Dave Mustaine has divulged that he believes that he’s had a massive influence on his fellow Big Four of thrash metal, namely, Slayer, Metallica, and Anthrax.

In an interview with São Paulo, Brazil's 89 FM A Rádio Rock radio station [via Blabbermouth], Mustaine shares his honest thoughts on the metal community and his overarching legacy.

“I’ve been very invested in the metal community,” he says. “Kerry [King, Slayer guitarist] and I played together [during the early days of both bands], and I showed him how to play Megadeth songs, which was before [Slayer] started having all their pivotal records. Kerry and I had a really great time together.”

As for Metallica, the band he was the lead guitarist for between 1982 and 1983, he asserts, “I wrote music in Metallica, and I wrote music in Megadeth. So I’ve been very influential with the guitar with these three bands.”

He also believes he had an influence on Anthrax’s Scott Ian, stating that the band started crafting a different sound after they met Mustaine-era Metallica.

“When I met Scott and the guys in Anthrax out in New York, same thing happened. Their first record was very different from the record they made after they met me and the guys in Metallica. So I think that's great.”

Ultimately, though, Mustaine is quick to clarify that, “I love all those bands.”

Megadeth recently released their seventeenth and final album, and Mustaine gave Guitar World an exclusive track-by-track rundown of his swan song.

Tremolo picking is the relentless, rapid-fire technique that has electrified generations of guitar players across multiple genres. It’s the thread that connects surf rock to extreme metal, classical finesse to experimental noise rock. At its core, tremolo picking involves continuously alternating up and down strokes on a single note (or set of notes), creating a sustained and often urgent texture.

Its origins trace back to acoustic instruments like the mandolin, oud, and classical guitar, where it was used to emulate sustained tones on otherwise percussive instruments. The electric guitar’s amplified nature supercharged this technique, pushing it from subtle shimmer to full-blown sonic assault.

If you've been playing for several years, learning tremolo picking is a powerful skill as it will develop speed, stamina, and control. It builds wrist strength, teaches rhythmic precision (and when to abandon it), and enhances your tone. Whether you’re aiming to channel the wet, reverby energy of Dick Dale, the sinister churn of Morbid Angel, or the textural nuance and kineticism of Radiohead, tremolo picking is a must-know guitar technique to take your playing to the next level.

The key to mastering this technique is in the wrist motion, pick angle, and watching for excessive tension in the picking hand.

You’ll use your wrist – not your elbow – to generate motion. Keep your pick slightly angled (about 15-20 degrees) to minimize resistance, and avoid tensing up - especially at higher speeds. If you feel your arm locking up, stop, reset, and try again.

When holding the pick, don't use too much pressure and expose the pick's tip between 2-5mm from the thumb - you don't need lots of pick connecting to the string. As for the pick itself, most fast players opt for substantial thickness: while it can be pleasing to strum an acoustic with a 0.60mm pick, anything under 1mm is likely to be moving around too much when you're picking fast with a moderate amount of force.

Timing and Tremolo: What Do Those Slashes Really Mean?

Let’s demystify the timing side of tremolo picking. Two rhythmic styles are used:

● Measured tremolo, often played in 16th notes.

● Unmeasured tremolo, where you try to cram in as many strokes as possible within the written note’s duration.

In notation, the number of diagonal slashes on a note’s stem tells you how fast to pick. One slash means 8th note tremolo, two slashes for 16th notes, and three for 32nd notes. At slower tempos, it’s easy to keep things precise - 8ths and 16ths can be played with steady, measured picking. But once you hit 32nd notes (or faster), it’s a different story. This is a max-out speed for many, where trying to track every individual stroke becomes mechanically unrealistic or impossible. That’s where unmeasured tremolo comes in.

Instead of counting, you simply unleash a rapid, all-out, continuous motion - to create a fluttering effect. The goal here isn’t precise rhythmic accuracy, but sonic texture. Think of it as controlled chaos: fast, loose, and expressive rather than mathematically perfect.

In tablature without note stems, you may see the slashes placed above or below the fret number.

Ready to dive in? Great. What follows are six comprehensive examples that unlock the deep potential of tremolo picking in your guitar playing!

Tremolo Picking examples

Example 1: Dick Dale and the surf guitar tsunami

Dick Dale brought tremolo picking into the mainstream with high-speed, reverb-soaked lines that sounded like crashing waves. His technique and tone were inspired by jazz drummers like Gene Krupa - fast, bombastic, and full of syncopation.

In this example, use a clean tone with spring reverb (the 'boingy' type found in old tube amps) and focus on measured sixteenth note tremolos, with accenting on specific beats for rhythmic bounce. Explore picking closer to the bridge for that classic surf guitar snap and bite.

