
KERRY KING Names 'The Craziest And Funniest Thing' He Ever Saw At A SLAYER Concert
January 23, 2025During a recent appearance on the "Axe Lords" podcast, hosted by Dave Hill, Cindy Hulej and Tom Beaujour, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King was asked how long into the band's career it became noticeable that SLAYER had obsessive, fanatical fans. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "People had to stomach it for a while, so it wasn't record one, wasn't record two. I'd say somewhere between record three, four and five — maybe record three and four. When you start to get a reputation, people know your music; they're not just coming to say, 'Hey, let's check this out.' They know it and they wanna see it. So, it's gotta be that time frame — like, '86, '88."
Asked if he ever gets numb or gets used to the audience going insane at SLAYER shows, King replied: "I'm kind of used to it, but I really don't expect it, 'cause when you expect things, then you're just setting yourself up for failure. So you just go in with a clean slate and see what's gonna happen when the music hits."
Regarding what the craziest thing was that he had ever seen from the stage, Kerry said: "The craziest and funniest thing I ever saw was the first time I saw a wheelchair come over — with somebody in it. I was on Jeff's [Hanneman, late SLAYER guitarist] side — this was when Jeff was still playing — I was on Jeff's side, and we both saw it at the same time. We both just put our heads down because we were both just laughing. Because we weren't prepared to see that, and then once you saw it, you're, like, 'Oh, well, that's kind of cool. At least they get to partake in the fun as well.' But just not having that picture in your mind before you see it, you're just, like, 'What the fuck?' I cracked up for a few seconds and carried on."
King also talked about his plans for a second album from his solo band as the follow-up to "From Hell I Rise", which came out last May. He said: "I'm always working on stuff. Paul [Bostaph, KERRY KING and SLAYER drummer] and I probably demoed 10 or 12 [songs] — not just from when we did this record, but we've still got demos from [SLAYER's final album, 2015's] 'Repentless' that I haven't used. We've got demos from 'From Hell I Rise' that I haven't used. We've got demos from things I've written since then that obviously we haven't used. So, it's just gonna be selecting which ones are gonna be on the next record. And I'm gonna have leftovers for record three. So, we're in a good spot, we're in a good scenario to get another record out in a nice, timely fashion. So you don't have to wait five six years like you would for [a new] SLAYER [album]. [Laughs]"
King and his solo band kicked off their first-ever headlining tour on January 15 at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, California.
With MUNICIPAL WASTE as special guest and ALIEN WEAPONRY supporting, the tour is set to wrap at House of Blues in Las Vegas on February 22.
All material for "From Hell I Rise" was written by the 60-year-old SLAYER guitarist. Helming the sessions at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles in 2023 was producer Josh Wilbur, who has previously worked with KORN, LAMB OF GOD, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and BAD RELIGION, among others.
Joining Kerry in his new band are singer Mark Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL),guitarist Phil Demmel (MACHINE HEAD, VIO-LENCE),Kyle Sanders (bass; HELLYEAH) and Bostaph.
In early May 2024, the KERRY KING band performed its first live show at Reggies in Chicago. In the days following, the band went from playing an intimate venue to performing at the huge U.S. festivals Welcome To Rockville (Florida) and Sonic Temple (Ohio).
KERRY KING launched a European tour on June 3, 2024 — King's 60th birthday – in Tilburg, The Netherlands. The trek combined headline shows in the U.K., The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain but also festival appearances such as Rock Am Ring, Hellfest, Tuska, Download, Sweden Rock Festival and many more.
The SLAYER guitarist's solo band played its first concert as the support act for LAMB OF GOD and MASTODON on July 19, 2024 at the Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie, Texas. The six-week "Ashes Of Leviathan" tour wrapped on August 31, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Photo credit: Andrew Stuart