After much anticipation and discussion, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King’s forthcoming musical project is finally taking shape
The band, which appears to be named “Kerry King,” has just announced their inaugural performance at Welcome To Rockville 2024. However, that’s not the only revelation from King‘s new endeavor. The band has also introduced their distinctive logo, shared with the public by none other than Paul Bostaph, the drummer for King (and the former drummer for SLAYER).
It’s worth noting that King had previously hinted at the possibility of Bostaph‘s involvement in his solo project, and now it’s confirmed to be a reality. Kerry King and Paul Bostaph share a history of collaboration, having worked together in SLAYER for significant stretches, spanning from 1992 to 2001, and later from 2013 until the conclusion of SLAYER in 2019. There have also been speculations about the participation of SLAYER (and EXODUS) guitarist Gary Holt and PANTERA‘s renowned vocalist, Phil Anselmo, in King‘s project. However, no official confirmations regarding their involvement have surfaced.
In a 2022 interview, King said about the project “You know me, so you know what it’s going to sound like. I played this new song for a buddy, and I said to him, ‘If there’s anything I’ve written in the last few years that sounds like Slayer, it’s this.’ And he said, ‘That sounds like you could have pulled it off of any Slayer record.’ I actually made that riff up backstage at a Slayer show. We were walking to the stage and I got my phone out and recorded it so I wouldn’t forget it.”
A couple days ago, SLAYER‘s longtime publicist Heidi Ellen Robinson-Fitzgerald, as well as the moderator of the Kerry King Facebook page, shared a photo of Kerry‘s well-known chain that he would wear while performing live laying on what appears to be the floor of a stage, along with the caption: “Coming in 2024…”
Following SLAYER‘s final concert on November 30, 2019, Kerry King made a significant gesture by removing his chain, raising it briefly, and letting it fall as he exited the stage. When discussing the symbolism behind this act with Dean Guitars, King explained, “One of the reasons I did the chain drop at the last show was so everybody in the building could hear it. And it wasn’t something I planned. We were doing the last run, and I said, ‘I wanna do this on the last Forum show so people take it more seriously.’
“Like, ‘King took off his chains. He left them on the stage. What the fuck, man?’ So people hopefully got that. This isn’t one of those, ‘We’re gonna be back next year and do it again.’ The chains took me through SLAYER. I took them off, dropped them on stage, and I walked off, and that’s the end of SLAYER for me.”
Not long ago, Kerry King expressed his initial anger when the idea of SLAYER disbanding was first discussed. When asked in an interview with Metal Hammer magazine about his reaction to ending the band, the now-59-year-old guitarist admitted, “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. But, anyway, on to the next chapter, I guess,” he continued. “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.”
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