When Slayer famously announced that the band would call it quits after wrapping up their final tour in 2019, fans weren’t the only ones disheartened by the news. As it turns out, guitarist Kerry King had “anger” about the decision to end the legendary thrash band.
In a new interview with Metal Hammer, King said that he thinks it was “premature” to break up the band when they did.
When asked about his reaction to the band’s initial conversations to call it a day, King responded, “Anger… what else? It was premature. The reason I say ‘premature’ is because my heroes from my childhood are still playing! I can still play, I still want to play, but that livelihood got taken away from me.”
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He added, “But, anyway, on to the next chapter, I guess. We were on top of the world, and there’s nothing wrong with going out on top of the world, it’s a good way to go out. So, bravo for that. But do I miss playing? Yeah, absolutely.”
While Slayer never announced a specific reason for the breakup, it is believed that singer-bassist Tom Araya didn’t want to continue performing, previously citing physical limitations due to various health conditions.
Slayer performed their last show on November 30th, 2019, in Los Angeles. Heavy Consequence was there to capture those final moments, as seen in our show review and photo gallery of that final gig.
King said the farewell tour was an emotional experience. “Every one of those shows was a bummer!” he explained. “We were going to all these places and all these cities where we have all this history. It’s a bummer to think, ‘I’m not gonna see my friends there again.’ You’d get to that country and know you were going to see these people, and you’d see them yearly.”
He continued, “I haven’t seen them now in three years. That sucks. And the fans, too. Slayer means a lot to our fans, and they mean a lot to us. I know I will see these people again, but no Slayer leaves a big hole for a lot of people.”
King has been working on a new project, with previous rumors suggesting that fellow ex-Slayer members Gary Holt and Paul Bostaph were involved. He says it will appeal to Slayer fans: “If you know my work, you know what it’s going to sound like.”
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