SLAYER guitarist Kerry King has dropped a hint that his long-awaited new band will finally be revealed in 2024
Earlier today, 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.”
In the same interview, Kerry King also hinted that fans of SLAYER can expect to be pleased with the musical direction of his upcoming, yet-to-be-announced new band, saying, “If you know my work, you know what it’s going to sound like.”
In a statement made last July, Kerry King indicated that he’s nearing a return to the touring circuit with his post-SLAYER endeavor and assured that he “won’t be dragging [his] feet much longer.”
A couple of years following his revelation that he had amassed enough music for more than two albums with his new band, King shared insights into the direction of the fresh material. He emphasized, “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.”
Although King refrained from disclosing the full lineup of his upcoming band, he did confirm that SLAYER‘s drummer, Paul Bostaph, is part of the project.