SLAYER's KERRY KING: G3-Style Tour With DIMEBAG And ZAKK WYLDE Would 'Probably Have Happened'

Joel McIver (Total Guitar, Metal Hammer) recently conducted an interview with SLAYER's Kerry King. Some excerpts from the chat follow:

On the new album, "Christ Illusion":

McIver: Is there plenty of fast stuff on the new album?

King: "Hell yeah, dude, it's mostly fast! If I write an album, the chances are it's gonna be pretty quick. I really liked 'God Hates Us All' but I think I like this one better. On this one we paid a lot of attention to detail on things that we don't usually do: sometimes we get in there and we get rushed — not by anybody, but by ourselves — but this time I sat around and really thought about the guitar sound rather than just saying, 'Mic my cabinets.' I tried to make the sound work from the cabinets to the board, which I won't do all the time. So I think sonically, as a whole, it's better, and musically it's as good, if not better."

On touring with Dimebag Darrell and Zakk Wylde:

McIver: You told me just before Dimebag's death that a G3-style guitar tour consisting of Dime, Zakk Wylde and yourself "looked like it was going to happen." Do you think it would have gone ahead if Dime hadn't been murdered?

King: "Probably. Now there's no Dime so I talk to Zakk more than I used to, but Dime was the glue [between us]. Left to do our own thing, who knows if we're gonna do anything? But if Dime had been around it probably would have happened. You know, I wouldn't even know who the third guy would be if we did it now. You can't replace Dime. Those two guys were my peers and I admire them: there's not a whole lot of people like that, for me anyway."

On his company, KFK Industries:

McIver: Is the company doing OK?

King: "Y'know, for the amount of time I put into it, yeah. If I really paid attention to it, it'd be a cool company, but it's like a hobby for me. I haven't made any [nail-studded wrist-bands] for a year, because I've been working on this record, but I want to have at least 50 done before they go on sale because I know they're gonna go right away. I think we came up with $300 as a retail price. I do them all personally: my wife keeps saying, 'Let me help!' And I'm like no, man — people won't know but I'll know! Our music is real, everything we do is real, and I want to make sure kids know I made that thing."

See the next issues of Total Guitar and Record Collector for the rest of the interview. More information: www.joelmciver.co.uk.