Example 2: Eddie Van Halen's classical twist

Eddie Van Halen’s Little Guitars intro is a pastiche take on nylon-string fingerpicked guitar tremolo which involves either the thumb, first and second fingers or those plus the third finger. Here, you are maintaining a high open string with unmeasured tremolo while the fretting hand fingers hammer-on lower notes to create a layered, two part sound.

Inspired by composers like Francisco Tárrega (check out the famous Recuerdos de la Alhambra) and classical guitarists like Andrés Segovia, Eddie used tremolo in this case as a texture, not just a technique. This one demands twitch picking - the rapid wrist shake that comes from a relaxed shoulder and snappy wrist, not brute force. If you’re struggling with the 'hammer on from nowhere' technique required by this example, check out this 10 Guitar Tips article that includes hammer-on strength exercises.

Example 3: Jonny Greenwood and the art of texture

Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood brought tremolo picking into the world of alternative and art rock. He blended measured and unmeasured tremolo, double stops, and octave shapes across wide string spans for a textural, orchestral vibe.

This style requires more wrist mobility and a looser picking grip, like a funk rhythm guitarist. The result? Ambient washes, punchy cacophony, and ethereal richness. In this example, there's a set of 'false notes' - two of the same exact pitch played on two different strings simultaneously. This adds thickness and dissonance as the C note on the third string is slowly raised by a ¼ step.

Example 4: Slayer and the thrash revolution

In thrash metal, tremolo picking is an engine of aggression. Slayer’s riffs - like in Postmortem or Raining Blood - use measured 16th-note tremolos to match relentless double bass drum.

As stated earlier, there's a key skill to maintaining fast tremolo picking. Here's what Kerry has said about fast tremolo picking: "A lot of people don't know that they don't need to play from the elbow. If you want any kind of speed and you want to be articulate, play from the wrist. You've got to have as minimal movement as you can."

Add distortion and pick hard(ish) for maximum attack but be mindful about tension and/or pain over long bouts of heavy and fast picking. Use single-string dissonant intervals and punctuate with occasional unmeasured bursts to ramp up tension. Thrash tremolo is tight, rhythmic, and physically demanding - this is a real stamina-builder.

Utilize the unused parts of both hands to control noise in this style. Quick position shifts and fast tremolos with this amount of distortion makes playing tight and cleanly a battle. Again, you can refer to chapter six of the 10 Guitar Tips article to work on controlling string noise with both hands.

Example 5: Death metal and the extreme edge

Bands like Morbid Angel use tremolo picking with almost reckless abandon, creating riffs that sound like turret fire. This style leans heavily on unmeasured tremolo, often alternating between rapid picking and muted power chords.

As stated earlier, keep your pick angle sharp not flat contact to the string but angled so each stroke has less resistance. Practice in short bursts to avoid hand stress as 200 bpm with constant tremolo is intense. This example is a great workout for tone control and switching between muted chords and high-octane single note runs.

Example 6: Black metal – something wicked this way comes!

Black metal, pioneered by players like Euronymous of Mayhem, uses tremolo picking in haunting, melodic ways. This style incorporates arpeggios and scalar runs, all tremolo picked with sixteenth notes at warp speed over blast beats.

Unlike death or thrash metal, don't mute - let the strings ring with icy clarity. Practice bar-by-bar to learn the fingerings, then stitch each bar together. Think piercing winds and revelatory chaos: this is tremolo picking’s most brutal form.

Tremolo picking in 5 iconic songs

Dick Dale – Miserlou

The original surf tremolo anthem. Fast, dry-picked, and soaked in reverb. An electric guitar game-changer.

Eddie Van Halen – Little Guitars

Flamenco flair in a classically inspired masterpiece. Combines blazing tremolo with fret hand tapping/hammer-ons for added challenge.

Radiohead – Just

Jonny Greenwood unleashes tremolo picking through octave swells and fuzzed-out textures in this explosive solo from The Bends.

Morbid Angel – Immortal Rites

A blueprint for death metal riffing. Unrelenting tremolo picking and tonal brutality.

Yngwie Malmsteen – Trilogy Suite Op: 5

Perhaps a good starting point for a part two, this neoclassical opus combines fast measured tremolo picking between fretted notes and the open string.

NAMM 2025: Dean Guitars steadied the ship in a (mostly) drama-free 2024. Now it’s looking increasingly confident and has ramped up production on a host of new signature models for 2025 – complete with some bold ‘X’ import builds.

The most striking of the new builds is the new affordable Annihilator X variant of Misfits man Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein’s signature guitar. Surprisingly for a budget build, none of the edges have been rounded-off here, and it maintains the original’s none-more-pointed profile.

It’s a bolt-on build, constructed in Eastern mahogany and finished in black satin. The slim D neck has a 25.5” scale-length and a rosewood fretboard, which is inlaid with pearloid ‘Doyle bats’, then there’s a single DMT Design BK/BK humbucker with a volume control, and a Floyd Rose Special tremolo. That’s all available for $599, which feels like a pretty fair price for such a heavily customized build.

