KERRY KING On Possibility Of New SLAYER Studio Album: 'I Can 99.9 Percent Give You A 'No' On That One'

On a new episode of the "Talk Louder" podcast, hosted by veteran music journalist "Metal Dave" Glessner and lifelong hard rock/metal vocalist Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS),Kerry King was asked about the possibility of a new SLAYER studio album. "I can 99.9 percent give you a 'no' on that one because I have a new outlet to present music to the fans," Kerry responded, referencing his eponymously named solo band. "And I just put these guys [in my solo band] together. I'm not gonna abandon them."

SLAYER played two reunion concerts last fall — on September 22, 2024 at the Riot Fest in Chicago, Illinois and on October 10, 2024 at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California.

At Riot Fest and Aftershock, SLAYER ran through a 20-song set that included opener "South Of Heaven", "Seasons In The Abyss", "Angel Of Death", "Hell Awaits", "Raining Blood" and the title track of SLAYER's final album, "Repentless".

SLAYER was also scheduled to play at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky on September 27, 2024, but that performance was canceled due to severe weather.

Five years after SLAYER played the last concert of what was being billed as the band's farewell tour and just weeks after King unveiled the details of his solo project, Kerry and his longtime bandmates announced that they would play at Aftershock, Riot Fest and Louder Than Life.

The lineup for SLAYER's comeback was the same as the one which last toured in 2019: King and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya, along with guitarist Gary Holt and drummer Paul Bostaph.

Kerry's debut solo album, "From Hell I Rise", arrived on May 17, 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music. All material for the LP was written by King, who was accompanied during the recording sessions by Bostaph and the rest of Kerry's solo band, consisting of guitarist Phil Demmel, bassist Kyle Sanders and singer Mark Osegueda.

SLAYER will perform at the 2025 edition of the Louder Than Life festival, set to take place September 18-21 at the Highland Festival Grounds in Louisville, Kentucky. The band will also play at BLACK SABBATH's final concert on July 5 at Birmingham, United Kingdom's Villa Park stadium.

This past December, King spoke to Australia's Metal Roos about SLAYER's future plans, following the band's two festival appearances in after a five-year hiatus. He said: "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.'"

Elaborating on the significance of SLAYER's comeback live performances more than four decades after the band's formation, 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 touched upon the fact that SLAYER's reunion shows were announced just a couple of weeks after he went public with the details of his new solo band and debut solo album. He said: "The [SLAYER] announcement timing was not my favorite, but my band was doing its thing. 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]."

Image credit: Pics from the pit