for it,not like thoes ****ing sell out pussies metallica man did there music go down hill and suck so bad,boring boring boring.....st anger wow what a terrible album and no solo's

Slayer rule im not in to the satan crap,
ive always see slayer as a possitive
Kerry rocks

[not_dead_enough]

i_eat_souls wrote:

hey not_dead_enough you're a ****ing moron.
SLAYER FUCKING RULES, THEY WILL TURN YOUR BRAINS TO SHIT, CAUSE A VOLCANO IN YOUR ASSHOLE, RAPE YOUR CHILDREN AND THEN KICK YOUR DOG!!!

Well they didn't when I saw them...

[bdub98899]

[quote]not_dead_enough wrote:

i_eat_souls wrote:

hey not_dead_enough you're a ****ing moron.
SLAYER FUCKING RULES, THEY WILL TURN YOUR BRAINS TO SHIT, CAUSE A VOLCANO IN YOUR ASSHOLE, RAPE YOUR CHILDREN AND THEN KICK YOUR DOG!!!

That is seriosuly the most moronic thing I have ever heard in my life. and I agree with not dead enough. The only thing good about Slayer is Jeff. It has always been that way and always will.

[cephalectomy]

I think you all are a bunch of friggen idiots, Slayer has changed the way the world perceives the metal genre. there must be a lack of knowledge and understanding to say that slayer never made a good song, and truthfully a song doesnt have to be packed with picture perfect melody and awesome timing with the utmost attention paid to structure, it just has to fit that mood your in at that time of your life, if it makes you feel connected than hey, it works. Slayer dominates, rules, kicks ass, and all that shit, and yea there are bands out now that do the same and better, but without a musical influence such as Slayer where would we be in the metal genre? megadeth? c'mon pussy, Killing is my buisness and buisness is good? thats a gay title but hey..I got a secret place too..you can suck it.

[mr kipling]

slayersaves22 wrote:

slayer is the best thing in metal, there would not be metal if it werent for slayer, i couldnt car what ppl say about slayer solo's king and hanneman own all.
SLAYER RULZ!!!

No.

[And2001PT]

"King's eaten so many cheeseburgers his brain's starting to clog up." - Robb Flynn

KK is one of the reasons I don't listen to Slayer.
He's a poor guitar player and one of the most rude and conceited persons I ever met.

Check

[Kram]

Slayer have put out the same album, what is it 8 times? Even Kerry admitted it in some interview!

[ibanez666]

i really wish that dime and kerry made that song, cause i know it would off been the ultimate heavy/thrash metal song. rip dime, and long live slayer.

[F-ing Hostile]

why does kerry king get so much credit!? hes so overrated, jeff is such a better guitarist, his solos dont sound like random million note per second tapping and he actually adds melody to the songs.. and on top of that, kerry is such a tool in real life, Jeff Haneman >>>> Kerry king

[no/mas/control]

kerry kicks a** i dont care what everybody says have some respect i bet most the music your listening to right now is influenced by slayer

[Nightstrider]

slayersaves22 wrote:

slayer is the best thing in metal, there would not be metal if it werent for slayer, i couldnt car what ppl say about slayer solo's king and hanneman own all.
SLAYER RULZ!!!

Haha! Priceless.

[analbumcover07]

Slayer kicks too much a**! god i wished they played in texas

[wench]

timbojones wrote:


Bullshit. I saw them on the Australian tour and it was pretty obvious they did not care about our city. It was just another night at the office; they didn't want to be there, and I wasn't impressed.


If your talking about Adelaide, Australia, I couldn't ****ing agree more!!!

seen slayer a few times in chicago (aragon brawlroom) which were really good shows..last time i seen them summer of 06 in milwaukee wisconsin (shit place) the show was really bad..they acted like they wanted to hurry and get the **** out. that will be the last time i pay money to see them again...their last album...ugh, what a horrid piece of shit that was.

[haz_uk]

a friend of mine was with mantas when he met kerry.

the lucky sod's in a band with him :/

[lexaah]

slayersaves22 wrote:

slayer is the best thing in metal, there would not be metal if it werent for slayer, i couldnt car what ppl say about slayer solo's king and hanneman own all.
SLAYER RULZ!!!

wow lol ur an idiot! i believe that metallica and pantera and so on and so forth were the starters of it all. i never actually listened to slayer but it sounds like it wouldn't be my kind of music, consedering i love pantera and metallica maybe i would.. but NEVER EVER say that there wouldn't be metal if it weren't for your precious slayer.

[pablo_89]

.... Slayer are awesome!!! they are one of the only true metal bandsw that has stayed metal, without becoming comercial or radio friendly... KEEP IT METAL!!!

ChecKerry King

[crfowler_09]

hardrocker64 wrote:

South of Heaven and Seasons of the Abyss are my favs. These dudes are rippin. Come to Raleigh,nc Kerry

carolina boy. sweet.
yeah, they needs to come here.

