SLAYER guitarist Kerry King admitted to not informing the members of his newly established solo band about the reunion of the thrash metal icons.
King will release his debut solo album, From Hell I Rise, on May 17. In addition to King, the album features DEATH ANGEL vocalist Mark Osegueda, longtime SLAYER drummer Paul Bostaph, former HELLYEAH bassist Kyle Sanders, and ex–MACHINE HEAD and ex-VIO-LENCE guitarist Phil Demmel.
In a recent interview with Revolver, King revealed that he deliberately chose not to inform his solo band about SLAYER‘s reactivation.
“The funny thing is, it never occurred to me until the day the Slayer announcement came, but Demmel said, ‘Dude, is this real?’,” King said.
“And I’m, like, ‘It’s just a few weekends and that’s it.’
“Of course, Paul knew. But I didn’t tell Phil, I didn’t tell Kyle and didn’t tell Mark – and I said to the guys, ‘There’s no master plan here.’ I didn’t want anybody to start getting cold feet.
“I said, ‘This is a little moment in time, and yeah, Kerry King is going to be touring, you know, hopefully later in the year, as well. But SLAYER is an entity and I’m just a person.’ But hopefully, we drive on with the solo project.”
King further discloses that SLAYER declined offers to reunite “probably every month of every year” while they were inactive.
“These three festivals are right around the five-year anniversary of our last tour, which I thought was kind of cool,” he added.
“So, I thought this might be the right time to test the water. It will be great to play for the fans again.”
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.
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