According to Phil Demmel, Kerry King is different than what people think of him.
The guitarist appeared as a guest on a recent episode of the Talk Louder podcast and talked about King:
“[Kerry] gets this stigma of being a f*cking a**hole or a f*cking d*ck. And he’s not. He’s a nice dude. And he’s an empathetic dude. He’s a caring guy about stuff. It’s not like he’s this hardened d*ck and blah, blah, blah.”
King Doesn’t Have A Filter
Demmel referred to Kerry’s direct attitude and continued:
“There’s just not a filter there where [he just says], ‘No, I don’t like that, or ‘I can’t do this because’ blah, blah, blah. And it’s just straight-forward, man. And I wish people would kind of understand that about other people. It’s not him being a f*cking… well, maybe it could be considered a d*ck, but that’s not his intent. He’s just, like, ‘I’m not f*cking around. I’m not gonna bullsh*t you.’”
What Does Demmel Think About New Slayer Shows?
The musician toured with Slayer in 2018 when Gary Holt couldn’t perform to be with his sick father. Demmel also worked with King in the guitarist’s debut solo album, ‘From Hell I Rise.’ Phil is a member of King’s solo band right now and will be touring with the band starting this month. Kerry will also unite with Slayer for a few shows as they announced in February. Demmel reacted to the news in a March chat, saying:
“Yeah, it caught me off guard. I didn’t know anything about it. To have a Slayer gig announced before we’ve even played a show [with Kerry King’s solo band] was really weird to me. Slayer’s none of my business — the ‘why’s’ and the ‘when’s,’ it’s none of my business. I had questions when I first heard [Slayer was coming back], and they were answered. And I’m a hundred percent at peace and good with everything that’s happening.”
Demmel left Vio-lence in February after he joined King’s band. Still, he said in a statement that his departure had nothing to do with his involvement in Kerry’s group. The musician thought he didn’t fit into the band anymore and it was time for him to leave. Phil played his last show with the band on February 11 in São Paulo, Brazil.
You can watch the rest of his interview below.