It's really not though. Jeff just wrote or co-wrote so much. Whereas Kerry just doesn't have that much to his name by himself.

Jeff and Kerry getting interviewed, having some laughs. I believe this was around 2003.

Found online lol

King's cover at least looks like it was made by a real person.

That's not saying much because anything's gonna look better than that crap Deicide shat out.

I'm sure the Deicide album will be the better of the 2, though.

If the last couple albums Deicide put out are any indication of how this one will be, I'd definitely agree with this. That said, the album art in question looks pretty lousy, probably the worst thing Glen Benton has ever slapped onto an album, if not the worst death metal album art I've seen in several years.

I'm glad that Kerry King is still doing what he loves! I'll admit that Idle Hands was a little boring, but I'm going to check out the rest of it. That interview with Rolling Stone was pretty great, and I'm looking forward to hearing the song with the lyric: "alternative facts for an alternative god". That's a great line.

I met Kerry in 2005 in Downtown Disney outside of the House of Blues after a Kreator/Vader show that he happened to also be at. He was on his way to the Rainforest Cafe, which I thought was the funniest thing in the world at the time!

I don’t understand if Tom played bass until Seasons of the Abyss or never did it…

Bass on Hell Awaits it’s great

Kerry implied that he's been playing all rhythm guitar and bass on Slayer albums since the early 90s. Tom and Jeff probably did play on those albums through Seasons, so maybe they stopped just after. I did notice that after that album, the guitar tone/playing style became a lot more one-dimensional, so I believe it. One of my favorite things about early Slayer was the dynamic between their guitars.

Then again, even if Tom didn't play at all on any albums, I wouldn't be terribly surprised. I remember seeing a behind-the-scenes gear video with him and he was overselling how little he cared or knew about the equipment he was playing lol

Its strange because he always played bass live…

From the sounds of it, Kerry was the guy who knew all the parts and could quickly and accurately record takes. Maybe it was an efficiency thing.

Not the first band that had one guy do all the rhythm tracks due to being a tighter rhythm player. Jeff was still doing his leads in the studio I'm sure.

Jeff had some sort of medical issues with his hands that was worsened by his drinking. There was an article in a guitar magazine that came out after he died (I have it somewhere) that discussed this and the toll that drinking took on him. He still played his leads in the studio but Kerry started doing all the rhythm parts with "Divine Intervention".

I read that RS article as Kerry saying he "always" did the bass playing in the studio and did the guitar parts starting in the 90s but it doesn't really matter. As others have started, Slayer would not be the first do something like that. It's actually incredibly common because studio time is expensive and can really expose a player's weaknesses. You can mask that (to a certain extent) live but not in the studio.

Too busy collecting nazi memorabilia and drinking to practice his parts, I guess. Kerry King really carried that band in the studio...and the gall of people to call him the "weak link" of the guitar duo. Fuck outta here.

As a guitar player I'd say he was the best of the two no doubt. As primary songwriter....not so much.

Well, I wouldn't say it was an issue of practicing as much as it was that Jeff was physically struggling. He had some sort of arthritic condition that was worsened by his drinking. Drinking was a huge problem. It essentially killed him and I always thought that the whole Hanneman-Heineken logo thing was weird because of that.

The "weak link" talk for Kerry comes from people thinking he's an asshole (which he may be...). I've got my complaints about his writing (essentially that he hasn't left his comfort zone for years to less and less effect) but he did a ton of the heavy lifting for that band for a long time.

I imagine it's just more efficient for the person who wrote the song to play it himself instead of teaching someone else, especially if you're not the type of band who rehearses a lot or at all before a session. See also: Metallica, The Smashing Pumpkins.

Em... pretty sure it comes from the cacophony he calls "solos."

I'm sure that isn't it. Mille Petrozza's solos on those early Kreator albums are not even Kerry-level, but nobody denies that Mille is an absolute riff-god.

Ηe is the weak link because in the good Slayer years, the years Slayer were artistically at their peak, he did not carry the heavy lifting, instead he was the least important member of that band musically, even behind Araya's vocals. He did write and co-write some great songs in the good years but the difference between his input and Jeff's is STAGGERING. I have a list on that article in my signature and I have yet to come across someone saying that I am missing something important. I'd add Evil Has No Boundaries as an early classic. But Slayer = Jeff's riffs and Lombardo's signature playing and then it's Araya's sinister vocals and presence live and then it's Kerry. IMO of course. But he can't be higher than third most important member, you take out South of Heaven, riffs and intro, you don't have Slayer.

