SLAYER's KERRY KING Speaks Out On PAUL BOSTAPH, ROBERT FLYNN and SUM 41 Video

In an interview with Britain's Kerrang! magazine, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King has once again commented on several delicate topics, including the departure of former drummer Paul Bostaph, the "war of words" with MACHINE HEAD mainman Robert Flynn, and King's appearance in the recent SUM 41 video for the track "What We're All About". Here are several quotes from the interview, as they appear in the July 27th issue of the magazine:

On former drummer Paul Bostaph:

Kerry King: "The reason he gave us for quitting was that he had some kind of a problem with one of his elbows, and if you've got an injury that refrains you from being as good as you can be, that's valid. But I think he's playing in SYSTEMATIC, which leads me to think that his elbow must not be that fucked up. If he's got a genuine injury, he made the right choice. But if he just wanted out, well… that's kinda odd. I mean, getting another band that quick seems premeditated to me."

On MACHINE HEAD frontman Robert Flynn's accusation that King looks like a member of RIGHT SAID FRED:

Kerry King: "Apparently I've been eating too many cheeseburgers as well. The last time our bands went out together was a Japanese festival last summer. I don't remember us having bad blood at the time. I remember the thing I read said something like, 'What do you think about Kerry mouthing off about you and your band all the time?' Well, I don't mouth off about MACHINE HEAD. If somebody asks me if I like their last record, I say, 'No, I don't like the record.' But that's not slamming anybody. The first MACHINE HEAD record is one of my favorite records. What they've done ever since… I couldn't give a fuck about. It's my opinion. If he's so fragile that that was painful, sorry dude, you're in the wrong business."

On being accused of "selling out" for appearing in the SUM 41 video for the track "What We're All About":

Kerry King: "To say SLAYER sold out because I appeared in a SUM 41 video doesn't make sense, because I think our latest album is one of the hardest we put out in 10 years. I mean, SUM 41 are cool dudes, they're big SLAYER fans, and I'm sure some of these fans who write in have pretty dodgy shit in their CD collection as well. If you wanna call me a sell-out, call me a sell-out, but I'm still in SLAYER, ripping people's faces off."

On whether or not he "winces" when he looks back on SLAYER's early make-up days:

Kerry King: "Not really, because it was a means to achieve what we were trying to do at the time. We're from L.A. — all we knew were MÖTLEY CRÜE and RATT, and bands like that, and we didn't wanna be that. So we went as far the other way as we could. But then we went to San Francisco on our first tour and made some friends, and they were like, 'Why are you wearin' make-up?' The next day we stopped. It just needed somebody saying, 'You don't need that.' They were right."