The other heavy hitter getting the X treatment this year is Kerry King – who debuts two new builds, in the form of his long-awaited X Series Overlord, which has previously been the preserve of the high-end US custom shop.

“One of the most unique designs to come from the minds of Kerry King and Dean Guitars is here in the X series, the Overlord!” says Dean. “Now the minds of Kerry King and Dean are available at the perfect price points for everyone.”

Here you get an Easter mahogany body and bolt-on Kerry King spec C-shape maple neck, complete with rosewood fretboard and a pair of DMT Active pickups. Then there’s a Tune-O-Matic bridge with V-plate, plus a graphite nut and sealed die-cast tuners.

Expect to find that for $499, when it hits shelves.

Not content with the Overlord, King also has a new V-style build to his name, bringing the KKV to the X series in the form of the VX. Aside from the shape, it’s a carbon copy of the Overlord spec list and is also priced at $499, but hey, we can’t complain about having options…

If you fancy something a little more luxe, well, there are also some high-spec US models waiting in the wings, too. The USA Kerry King VII Flame Top in Trans Black pairs an Eastern mahogany body and a flame map top and decks it out with a Kahler Kerry King signature bridge and an EMG 81 and Sustainiac pickup combo – all for $6,999.

Meanwhile, Arch Enemy’s founding shredder Michael Amott has been awarded a new USA Wraith build in Blood Red.

It’s a mahogany-bodied model, with a three-piece slim-C maple neck, ebony fretboard, and a pickup configuration that includes Amott’s signature Tyrant pickups at the bridge and a DMT Time Capsule at the neck. We love those black bevels and pearl razorback inlays, too. Expect to pay $4,599 for Amott’s model (without case).

For more information on all of the models, head to Dean.

Kerry King has revealed who he thinks is the most “overlooked” guitarist in metal. The Slayer guitarist was asked to name his top five guitarists of all time during an appearance on the Lipps Service With Scott Lipps podcast – and he took the opportunity to rave about a guitarist he believes deserves much more credit.

“Probably my favorite one [of] all time is [Judas Priest's] Glenn Tipton. And I think he's the most overlooked,” he states. “’Cause if you look at the leads he was doing and when he was doing ’em, he kind of innovated a lot of that stuff.”

As for the rest of his top five? “I would have a hard time numbering them, but I can come up with five. [Ritchie] Blackmore, Tony Iommi, Eddie Van Halen, without question. I'll go with a super-heavy hitter that's my bro and say Zakk Wylde.”

Over the years, King has spoken profusely about Judas Priest's impact on his playing. “As a young guitar player, I could tell there were two guitars on the recording, and the creativity and early uniqueness of two guitars totally inspired what Slayer became,” he told Rolling Stone in a 2022 interview.

“Judas Priest definitely inspired me and Jeff [Hanneman] and Slayer. If we were doing Priest covers in the beginning, he would always play the K.K. Downing guitar parts because he was the blond guy. I would always do the Glenn Tipton ones.”

In a recent Guitar World interview, King explained how he owes his choice of chords and rhythmic patterns to Judas Priest.

2024 Year in Review: Kerry King has certainly been forthcoming about his dissatisfaction with Slayer calling it a day since the group played their “final” show in November 2019.

The decision led to him writing and recording for his new solo band, launching in February this year, with Phil Demmel [ex-Machine Head] joining him on guitar for the May debut release.

But just a matter of days following the news, Slayer announced their “unretirement” with a handful of select festival dates scheduled for September.

When quizzed by this writer about the timing of it all, he revealed it came as a surprise for him, too.

“Everyone thinks Slayer is getting back together, but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he reasoned.

“We’re not going to record anymore; that final tour was definitely our final tour” and describing the festival dates as “just a reason to have some fun with the guys, play a few shows and then jump back in the coffin.”

• From Hell I Rise is out now via Reigning Phoenix.

Kerry King may be one of thrash metal’s most iconic electric guitar players and hardmen, but he’s admitted there’s one particular Slayer song that still intimidates him.

Sitting down recently with Metal Hammer to answer fan-written questions, King singled out the hardest song from the band’s repertoire to play – and the song that people shouldn’t expect to grace Slayer setlists any time soon.

“I could go a number of ways with that [question],” he admits, before narrowing his choice. “I’ll say Dittohead for the sheer speed of it. That’s probably our fastest song, and it’s not one I’m looking to play live any time soon!”

He was then asked to pick his favorite riff written by his late guitar partner, Jeff Hanneman, whose wife recently gifted a rare ESP prototype to young sensation Maya Neelakantan.

“That’s difficult,” King replies. “I have to say Raining Blood [from 1986’s Reign In Blood],” he answers. “It’s not just one riff in that song, but a whole showcase. If you pushed me, I’d say the intro too, as people still sing along to that guitar line.”

