SLAYER's KERRY KING: 'We're Gonna Carry On, And JEFF HANNEMAN Will Be There In Spirit'

June 14, 2013

Entertainment Daily News spoke to SLAYER guitarist Kerry King on the red carpet of this year's Kerrang! Awards, which was held last night (Thursday, June 13) at London, England's Troxy Club. You can watch the short chat below.

Asked what it's like being honored with the "Kerrang! Legend Award" without founding SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who passed away last month, King said: "Coming to something like this wasn't really his spiel; he wasn't an awards-show kind of guy. He wanted to be the quiet guy doing his thing at the hotel. But, you know, he's gonna be in everybody's thoughts for a long time. It's unfortunate you can't keep unfortunate things from happening. But, you know, we're gonna carry on, and he'll be there in spirit."

It was announced on May 30 by SLAYER's Tom Araya (bass, vocals) and Kerry King (guitar) that Paul Bostaph would be behind the drum kit for the first leg of the band's 2013 international tour. EXODUS' Gary Holt is continuing to fill in for fallen guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who died on May 2 from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver.

Bostaph was SLAYER's drummer from 1992 until 2001 and recorded four albums with the band — the gold-certified "Divine Intervention" (1994),the 1996 punk covers album "Undisputed Attitude", "Diabolus In Musica" (1998),"God Hates Us All" (2001) that received a Grammy nomination for "Best Metal Performance", as well as the DVD "War At The Warfield" (2001),also certified gold. In addition to SLAYER, Bostaph has been a member of FORBIDDEN, EXODUS, SYSTEMATIC and TESTAMENT.

SLAYER's 2013 itinerary will have the band playing 35 dates that will include headline shows as well as a number of major summer festivals in Europe, Eastern Europe and South America between June and October.

"Paul's a great drummer and a good friend, and we're very happy that he's decided to rejoin the band," said Araya. "We're still pretty numb from the loss of Jeff, but we don't want to disappoint our European and South American fans, and we need to begin moving forward... Having Paul back in the band makes that a whole lot easier."

Original SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo sat out the band's recent Australian tour due to a contract dispute with the other members of the group. Filling in for him was Jon Dette (TESTAMENT, ANTHRAX).

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