Kerry King made it clear in a recent interview with Metal Hammer that the Slayer will be exclusively for the Aftershock, Riot Fest, and Louder Than Life festivals in September and October.
After the final show of their long farewell tour five years ago, its members moved on to other projects. In King's case, a solo project, which led to his new album From Hell I Rise , scheduled for release on May 17th by Reigning Phoenix Music.
Although the focus of the interview was his album, King commented on the Slayer reunion. According to him, the announcement of their return wasn't his favorite moment. He added that "it's not going to translate into recording and it's not going to translate into touring. For me, it's three shows marking five years since our last show, something fun, a 'Hey, remember us before the pandemic?' celebration."
Kerry King and the Slayer reunion
For this reunion, the lineup remains the same as in 2019: Tom Araya and King, with guitarist Gary Holt , who is also part of Exodus , and drummer Paul Bostaph . For Kerry King, a Slayer reunion seemed unlikely, as Tom had made it clear the group was ending. But after a year of insistence from Tom's wife, he changed his mind.
After the announcement, Kerry still hasn't spoken to Tom. Then she clarifies: “We are very different people and, ultimately, we evolved into business partners. He has very different interests and perspectives from mine. Does that make me hate him? No. But I don't need to talk to him every day… We just don't have much in common. When it's time to rehearse, I won't have any problem showing up. We are professionals and that's what we do.”
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