King released his first solo album, From Hell I Rise, earlier this year, following 12 LPs with the hard-edged thrashers. He’s confessed to Guitar World that life without Slayer “sucks”, and that releasing a solo album was the only way he knew to keep busy.

Slayer continued for six years after Jeff Hanneman’s passing in 2013, though much of the band's fierce reputation rested upon the guitar partnership of Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, and so they called it a day in 2019.

The band reunited for three US festivals over the summer, but there are currently no plans for more shows to follow in their wake.

Since Slayer’s 1983 release, Show No Mercy, Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman have established a brand of sinister, frenetic thrash metal that took the world by storm.

Their fast-paced, 16th-note picking, chromatic sequences, and use of notes both inside and outside of the key make way for an energetic, adrenaline-fuelled sound laced with attitude and tension.

Despite their fair share of riffs based on unrelenting aggression, Slayer also make effective use of mid-tempo, arpeggiated chords, as in Seasons in the Abyss. This creates dynamic space while keeping the listener drenched in the mood and atmosphere of the song.

Slayer have used various tunings over the years, but for this lesson we’ll keep everything at standard pitch, as on the group’s first album.

Get the tone

Amp Settings: Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 4

For a classic Slayer rhythm tone, use your bridge pickup and the high-gain channel of your guitar amp. To get a chunky sound while keeping things focused, Slayer use less gain than expected, so push the middle frequencies, and roll off some of the treble. The bite and presence should come from the picking-hand attack.

Example 1

The opening phrase alternates between fast flurries of E notes played on the open sixth string and diminished 5th double-stops descending chromatically along the fourth and fifth string. To tighten up the faster passages, palm mute the notes on the sixth string while all other notes remain unrestricted.

Example 2

This study features fast-paced powerchords that outline the root note of each key. This establishes a tonal centre for the ear to lock on to before the chromatic motifs step outside of the key. By bookending the chromaticism with the root chord, our ears can make sense of the harmonic tension.

Slayer's Kerry King has recently revealed he wishes he had asked for a share of the profits for his guitar solo on Beastie Boys' No Sleep Till Brooklyn.

King took a one-off payment for his performance on what would become one of the Beastie Boys' hit singles. Now, looking back on that collaboration, King feels he should have asked for royalties on that pivotal track.

“The simplicity of it is what's funny about it. We [referring to Slayer] were doing what became the Reign In Blood album and the [Beastie Boys] were doing Licensed To Ill in the same studio, like down the hall from each other,” recalls King in an interview with Border City Rock Talk.

“And Rick Rubin [famed producer] was doing both projects. So they needed a lead on that particular song, No Sleep Till Brooklyn. So I thought about it, and I went, ‘Yeah, why not? I can use a couple hundred bucks.’

“I certainly wasn't well to do back then. So, that's what I did. I went in there and I did it. And in hindsight, I wish I didn't get paid. I wish I took a quarter point or something, 'cause now I would be a rich man.”

Licensed To Ill was the Beastie Boys' debut album. Released in 1986, it sold more than 10 million copies in the US alone. In 2015, it was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America. It's consistently ranked by critics as one of the greatest hip-hop and debut albums of all time.

While King has had no shortage of success himself, having songwriting credits on a huge and enduring hit like No Sleep Till Brooklyn would no doubt still have made a significant difference to his bank account.

In addition to the Beastie Boys track, King also played on Sum 41's What We’re All About. The 2002 single also happened to be the soundtrack of Spider-Man, released in the same year.

“A friend of mine at the label came to me at an angle that I just couldn’t argue with,” the Slayer guitarist recalls in an interview with Metal Hammer.

“He was like, ‘Well, you know you played on the Beastie Boys record.’ Fuck! Haha, he’s got a point! That was my epiphany. That was before we put ourselves back on the map – those dudes were fun and they were popping.

“So, yeah, I played on the Beastie Boys record and I played on the Sum 41 record. I mean, those weren’t choices for me, those were just career choices I made. Some people may agree with them and some people may not.”

While those cameos might have proved a fun distraction, it seems there’s little danger of the Slayer man stepping away from the metal scene – even after Slayer.

“I’m a big metal guy. I don’t want to make rock ’n’ roll,” said King in his recent Guitar World interview, while discussing new solo album From Hell I Rise.

“I don’t want to make anything else. If people say this album sounds like Slayer, I take that as a huge compliment.”

After more than 35 years living on the West Coast and pouring all of his musical energy into a single band, Slayer co-founder and guitarist Kerry King is now in a different place – literally. In 2020, King and his wife Ayesha packed up their stuff and relocated to Tribeca in New York City.

“My wife is from here,” says King from the back table of the New York Tex Mex restaurant and bar Cowgirl SeaHorse in Lower Manhattan.

“She had a 20-year exile to the West Coast with me, so now it’s my turn. But I like it here, and it was good timing because we moved here during the pandemic, so I got way more for my money than I should have. I would’ve bought two places had I known that. The places in my building have gone up exponentially since then.”

