During a recent chat on ‘Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk,’ Slayer guitarist Kerry King addressed the rumors about Phil Anselmo singing on the debut album from King’s solo project. He revealed they were false rumors and explained why he wasn’t the fit for his new project:
“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.”
How King Chose Members
King earlier said he chose his band members to set apart his new project from his Slayer roots.
King had previously talked about the chance of Anselmo singing on his solo album back in February during an interview with Rolling Stone. At that time, King admitted that he considered a collaboration with Anselmo. He said:
“My management, my promoter, my record label all wanted Phil. Phil’s a good friend of mine, but I always thought he’s not the right guy. That has nothing to do with his ability; I just knew he wasn’t the right guy. When you hear Mark on this record, you know that’s the guy.”
The rocker worked with Josh Wilbur for the production of the new album, ‘From Hell I Rise.’ Wilbur is known for his works with Trivium, Korn, Gojira, and Lamb Of God.
The album is out on May 17.