[tommythecat00]

i love slayer, but i can see why people don't. personally i like that if i buy a slayer album i know its gonna sound like slayer. and so what if king doesnt play the most technical solo's out there, it suits the music thery make perfectly (who listens to slayer for melody? seriously....). and i really like christ illusion.

as for the australian tour, i saw them in perth and they totally went off, played hard and were active on stage was an unreal show.

[metalreaper450]

operation ktulu wrote:

I kinda hate Slayer why
1) Their singer..can't sing
2) The drums all sound the same
3) The rest is shit

But they must be doing something right, and good on em for that, i would rather listen to MEGADETH any day

Basically, listen to some shit that takes more than 5 seconds to write and doesn't repeat itself for 5 minutes

[And2001PT]

(who listens to slayer for melody? seriously....)

You're right, I mean, what kind of world would we live in if people started listening to music.

[LambofMike]

good interview. The end is pretty intense when hes talkin about dimebag.

[thedarkblues06]

Slayer = GREAT band...but it's over for them. Christ Illusion was such a lacking album compared to all of the other ones (Diabolus was one of my favorites.) I love the fact that him and Zakk want to get together, that sounds righteous.

[Agent_00Funk]

Skarr wrote:

I understand why some people come on here and bash/flame Kerry King and Slayer for their music, but it is their style. If all the bands played the same way, music would suck. But if you look at it this way...they're one of the very few bands that are still around today that started back in the 80's.

Couldnt agree more. Let them do what they want to do and sound how they want to sound. Slayer rocks.

[Rooster666]

TDAJGuitarist wrote:

Slayer ****ing rocks but I seriously hate the new album...They are getting the point where they are out of ideas.

But hey...I still love them!
Its ****in slayer!!!!
How can you not love them!?!?!?!

The reason that they are running out of ideas is because its the same thing over and over again. Thats the reason Metallica started playing slower and focusing on lyrics instead of speed. Slayer has basically dug thier own grave by playing only thrash stuff.


I also think its funny they are one of the bands "musical prodogies" listen to. Hopefully it doesnt mean there is gonna be more bands like them in the futre.

[Anarchy_Ant]

Although i don't think he's a great guitarist, he's done a lot for metal and Slayer have some pretty damn awesome songs. Nice interview. \m/

[recliner33]

If you ask me, Lombardo is the bread and butter of the band. Sure the other guys in the band might have some talent, but without Lombardo they are horrible. Pretty much the only reason why I still occasionally listen to slayer is because of the drumming. Kerry King's guitar playing just bores me sometimes and so many of their songs sound the same.

[powerage225]

goddamn you cant go on the internet without hearing about how somebody hates a band anymore

all I've got to say is that I'm pissed we never got to see the BLS/Damageplan/Slayer tour

[ss311]

E V H 5150 wrote:

This guy seems so...conceited. Not really Slayer fan, myself. But let me say this: If this guy were to do a shred off against Randy Rhoads, Slash, or EVH, he wopuld get pwned soooo bad. (assuming we found a way to resurrect Randy)

And what's wrong with jamming anyway? Is he saying that his stuff is too good to come out of a jam? I can get a lot of ideas from jamming. Maybe he's just not that creative.

It's heavy metal; it's basicly screaming and drop tuning anyway, right? Not much creativity...

Because playing guitar is all about shred offs and competetion.

If Kerry King, Dime and Wylde all get on, that must mean they don't have your elitist attitude of thinking themselves to be the best. The top guitarists can play together without being egotistical. YOu need to grow up.

Great interview by the way. It definitely showed me the other side of Kerry King in comparison to his aggressive music.

Check.

[fritodip]

slayer sucks dick from the back. they are a sad excuse for metal. No real metal comes from the states. it's all in scandanavia.

[El_Bozo]

E V H 5150 wrote:

This guy seems so...conceited. Not really Slayer fan, myself. But let me say this: If this guy were to do a shred off against Randy Rhoads, Slash, or EVH, he wopuld get pwned soooo bad. (assuming we found a way to resurrect Randy)

And what's wrong with jamming anyway? Is he saying that his stuff is too good to come out of a jam? I can get a lot of ideas from jamming. Maybe he's just not that creative.

It's heavy metal; it's basicly screaming and drop tuning anyway, right? Not much creativity...

I'd rather listen to a version of G3 when 3 great metal players make new versions of their songs, combining their style, and a couple of new ones/covers then a random shred off. Seriously music also isn't about skills and such. Aperantly you don't know whats metal is about. Even if it is drop-tuning and screaming, still it's bvetter then cramming 40 notes per second which have absolutely no context to song whatsoever.
I agree with ss311, you need to grow up.

