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And Finally Artist News
Slayer’s Kerry King says band split “too early” after nearly 40 years
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 14 October 2021
Slayer guitarist Kerry King has lamented that his band split “too early”, telling Machine Head in a message to mark their 30th anniversary that “I hate fucking not playing”.
How early is “too early”? Well, Slayer clocked up 38 years, which is quite a lot really. Especially as, by the end, it really seemed like they’d all had enough. With hindsight though, King seemingly now thinks that, maybe what they really needed was a nice holiday, rather than a complete end to their time as a band. And he’s used his celebration of another band’s anniversary to air that grievance.
“So, I hear congratulations are in order for my friends in Machine Head”, says King in the new video. “Apparently, it’s 30 years, which is quite an achievement. Not a lot of bands get there. We did… and then we quit too early. Fuck us. Fuck me. I hate fucking not playing. But [that’s] beside the point. This is Machine Head’s celebration”.
He then adds that “the only band I ever demanded to open for Slayer was Machine Head”. So that’s nice. Happy anniversary Machine Head. Now, let’s get back to Slayer.
Back in 2019, when Slayer’s farewell tour was finally drawing to a close, asked if he thought the band might change their minds about splitting, their manager Rick Sales told the LA Times: “I’m not sensing that at all … They’ve been doing this for so long. They just said, ‘OK, this is enough'”.
In an interview with Pollstar shortly before the end of the farewell tour, another member of Slayer’s management team, Kristen Mulderig, said that the band were entering “legacy mode”, with a plan in place to remain nicely profitable after their split. If that plan is now working, then the old ‘need for cash’ motivation for a reunion won’t get things up and running again. It remains to be seen if any of the other members of the band agree with King that it would just be fun to do some more stuff.
Anyway, you can watch this tribute to Machine Head – which also features members of Metallica, Korn, Anthrax and more – here:
