KILLSWITCH ENGAGE Bassist: KERRY KING 'Doesn't Get It' That You Can Smile On Stage

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE bassist Mike D'Antonio has responded to Kerry King's recent comment that the SLAYER guitarist is "offended by the silliness" of KILLSWITCH's live performance.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and SLAYER toured together as part of this summer's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, also featuring BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, among others.

In a July 2009 interview with MusicRadar.com, King was asked about the reports that SLAYER once threw KILLSWITCH ENGAGE off one of its tours. "We actually didn't get able to," Kerry replied. "I tried. Because I'd never seen 'em live, and then I saw them live at some, I don't know, maybe at Kerrang! Awards over in Europe. And I'm just offended by the silliness that goes on on stage [on the part of] the guitar player [Adam Dutkiewicz]. He puts his foot in his mouth all the time and he says stupid shit, and I just didn't think that side show should be on my stage. So I pulled the plug on the spot, but on that particular Jägermeister tour, we didn't have any product and they did, so Jäger kind of insisted, and I went... They're all friends of mine, so I said, 'OK, I'll deal with it.' [But I] still don't like it."

Way Too Loud! recently asked D'Antonio how he felt about Kerry King's remarks. "I heard a little too much about it," he said. "We just did the Mayhem tour [with SLAYER], and it was uncomfortable. They don't get it, and probably never will, that you can actually be in a metal band and have fun, and smile. You can do things differently than other metal bands have ever done. We just like to have a good time. We just a party band, and I think that comes from punk-rock roots where anything goes. A lot of the old guys think it has to be straight-forward or nothing, and that's their loss, I guess."

Kerry's comments regarding KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's live show were not the first time a veteran heavy metal musician has slammed the Massachusetts band for its unconventional stage presentation. In the February 2008 issue of Sweden's Close-Up magazine, SOULFLY/ex-SEPULTURA frontman Max Cavalera described the experience of seeing a KILLSWITCH ENGAGE live show. "I went to see LAMB OF GOD in that States and they were alright, but KILLSWITCH ENGAGE opened and it was the gayest show I've ever seen," he said. "I was like, 'I'm not part of this scene, it's fucking gay.' They were acting like they were U2 and I was like, 'Hmm….' The attitude was so ridiculous. I don't know these guys, they're on my label [Roadrunner] and all, but it was completely disappointing and gay. Like really lame, such a lame band live, everything about the whole attitude. LAMB OF GOD came out and destroyed them and I don't even like LAMB OF GOD that much, but they were so much better coming after KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. I was like, 'If that's what the scene is about, hey fuck it, it ain't got nothing to do with me.'"