Kerry King has told Metal Hammer interview that any personal differences between him and Tom Araya won’t affect the upcoming SLAYER reunion shows.
After concluding their last world tour in November 2019, SLAYER, featuring Tom Araya (bass, vocals), Kerry King (guitar), Gary Holt (guitar), and Paul Bostaph (drums), will headline three prominent festivals, Riot Fest, Louder Than Life and Aftershock Festival, marking their first live appearances since then.
When Metal Hammer asked if he had any contact with Araya since the news of reunion surfaced, King simply responded: “No.”
When asked about whether he finds the absence of communication in this situation somewhat uncommon, King replied: “What’s usual? There’s no textbook for this stuff. It’s not like I’m angry with him or anything, we’re very different people, and we evolved into business partners at the end of the day. He has very different interests from me, and very different outlooks. Does that make me hate him? No. But I don’t need to talk to him every day.”
“It’s not weird. We just don’t have much in common,” he continued. When it comes time to rehearse, I’ll have no problem showing up. We’re professionals, and that’s what we do.”
In a previous interview with Rolling Stone, Kerry discussed how he found out that Tom wants to retire, to which he offered: “We were on tour and some kid was interviewing him, and he said something about, ‘I’ve got to get together with Kerry and talk before we talk about the next record.’ He should have just said, “I’m probably not going to do another record,’ or had that conversation with me before he mentioned anything like that.
I was just assuming, ‘Oh f**k, what’s this going to be?’ And it was, ‘I’m done.’ Not what I expected. But if you made that decision, I’m not going to try to talk you out of it because your heart’s not going to be in it anyway.
As for why he thinks Araya wanted to retire, King offered: “I think just the wear and tear of the road. I think he wanted to be home. None of us are real spotlight seekers, but he’s certainly not. And when Jeff [Hanneman] was around, he was like a hermit. He did not want fame. I tolerate fame. Somebody’s got to be that guy.
When asked “if the split was due to you two having different political ideologies. You seemed pretty angry when Tom posted about Trump on SLAYER’s Instagram,” he responded: “I was super pissed off at that — but not enough to f**king quit my band. I was like, “Dude, that’s what your personal social media is for. You’re the only one in this band that gives a s**t about this idiot, and when you put it up there, we’re all backing him.’ And I am not [backing Trump], Gary’s not, Paul is not. That’s your opinion, not ours. I would never do that to you.
Me and Tom have never been on the same page,” King continued. “Like if I want a chocolate shake, he wants a vanilla shake. ‘Kerry, what color is the sky?’ Blue. ‘Tom, what color is the sky?’ White. We’re just different people. The further on in years we got, it just became more.
“Am I going to hang out with Tom? He likes tequila a little bit and I’m a big tequila-head, so I’ll have my shot with him, and we’ll part ways. We’re not going to hang out or anything because we are very different people. And together, we made great music and a great live show.
As for whether he had any contact with Tom after SLAYER‘s split, Kerry said: “Not even a text. Not even an email.
“I’ve talked to everybody else from the band on the phone, text, or email. If Tom hit me up, I’d probably respond. It probably depends on what he hit me up for, but I don’t wish him dead at this moment.”
