Kerry King: Interview

How's it going?
Not too fuckin' bad.

What do you think of the current state of metal?
Well, it's actually pretty good for now. Us, Metallica and Anthrax came out a long time ago. Now we're still around, but there's a bunch of new kids starting at that level again and bringing things up. There are a lot of really good bands, like Lamb of God, Chimera, Arch Enemy and In Flames. There were a lot of pretenders when we came out, but they're not around anymore. It's not because they can't get gigs—it's just because kids know what's good and kids know what's phony.

How has the vibe around the scene changed over the years?
I think the first time around, it was probably 99 percent dudes. Now, more chicks can say, "Fuck you, I can listen to thrash if I want." Girls realize it's safer than it was back then—they're not going to get gang-raped in the pit or anything.

Is there any place in metal for masks and makeup?
Some people pull that off. Slipknot—I don't mind them because they did masks correctly, if you ask me. Whether you like them or not, it doesn't affect their music. When they come to fuckin' town, they put out and it's a good show. I would go see them, myself. If you're totally behind what you're doing, I can't tell you knock it off.

Does it feel good to be playing new material with the original lineup?
I think the kids are going to be really excited to get a new, original Slayer record for the first time in 16 years. I've been back with Dave [Lombardo, drummer] for a while now, but kids getting their hands on something he performed on is the big story.

How talented is Dave Lombardo?
Have you every seen the movie The Natural? That's Dave. He doesn't have to try to be good. He comes into the venue 10 or 15 minutes before we hit the stage and he doesn't warm up. He just goes and does it, after me and Jeff [Hanneman, guitarist] have been warming up for like an hour.

So there's an hour of warm-up—what's the rest of your preshow routine like?
Mostly just killing time until the show. Hopefully, I stop playing videogames before then, you get "the thumb," you know? [Laughs] Then I'll probably stretch my neck for like five minutes in every direction—I might throw it during the show. Then I do a couple rounds of headbanging while playing to get the hand and the head on the same team.

Is there a right way to headbang?
I guess everybody's got their own style, but mine's pretty much forward and backward. Since I have a shaved head, I do the front-to-back and side-to-side thing, like the big "yes" and the big "no."

You don't need long hair to do it properly?
Oh, no. If I did, I'd be fucked.

Have you ever suffered a headbanging-related injury?
If you don't prepare yourself for the touring—if you haven't been working out—you're going to get sore. You'll get gig whiplash. That's what I call it.

There was no chance of gig whiplash on 6/6/06 because your show got cancelled. What did you do instead?
We had to cancel the show because Tom [Araya, bass] had surgery, so I went out and got 666 tattooed on me by Paul Booth.

Where's the tattoo?
It's under my left arm, almost going into the pit.

We've heard that spot hurts more than others.
Yeah, it hurt pretty fuckin' bad.

What does it look like?
It's really big. We took the three sixes from his logo at the Last Rites shop and we just kind of linked them together in a chain from my elbow. When I hold my arm up is when you see it.

I guess you had to make it big so fans could see it from behind the barriers of the huge venues Slayer plays.
This tour is big. None of the shows have a club environment. We played Chicago at the Aragon Ballroom. Everybody talks about the Aragon, it's fuckin' legendary. Last time we played there, it sold out in advance. I guess they didn't run any ventilation, though, so it felt like a club gig. There were 5,000 people in there and it was just hot as fuck.

Does security ever give the crowd a hard time in big venues like that?
If any of us see the pit crew getting out of line, we'll have them replaced. We've done that for years. They're not paid to sit and beat on people. They're paid so people don't get hurt.

But kids do hurt themselves out there, right?
Oh, yeah. Broken bones, broken noses, some dickhead brings in a razor blade and cuts somebody—all kinds of things happen.

Although an injury probably makes the story of the show a little more interesting.
To a Slayer fan, yeah. It becomes more epic.

Speaking of epic, the artwork for the new record is incredible. We heard that you have the original, and that it's on a huge block of wood.
I arranged to purchase it from the painter. Its like four feet by four feet. It's gigantic. I just found this place called Rosemary's Billygoat in L.A., too. It's like an oddities store. I went there and we found this picture made of wire. It's got some kind of small animal skull on it with a crown of thorns—it's like the wire makes up the Christ figure. We got the new song "Skeleton Christ," so I had to have it.

How many guitars do you have around your house to augment the artwork?
Myself? I don't know, probably 20 or 25. I don't keep a shitload of 'em.

Do you have one favorite one that you wouldn't give up?
Probably the double-neck V I had made '88. It's one of a kind. It weighs as much as I do, almost…I don't play it anymore. That thing's sitting in a case.

Do you write out your solos? And if so, do you play them the same every night?
They're generally the same. If it's a chromatic type of run in any given song, I might start in a different place—that part is random. But if there's anything you can hum along to, or if it comes out and you know people are singing it, I'll nail that every night.

Yeah, not playing what the people want to hear seems like a party foul. You don't seem to mind wearing your own band's shirts on stage, though, and some consider that to be a foul as well…
Why is that a party foul? To me, the party foul is leaving the freakin' vodka out of the freezer.

Out Now:
Christ Illusion


Slayer official site