KERRY KING: New SLAYER Album Is PAUL BOSTAPH's 'Reign In Blood'

SLAYER guitarist Kerry King visited the studios of Loudwire last week to talk about the band's forthcoming studio album, tentatively due in August. You can now watch the chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On "Piano Wire", the SLAYER song that will appear on the upcoming CD which contains musical ideas from the band's late guitarist Jeff Hanneman:

"That song we recorded, I think, [during] the 'World Painted Blood' sessions, at least the music. So, on this one, we kept the finished product. We had Paul [Bostaph] track drums to it, and Tom [Araya] re-sang it, just to make it better. That's the one that's gonna be included on this record. And then we have another [Hanneman song] that's musically finished that never had lyrics. And we addressed it late, so we didn't really get to it on this run. But my horizon says [we'll make] another record after this one. We'll see what Tom says and see what everybody feels like after this run, but we have another [Hanneman] song to add to that on the next one."

On whether there will be another SLAYER record after this one:

"We'll see. This is our first record in, like, six years, and it's just… You always watch football and they're talking about, 'Oh, we had to come through this adversity.' 'We had to get past this adversity.' We had some motherfucking adversity on this run, and it's taken a while to get back on track."

On what Paul Bostaph and Gary Holt brought to the recording process for the new SLAYER album:

"I think it's just making the unit whole, more than anything. Of course, Paul can play the shit out of the drums. I didn't realize — and I don't mean this in a detrimental way to Paul — I never realized Paul had so many niche SLAYER fans who are just Bostaph fans; I didn't realize that, and a lot of people had mentioned that to me since Paul has been working on the record. And I think that's great, 'cause people are gonna be stoked when they hear what he did on this record. I used to say 'God Hates [Us All]' was his 'Reign In Blood' — Bostaph's. The new one is his 'Reign In Blood'. The new one's… I would play any song live."

On how he went about filling the void left by Hanneman's death:

"Well, I think you make a mental note not to try to do that, because then I'm trying to be something I'm not. And the first thing any of our fans do not want me to do is try to be something I'm not. So I just… The hardest thing for me was just having to assemble all those songs myself in a way that they don't sound the same. 'Cause if you're writing that much material, it's very easy for one thing to borrow something from another and one thing to sound like something else. So that was the biggest challenge — getting… 'Cause we tracked a shit-ton of songs. There's twelve on the record and I think there's six extras toward the next one. So we've got, like, half the record done for the next one, without lyrics. So I'm just saying we're ahead of the game, and that's a good place to be."

On whether the new SLAYER album will contain any surprises in the way of musical experimentation:

"In my opinion, I'd say no. I think every record, two or three records, we throw something in there that adds to the menagerie of what you call a SLAYER record, you know, and it kind of evolves with you and moves on. I think this one is just the next page. There's certainly no left turns. It's just heavy, fast, moody, spooky… It's great."

On what he is most proud of about the new SLAYER album:

"Finishing it. I mean, nothing's really different. 'Cause since the '90s, I've been doing Jeff's parts [in the studio] — except for leads; he plays leads. But rhythmic-wise, I would just go in, 'cause usually I'd take mine first. And I know the nuances of the song; I know where I've gotta speed up, where I've gotta slow down. 'Cause we don't play to click — we play live — so there's little bumps and slowdowns. So once you know that, it's easier to copy. So years ago, I just said… I'd get his guitar and play through his rig and we'd just go… This time, I think we used a different head. We didn't have Jeff's whole rig in there, so we used a different head and a different guitar. Just trying to find something that worked well together — to where it sounds like two guitars and it still sounds like SLAYER."