Of course, moving to New York isn’t the only major change in King’s life. After wrapping up their farewell tour in 2019, Slayer, the band King co-founded in 1981, was gone. Maybe to minimize the mourning process, King formed a new band just months later and started over. And he has started over. To all intents and purposes, Slayer’s final lineup (if not their sound) is but a blip on King’s radar.

Granted, it’s a big blip, and one that will likely generate more increased valuation than his Manhattan apartment when Slayer play three scheduled festival reunion shows later this year. Even so, the band’s last-standing songwriter will spend the vast majority of the foreseeable future not with Slayer, but playing live and recording new music with his new band, entitled Kerry King.

Their debut record, From Hell I Rise, is a savage gut-punch of instantly recognizable riffs, jackhammer beats and disarmingly familiar vocals. In other words, fans of Slayer’s early classics Reign in Blood, South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss will find plenty to love in the tunes, tones and delivery of King’s new album. Though he’s switched from B.C. Rich to Dean Guitars, not much else has changed only the names of half the players.

From Hell I Rise is flush with rapid-fire thrash rhythms, chromatic guitar riffs and blazing leads, with songs that vary in tone from eerie and atmospheric to savage and torrential. Diablo/Where I Rise is driven by quick chord changes in the verse and an elongated riff for the chorus. Then it bursts into a galloping midsection that’s bound to cause havoc in the mosh pit.

Idle Hands is an off-kilter thrash-fest that cuts and chugs like a train with razor-sharp wheels. And Crucifixation sounds like hardcore-influenced Slayer songs (Jesus Saves, Disciple) crossed with the harmonized, minor-key savagery of some of the band’s slower, eerier material (Dead Skin Mask).

“I call Crucifixation the money shot ’cause it’s just so relentless,” King says with a smile. “To me, it sounds like big-time Eighties thrash. It goes from sheer fury to this big, heavy drum break, to super-groove, then back to sheer fury.”

Songs like Crucifixation and Tension, which include the type of haunting atmospheres that were part of late guitarist Jeff Hanneman’s repertoire, should silence the naysayers who still credit Hanneman with writing Slayer’s most harrowing and memorable songs.

“I kind of worried about that [in 2014], when I wrote the last Slayer album, Repentless, [after Jeff passed] because he usually did the spooky-sounding stuff,” King says.

“Then I did When the Stillness Comes for Repentless, and I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ve got spooky down.’ I wanted to show the world that whatever Jeff usually infuses into the band, I’ve got covered. So, with this new album, I don’t think I have to worry about anything sounding like Slayer. I mean, fuck! That’s what it should sound like.”

King’s not downplaying the contributions of his former bandmate. He still tells stories about the early days of meeting Hanneman when he was working as a doorman in a hotel, and how they combined their individual interests in punk (Hanneman) and traditional metal (King) to form the heaviest, most evil-sounding band of the Big 4 thrash scene.

Tragically, 32 years/11 albums later, Hanneman died on May 2, 2013, from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver. King believes his bandmate’s excessive drinking increased after 2011, when he contracted a flesh-eating disease necrotizing fasciitis from a suspected spider bite and was unable to continue playing in the band.

Slayer hired Exodus main man Gary Holt to replace Hanneman, and the lineup change widened the already existing gulf between King and vocalist/bassist Tom Araya.

“If Jeff was still here, would there be another Slayer record?,” rhetorically asks King, picking at the tortilla chips on his plate.

“Who knows? I mean, Jeff weighed on Tom a lot, and I think Jeff not being around had a lot to do with Tom leaving Slayer. But, you know, if that fucking dumb-ass Jeff was still here, he’d be wanting us to play. I know he would. And if I played this album for Jeff, he would fuckin’ love it.”

Without Hanneman around, King became Slayer’s only songwriter and remains the band’s voice and mouthpiece. The second guitarist on From Hell I Rise is ex-Machine Head and former Vio-Lence guitarist Phil Demmel (who has also filled in on tour for Overkill, Lamb of God and, yes, Slayer). Demmel’s leads are melodic and less frantic than those of King or Holt, yet his tone is all Slayer.

At the risk of being redundant, From Hell I Rise is nothing short of Slayer reborn. And that’s hardly a crime, since it’s exactly what King wanted; and it explains why he originally wanted to call the band King’s Reign or Blood Rain (references to Slayer’s most heralded album, 1986’s Reign in Blood). Both names were already trademarked. With From Hell I Rise, King pulls no punches. Neither does he provide any strikingly new combinations.

“I can only write the way I write,” he says with a shrug, then takes a pull from his glass of tequila. “That’s all I know how to do. That’s all I want to do. I mean, me not being in Slayer sucks. I want Slayer to exist, so this is the only way I know how to do that.