He was great as a spokesman but he was pretty fucking terrible at acknowledging Jeff's contributions. Divine Intervention onwards Slayer become less and less relevant and still the best stuff was written by Jeff (conversely, some of the worst too, like Diabolus). Other than that, he comes across as an asshole, so either way, mediocre songwriting or personal grudge, he earned it.

And I think the vocals in the new song are shit. The man can sing but he asks him to emulate the bad Araya (post Seasons) while at the same time says he would love Halford.

Pretty much this.

But Kerry probably does get slammed more than he should just because he makes himself a target with his mouth.

I still think his best solo was his guest solo for Witchery.

But I say his problem is his lyrics. They are stupid, period. Just look at "Hate Worldwide," a solo King composition. Awesome riffing but with lyrics like "That's why it's become my obsession to treat God like an infection" I don't know if I want to laugh or hurl.

His "I hate God" themed lyrics are trite and get boring, but the riffage for me isn't that great to make up for it. I'd rather hear lyrics in the vein of Raining Blood than that stuff.

Jeff solos weren't any better (except for Show No Mercy and Seasons in the Abyss).

I think most Slayer solos were a decent fit for the chaotic music but great lead work is not the strength of this band.

To all this, I say touché. Especially since your takes are usually steeped in a kind of vested interest that's backed by research. I read your piece on Hanneman and it's good, even though I find the section on "the Nazi shit" to be a bit of handwaving, it proves just how substantial his contributions to the classic era of Slayer were.

They come off especially silly when you consider that Tom was/is a practicing Catholic singing them. I’m not one to harp on whether or not a religious person should be singing anti-religious lyrics, especially since Tom did usually deliver with some strong conviction, but it just made it feel more *fake* to me. Like how seriously can I take all this if the guy singing it is just treating it like a job? At least coming at it from the more “Hail Satan” angle on the old songs gave it that atmospheric appeal.

Yeah, and I'm a practicing Catholic who grapples with listening to such things at times. Though for me more atmosphere evil lyrics like Raining Blood, Hell Awaits, or Black Magic are more in the vein of a horror story than King's "Fuck God" lyrics. Its like listening to Deicide songs like...well Fuck Your God. That is different to me though maybe I'm just rationalizing due to loving the music so much. But I'm a work in progress.

This kind of stuff for me is just like... metalTM

Like...if I was going on a road trip with someone and the driver put this on I'd think "cool, metal" then I'd never think about the song or artist ever again. It's not bad. But it's also not good.

I just thought of something.... The name of the band should've been K.K.'s Slayer.

Or "I Am Slayer"

But the thing about K.K.'s Slayer is it's still using Kerry King's name in the band name like K.K.'s Priest

Overall I'm in agreement with the notion that Kerry King is the weakest link in the original Slayer chain, and there is a notable drop-off in the overall quality of their music since King took over as primary composer. I don't necessarily hold the same negative view of his soloing style that some others do as I think it fits their chaotic sound well enough, but as a person I have to concur with the criticisms thrown his way. My best friend and I caught Slayer live during the Christ Illusion tour and King was a total dick to everybody after the show who was looking to get an autograph, he basically behaved like Ritchie Blackmore on freaking steroids and just had zero interest in interacting with fans. Granted, he may have just been having an off day, but I've heard the same story told over and over for years.

On a side note, my favorite post-Seasons album, namely World Painted Blood, is yet a further shining example of the point everyone's making. The best songs on the album are "Unit 731", "Beauty Through Order", "Psychopathy Red" and the title song, and King didn't have a writing credit on any of them.



I see what you did there!

100% AI (ATROPHIED IMAGINATION)

Let the other kids have some cake now Kerry, you’ve had enough.

Latest "single" and its accompanying music video.

As a fan of the first 3 Death Angel albums I am especially utterly disappointed by the vocals.
Just could have been any random screaming kid

It's better than the first single, Phils solo is pretty good, but still just nothing more than a latter day Slayer song. If Kerry got someone in to write his lyrics, and let Mark use his full vocal range there could be a decent tune in there

The beginning sounds like a scars of the crucifix ripoff. Sounds like it'll be a one l listen album, then I'll forget about it.

I do like this single more than the first one (which was one of the most generic, forgettable things.) This still didn't wow me at all, though.