[NosferatuZodd09]

E V H 5150 wrote:

This guy seems so...conceited. Not really Slayer fan, myself. But let me say this: If this guy were to do a shred off against Randy Rhoads, Slash, or EVH, he wopuld get pwned soooo bad. (assuming we found a way to resurrect Randy)

And what's wrong with jamming anyway? Is he saying that his stuff is too good to come out of a jam? I can get a lot of ideas from jamming. Maybe he's just not that creative.

It's heavy metal; it's basicly screaming and drop tuning anyway, right? Not much creativity...

sadly those guitarists only had decent to good solos when they suck major ass at riffing, not much creativity? when all those shitty guitarist can come up is simple riffs with measley chords with little rhythm when you're stuck to shitty uses of chords with shitty melodies, so i say, **** you and **** your family :P

[recliner33]

fritodip wrote:

slayer sucks dick from the back. they are a sad excuse for metal. No real metal comes from the states. it's all in scandanavia.

No, all the good metal these days are in Sweden. There is a big doom metal scene going on over there right now. Check out bands like Witchcraft, THe Burning Saviours and Dead Man. They sound like early black sabbath and pentagram.
But back to slayer, I would like them alot more if Tom Arraya would actually sing instead of screaming or yelling (or whatever you want to call it). And Kerry King needs to be more creative and fresh when it comes to making guitar solos and riffs because so many of their songs sound the same. I'm not a big fan of metallica anymore either, but I give them props for at least trying to sound different on each of their albums even though some of it isn't good. But at least they had the guts or balls to try something new. Slayer probably tries to sound the same because they are afraid to change their sound, sure they like their thrash metal but I'm pretty sure they are into different genres of music as well like hardcore punk so why can't they try to play something different?

[And2001PT]

Don't try to put Kerry King on the same level as Zakk or Dime, it's a bloody insult to their skill.

[El_Bozo]

And2001PT wrote:

Don't try to put Kerry King on the same level as Zakk or Dime, it's a bloody insult to their skill.

Pathetic.

recliner33: You want singing? Don't listen to bands like this. End of story.

[fritodip]

hey recliner33 sweden is part of scandanavia.

[fritodip]

scandinavia is Norway,sweden,finland and denmark. So technically we are both right Recliner33. Black metal is the way to go. I bet kerry king still goes to church.

[recliner33]

fritodip wrote:

hey recliner33 sweden is part of scandanavia.

fritodip wrote:

scandinavia is Norway,sweden,finland and denmark. So technically we are both right Recliner33. Black metal is the way to go. I bet kerry king still goes to church.

Yeah I'm a dumbass, I don't know what I was thinking. I knew that before, I must have just forgotten. But I am still a dumbass. I'm not a fan of black metal, the only new metal I can listen to is doom. Every other metal genre seems to be lacking these days.

[Afi_rocker_91]

hes a freak

[gotosleepalive]

Kreuger wrote:

I remember him saying that he Dime and Zakk were gonna do a metal G3. That would've been gold

[gotosleepalive]

Kerry King wouldn't have been able to a a G3 because hes a shitty soloist. All of his solos sound the same...bad

[Squidge]

Im not trying to piss you guys off, but when you say "Kerry King is a tool.", it irritates me. I mean he is not up there with Dimebag or Z. Wylde, but dont f**king complain about him doing his f**king job and going out on stage playing the best he can every night. I not saying im anywhere near his talent but i want to go see you guys f**king go out and play like him.

[DamageMachine]

Dream Theatre is not heavy metal... sorry, just not happening

[ShredHead396]

I enjoyed reading this interview as kerry king is a great man, and a very influential gutiarist, and is in one of the most influential bands ever in the history oh thrash.
I think he is way to overated and really isn't as good as a lot of other guitarist out there,but still,he has composed some of the sickest songs and is a great guy,i also feel and think that slayers material is so easy its good learning material for a new guitarist who has been playing for a few months and has a little speed,so yeah,to me slayer is a great band, with sick but not so complex tunes that you can pop into the CD player any day and its still as metal as it was 20 years ago.

[dday0512]

One slayer album per decade, that's all you neeed because that's about how often they make an album with a remotely different sound. Altough Kerry playes pretty much the same damn solo every song. Nonetheless, Reign In Blood, God Hates Us All, and Christ Illusion are the shit!

[Lavatain]

even if kerry's sound exactly the same to most of you, they arent, similar aspect, and there is a bit of music theory there, i think his solo's just sound ftw, jeff is better but could get anywhere without kerry

[Seamus001]

x_themetalfan_x wrote:

I strongly disagree with the whole "Slayer is going downhill" thing. Christ Illusion was a solid album, they really haven't changed a bit in the years they've been together and that's the way I like it. I don't rip open a Slayer CD looking to be enlightened musically, I open it up to have my face melted off and my balls crushed (figuratively of course). They do a great job of what they do.

I completely agree Slayer FTW

[addman22]

to replay to sticknick THAS THE POINT!!!!!11