“To me, it would be weird to do anything else. Everybody knows how I write. This is my comfort zone. I’m a big metal guy. I don’t want to make rock ’n’ roll. I don’t want to make anything else. If people say this album sounds like Slayer, I take that as a huge compliment.”

King started working on From Hell I Rise in February 2020, after the Super Bowl (he has always been a huge football fan). He finished writing the album long before he knew about any Slayer reunion shows (the band’s final full tour ran through 2019). And because he wrote them, King used leftover Slayer songs on the record.

Then, when Kerry King finished tracking From Hell I Rise, King and ex-Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph kept working on new songs for their second album, which is mostly written.

King was so laser-focused on his new project that he hasn’t spoken with Araya or texted his former bandmate since the Slayer’s farewell tour ended at the LA Forum on November 30, 2019. To be fair, Araya didn’t try to contact King either… Then came February 21, 2024.

That morning, just 16 days after Rolling Stone posted an interview with King in which he stated that he didn’t see eye to eye with Araya, and how there would never be a Slayer reunion, the band issued a press release confirming that Slayer would reunite to headline a pair of festivals, Riot Fest in Chicago on September 22 and Louder Than Life in Louisville, Kentucky, on September 27.

A week after the news broke, Slayer announced they would also headline the Aftershock Festival on October 10 in Sacramento, California. All three shows would feature the lineup from Slayer’s final album, Repentless Araya, King, Bostaph and Holt. King says shows were put together by Slayer’s management and Araya’s wife, and for him, it was like Hell freezing over.

“I was very surprised,” King says in an exclusive statement to Guitar World about a week after his interview for our cover story.

“I made my comments [about Slayer being finished] based on [Tom] not wanting to play anymore. As far as I was concerned, we were done and never going to play again. To be honest, I don’t know what switched.

“We’ve been turning down offers to play shows for at least three years. So, one came up that, I guess, enticed Tom to the point where he wanted to roll the dice and try a couple. I don’t know, but that’s all it is.”

Now, with Pandora’s box reopened, King is looking forward to playing three more stadium shows with Slayer, with huge crowds and requisite pyro. “I’ve really missed fire!” he says, and adds that he’d be open to, maybe, an additional Slayer gig.

“There could be an instance where there’s another one-off,” he says. “It just has to be the right offer at the right time, maybe someplace everybody loves to go. But touring, no, I don’t see touring. But, you know, who’s to say a one-off can’t happen again?”

As excited as he is to feel the flames of a giant burning Slayer logo on his back again, King is more stoked about the combustive excitement building around his new album and the tour to support it. The band will play two warm-up shows in May, and then seven cities in Europe in June.

The proper tour launches on July 19 in Grand Prairie, Texas. In between runs, King and Bostaph may work on more new songs for the follow-up to From Hell I Rise. One thing’s certain: none of the songs King has completed since his first Kerry King album, nor anything he writes in the future will be used for a future Slayer album. King’s days of recording with Araya are in the past, and the guitarist has both eyes focused on the road ahead.

“I’m not looking to do any more music with Slayer at all,” he reiterates, “Not because of any dislike, but because we made that statement that we’re not going to tour anymore. And since we’re not touring, I don’t see any point in putting out a record especially since I’ve already got my own new avenue to do that, and I love it. I’m just getting started, and it’s going to be a super-fun time for hopefully 10, 15 years to come.”

Slayer have always been associated with the West Coast. Do you prefer being in New York, or are all big cities the same?

“I’ve always liked New York, and I’ve probably been here more than any other city in the world. The silly thing about ‘West Coast Kerry’ was I never paid attention to anything going on around me. I didn’t know what was right down the street. I’d heard of places, but I couldn’t tell you where they were.

“Now I’ve got a handle on where everything is in my Manhattan kingdom, so I get out a lot, whereas before I hardly ever went out. Our place is six blocks from the Freedom Tower, so we’re next to almost every subway line, and it’s easy to get around. We do a lot of walking now, too. But I got a system. Every time you gotta hit the bathroom, you just go into a bar, have a shot, use the bathroom and move on.”

Do you go out more in New York than you went out in California?

“I live out. In LA, when you’re in the suburbs you don’t get out that much because five restaurants only go so far before you start doubling up and your wife gets tired of it. My wife’s a foodie, so New York is great.”

You can only eat for so many hours of the day. That must leave lots of time to write music.

“I worked really hard on this record, but we recorded it really quickly. We did it in two weeks at Henson Studios in Hollywood. Josh Wilbur produced, so when we wanted to go in and fix a vocal here or there or do some tinkering, we did it at his studio at his house.

“So, 90 to 95 percent was done in the studio and the rest was done with Josh in his garage. We were done on my anniversary last year, April 29, so I flew home. After that, it became a waiting game.”

Were any full songs on From Hell I Rise left over from Slayer?

