Kerry King didn’t pick his Slayer bandmates for his solo project, and he has a strategic plan for why he did not.
In a new interview with Revolver, the guitarist explained why he didn’t hire Gary Holt for his project. Apparently, it was because the project would sound like a second Slayer:
“At that point I was probably still in the Holt camp, as far as having him in my next band. But I started to realize that the more pieces I take from Slayer, the more it’s gonna be called ‘Slayer Lite.’ I mean, of course it’s gonna sound like Slayer; I wrote 90 percent of the last record. But if I take less with me from Slayer, there’ll be less for people to stand on, as far as making lazy comparisons.”
Though Holt was ‘the right guy,’ there was something King didn’t want to deal with:
“If I had to do Slayer over again after Hanneman 110 times out of a 100, I would pick Gary Holt. He was the right guy. But the perception of people, it weighs on me, and I don’t want to deal with that.”
King also mentioned his admiration for his bandmate:
“I love Gary. He’s a great player.”
Why Phil Anselmo Isn’t The Singer
In his new solo project and album, ‘From Hell I Rise,’ King handpicked his band members to give his new project an entirely different identity separate from his Slayer days.
When King first revealed details about the project, rumor spread that Phil Anselmo would be the singer. As much as King wanted him to be a part of the band, he thought it was ‘too thrashy’ for Anselmo. King explained:
“I’ve known Phil decades — I’ve known Phil before ‘Cowboys From Hell’ [album] came out. He’s been a friend of mine throughout the years. And all the business suits wanted me to go that way — my manager, my record company, my promoter, everybody — because it’s it’s gonna put massive butts in seats, so to speak.”
He clarified that it was a project that he could do, but someone else would be a better fit than him:
“But talking to [Phil] about it, I know this is too thrashy a project for him. I’m not saying he can’t do it; I’m saying I don’t think he wanted to do it. But we did a little bit of legwork on it, and especially once [the] Pantera [reunion] came up, that just blew it out of the water.”
King’s debut album is out now. You can listen to it down below.