In a recent interview with Australia’s Metal Roos, Kerry King discussed SLAYER‘s future plans following the band’s return to the stage with two festival performances in September and October after a five-year hiatus.
He said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “We’re never gonna tour again. We’re never gonna make a record again. Mark my word: we’re never gonna make a record again, we’re never gonna tour again. Because that was the last thing. We said [back in 2018], ‘This is our final tour.’ It took five years for us to come and say, ‘Hey, here’s a couple of shows, five-year anniversary.'”
Reflecting on the importance of SLAYER‘s live comeback more than 40 years after the band was formed, Kerry said: “I think it’s really cool. A lot of fans are into it. There’s gonna be haters who say, ‘Oh, they retired.’ Yeah. Whatever. This is all about celebration. Say a kid was 10 years old when we retired. Now he’s 15, 16. [It’s his] first opportunity to see us. I think that’s important.”
King also discussed the fact that SLAYER‘s reunion shows were announced only a few weeks after he unveiled details about his new solo band and debut album.
“The [SLAYER] announcement timing was not my favorite, but my band was doing its thing,” he said. “The festivals SLAYER agreed to play, they wanted to release [the information about us playing there], they wanted to announce [it]. So, the timing wasn’t in my favor, but everything went [as it did], and here we are in Australia [with my new band] kicking a*s.”
SLAYER‘s triumphant return to the stage will continue into 2025. The metal titans will headline Louder Than Life in Louisville, Kentucky, from September 18th to 21st. Their 2024 performance was unfortunately canceled due to Hurricane Helene, but fans can now look forward to witnessing their legendary live show next year.
In a recent interview with Metal Injection, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King said that he doesn’t rule out the possibility of more SLAYER shows in the future beyond the three festival appearances previously announced.
“I’m trying to be real and definitely say, hey, we’re not gonna tour again,” he said. “And we’re certainly not gonna record again, ’cause I have a means of doing that now with my band. [We’re doing] three shows for now. And I say ‘for now’ because I know Europe’s gonna come knocking, ‘Hey, man, you guys played America. Come see us.’ So it wouldn’t surprise me if something like that happened, but it’s certainly not on my books right now.”
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