“From Hell I Rise and Rage were left over from Repentless. That said, some other riffs from those days ended up on this. I wrote the intro for Toxic five minutes before a Slayer show. We were getting ready to go onstage, and I came up with this riff and I didn’t want to forget it. I went and got my phone, recorded the part and then played the show.

“Another four songs for my next album are left over from Repentless, plus there’s a bunch of stuff that I had left over from this album that will go on it. Me and Paul are already rehearsing stuff for that record, too. So we’re still working.”

Did you write the songs using an amp modeler and a home-studio DAW with a drum program before you sent them to Paul?

“Dude, I don’t understand any of that shit. It’s like you’re talking alien to me. I hit record on my iPhone and stick it in front of my little speaker. My amp is about as big as my boot, and it sounds great.

“I put it maybe six feet away, play my song and then hit stop. And that’s what Paul gets. I send him a drum chart with time signatures for where the changes go, and what the drums are gonna do. So he already knows what I want before we get together. Nine times out of 10 we can play it within five minutes.”

Many fans assumed Gary Holt would be in your new band.

“For a long time, I considered Gary. I love Gary. The reason I didn’t ask Gary is because the more elements I have from Slayer, the more detractors are going to say, ‘Oh, it’s Baby Slayer’ or ‘Slayer Jr.’ So, the only piece of Slayer I took is Paul.

“I was gonna use Terry Date to produce. But, again, it’s the same situation, so I asked Josh Wilbur, who was great. I had to take all the Slayer pieces away, so when people say what they say, I can say, ‘No man, this is just me. I wrote everything myself, and if that is not a testament to how I sound, then nothing is.’”

Why did you handpick Phil?

“I think Phil handpicked me. He filled in for Gary in Europe when Gary had to drop off the tour when his dad was dying. I didn’t even think of Phil. When I’m in a given location I’ll think of players from the area. I was in Europe, and everybody I was coming up with didn’t want to do it or couldn’t do it. And then Paul says, ‘What about Demmel?’ And I’m like, ‘You know, that never even occurred to me.’ And I love Machine Head.

“The timing was great because I contacted him two days after he quit Machine Head, so he was available, and he was able to come out early and watch our tour before Gary flew home. So Phil got the tempo of the show and played along on the sidelines, and then he played our last four shows. When he was out there, he made sure I knew he wanted to be part of my future. I kept that in the back of my mind. When it was time to get a second guitarist, I called him up.”

Did you play all the rhythms on the album?

“I recorded everything since I wrote all the songs. It was easier that way. I recorded one track on the left and one on the right, but I used different guitars for different tracks so they would sound slightly different.

“In Slayer, when Jeff was still in the band and I did [the second track of guitar rhythms] on songs he wrote, I would use Jeff’s guitar. So, any nuances from his rig or his guitar would still come through, even though I was playing it.”

Jeff’s eerie, minor-key, tritone-filled licks and blinding chromatic riffs were Slayer trademarks. Did you try to write any parts in the style of Jeff to make From Hell I Rise sound more like Slayer, or is that overthinking the process?

“That’s overthinking things. It didn’t occur to me once to write like Jeff. This is me. But I played Jeff’s songs and he played my songs for so long that our styles became kind of integrated. A lot of people don’t realize that in the early days of Slayer, Jeff and I wrote a lot together.

“It was only after he moved a distance away that we each wrote our own stuff because the commute sucked and that made it harder to get together. The last song we wrote together was Disciple.”

Are you going to play any of Jeff’s songs on tour?

“Well, I’m going to play some Slayer songs, of course. Our set is gonna be over 45 minutes, and that’s all the material I got. So, I’m gonna concentrate on doing songs I wrote completely in Slayer, and songs I had a part in writing. I really don’t want people to say, ‘Oh, he was playing Jeff’s songs.’ If you give anybody a chance to complain about something, they will.”

Was there a point in the creative process when everything came together?

“I think it started really feeling like an album when I started getting vocals on it, ‘cause then you’ve got these full songs. The first time you play the riffs with drums, it starts to take shape. You get goosebumps and say, ‘Oh, I know what this is gonna sound like!’ And then whether I put Mark Osegueda’s vocals on it or mine which I did for a long time before we had Mark the song really starts to take shape.”

Phil Demmel has a different lead style from Gary Holt. Did you want Phil’s leads to sound like Gary’s or even Jeff’s?

“I wanted Phil to do his own leads, but he was very conscientious about what he played. A couple times, he said, ‘If that’s too melodic, I can change it.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, it’s your lead. I want you to be happy with it. You may not have been able to contribute to the songs, but I want you to be able to be proud of what you did and what you made up.’ And he killed it when he came in and played.”

Do you and Phil play together differently than you and Gary? What’s the chemistry like between you two?

“We play a little different, but it works. We did this harmony guitar part [for Crucifixation], which was fun. He said, ‘I may have just the part for a double lead, if you’re into it?’ He wasn’t sure I’d want to hear it because he didn’t know how totalitarian I wanted to be about it. But I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m into hearing anything.’

