When Slayer said farewell in 2019 at the conclusion of an exhaustive final tour, guitarist and cofounder Kerry King was certain that he wasn't done.
King, Slayer's longtime creative leader, promised to continue making music, though he couldn't say at the time when that music would see the light of day. Five years later, King's debut solo album, From Hell I Rise, has arrived and Slayer has announced a trio of reunion shows this fall.
Speaking with Q104.3's Out of the Box with Jonathan Clarke, King asserted that despite Slayer shows reappearing on his calendar after so many years off, his focus remains with his solo work. He says the live shows with his new band (featuring himself, Paul Bostaph, Phil Demmel, Mark Osegueda, Kyle Sanders) have gone great so far.
"I think they start moshing right in the beginning ... it's such a familiar sound," he recalls of the band's first live show at Reggie's in Chicago. "Our first three shows we were playing without anybody knowing anything but two songs ... after [the album is released] it'll be a bit of a different story and people will know more of the stuff."
King will be on tour with his solo band through August, including a summer North American tour with Lamb of God and Mastodon. Regarding the decision to do more shows with Slayer, he says the band believed the timing made sense.
"We've been turning down offers since the beginning of 2020 [months after the tour finale], pandemic and all," he says. "Then it started getting near the five-year anniversary of us stopping playing, so I'm like, 'You know what, this is a three-show package. I think it would be fun to do. It's kind of a five-year anniversary of our last tour.' We're never going to tour again. It ain't gonna happen. We're never going to record again. That's not going to happen, either. To do commemorative shows, I think that's kind of fun. I don't have to be married to it for a long time."
Listen to the full conversation via the player above!
Get From Hell I Rise and all of Kerry King's tour dates here.
Watch the music video for "Residue" via the player below:
Photo: Getty Images North America