SLAYER's KERRY KING: 'Metal Is More Of A Brotherhood Than Any Kind Of Music That I Can Think Of'

In a new interview with Australia's Blunt magazine, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King spoke about the band's multigenerational appeal. Asked if he thinks SLAYER's music "has traveled into younger generations", Kerry responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think so. I thought that 20 years ago. You would see older brothers bringing younger siblings or even parents bringing their kids because this kind of music isn't alienating in a family environment. You know what I mean? Like, it's not uncool if you like the same music your parents do. It's like, that's really cool. And this is one of the odd types of music that that is allowed. So, yeah, you see all kinds of… Like, the first show we did [with the] Kerry King [solo band], we did a small club outside of Chicago, and I saw a lot of older fans because they knew to go buy the tickets so fast because they're gonna go [quickly] — it was, like, a 400-seater; it was tiny. So there was a lot of our probably first-generation fans. But, yeah, all the time I see kids in SLAYER shirts, kids in Kerry King shirts, or METALLICA, MEGADETH. It's just the type of music, metal. Metal is more of a brotherhood than any kind of music that I can think of."

King's debut solo album, "From Hell I Rise", was released in May. All material for the LP was written by the 60-year-old SLAYER guitarist. Helming the sessions at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles last year 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 Mark Osegueda (vocals; DEATH ANGEL),Phil Demmel (guitar; MACHINE HEAD, VIO-LENCE),Kyle Sanders (bass; HELLYEAH) and drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER, TESTAMENT, EXODUS).

Following his recent tour with LAMB OF GOD and MASTODON and his first European headline tour earlier this year, King and his new band will hit the road for the 28-date North American headline tour in early 2025. With MUNICIPAL WASTE as special guest and ALIEN WEAPONRY supporting, the tour is set to launch in San Francisco on January 15, 2025, and wrap at House of Blues in Las Vegas on February 22.

In early May, 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 — 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 at the Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie, Texas. The six-week "Ashes Of Leviathan" tour wrapped on August 31 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Image credit: Pics from the pit