Kerry King stated that Slayer "never said we were done playing."
After being away from the stage since 2019, the band returns to reunite for three shows at festivals during the months of September and October.
In a recent interview with Audio Ink Radio , the guitarist commented on the subject ( via Blabbermouth ): “I haven’t seen it — I text Gary [ Holt ] every now and then and Paul [ Bostaph ] is with me all the time, so I’m looking forward to playing with Holt because we’ve been together for, like, 10 years.”
Phil [ Demmel and I are in this race, we’re holding the fortress as well as Gary and I did in Slayer. So yeah, I’m excited for the grandeur of the stage. I’m looking forward to burning it all down.”
Until then, the last tour had been the band's final one. Regarding this, the musician explains that it wasn't because of a fight, but rather that for Tom Araya , "it was already over": "I said, 'Okay, well, I'm not going to try to convince you,' because if you're trying to convince someone, their heart isn't in it. So it was over for me."
“And of course, a month after we finished, the offers started coming in because people think you’re done. So, what we retired from was touring. We never said we were done playing. We said, ‘This is our final tour,’ and I don’t think three shows constitute a tour. So, if you want to be technical, I think we’re at the stage of being truthful.”
Kerry King recently released his first solo album, From Hell I Rise , which features guest appearances by vocalist Mark Osegueda , drummer Paul Bostaph , bassist Kelly Sanders , and guitarist Phil Demmel.
READ ALSO: Kerry King: “Slayer will not tour again”