“I firmly believe that if there are ideas out there and you don’t hear them you might be missing out on the best song ever. So he showed me what he was doing, and I’m like, ‘Fuck, yeah. Show me how to do it and I’ll play it.’ And that’s what you hear.

“I plan on doing more stuff like that with him. I wanted us to do a really fast back-and-forth Slayer-style thing like on Angel of Death. ‘You make noise, I’ll make noise, then vice-versa.’ It didn’t happen, but maybe next time.”

Did you pre-write your leads or improvise them like you often did with Slayer?

“I went out of my way for my leads, and I actually had time to construct them. I wasn’t finishing up lyrics and coaching Tom [Araya], like in the past [with Slayer]. I’d say at least 80 percent of my leads and fills were thought out. A lot of them are structured, but I still had my whammy sections where I fuck off and do what I do.

“When we finished the record, I realized I had so many more leads than Phil. I wanted it to be more 50/50, but I counted mine and I did 18. The last one was for Tension, and I actually made that up in my hotel room while we were recording, but it’s one of my favorites. It’s super complete. It fits that section and matches the mood of the song. Phil really complimented me. He said these are the best leads I’ve ever done.”

As a lead guitarist, are you well-versed in scales?

“[Laughs] I know major and minor. That’s about it. And whatever I do in between is usually minor because that’s what sounds wickedest. Then there’s, ‘Fuck the scales. Let’s just make crazy-ass whammy noises on this one’ ’cause that’s part of the Slayer sound.”

There were rumors your new band was going to be called KFK. You mentioned you considered Blood Rain and King’s Reign, but there were trademark issues. Why didn’t you want to put this out as a solo album from the get-go?

“I never wanted to reference my name at all. I’m not a vain person. And anybody that knows me knows that. I wanted this to be a band, not a solo project. At the end of the day, could I have bought the trademark for Blood Reign or King’s Rain? Yeah, probably.

“But the festivals I was booked for in May were getting announced, and we had to go with something. So we used my name. The logo with the two “K”s (one forward, one backward) worked with the [inverted] cross that I wanted in the logo.

“I’m still thinking about changing it, but if we get too much further down the road, that window’s gonna shut. I don’t know. My wife always tells me to use KFK. Somebody else will say, ‘Kerry King is cool!’ And I love the logo. So, it’s being seen right now as Kerry King with the logo. I would like to keep the logo, but with a band name. But every time I come up with something, no matter how obscure I think it is, it’s taken. That goes for the album title, too.”

What other record names were you considering?

“Originally, I thought of From Hell I Rise. Then I wrote Idle Hands, and I’m like, ‘Oh, Idle Hands. That’s a good name for the record.’ Then I wrote Crucifixation. I’m like, ‘Dude, this song’s fucked up. I love it. Let’s call it Crucifixation. I looked online and there’s eight other uses of Crucifixation. And I went, ‘Son of a bitch, man!’ I thought for sure. I made that one up. So we went back to From Hell I Rise.”

It’s clear that you wanted Slayer to continue making records and touring, but Tom wanted to spend more time with his family. So Slayer broke up pretty near the top of its game. The last New York show at Madison Square Garden was skull-rattling, and other gigs were equally powerful. How were you able to continue generating such ferocious energy, knowing that the band was about to break up?

“I always loved doing Slayer, so I cherished it up until the end. During the last 18 months, we hit every place that wanted us to come, so we could go there at least once. We were killing it in those last rounds, even Tom. He sounded so great. I went in and told him he sounded great. And he was polite and all. And, you know, there’s something to be said for going out on top. It’s like we were in the Super Bowl. I felt kind of like Peyton Manning. We went out on such a high note and then said, ‘Hey, we’re done.’”

Were you the first to find out Tom was leaving?

He told me about two years before the end, which was months before he told the other guys. We were at a photo session, and I turned to Tom and said, ‘Listen, dude. If you don’t tell these guys, I’m not gonna do the photo session because they deserve to know.’ That’s how they found out.

“I told both Paul and Gary, I said, ‘I got a spot for both of you in my next project.’ And then from that point on, it just kind of evolved into where it is now. Me and Gary never discussed him playing. We never discussed him not playing. It just kind of happened this way.”

When you saw how great the farewell shows were going, did you ever try to convince Tom to stay in the band? Or did he ever think about changing his mind along the way?

“I don’t think he thought of changing his mind along the way. I don’t know, because we didn’t talk much, and we never talked about that. I don’t think it would have been a bad idea because every day we’ve been away, I’ve missed Slayer.

“But if somebody’s come to a point where they don’t want to do something anymore, and you’re trying to talk ’em into it, it seems to me that there’s a really big chance you’re gonna get to the point where they’re just mailing it in. And I don’t want to be perceived as somebody that mailed it in.”

Did Tom ever get to that point?

“Not at the end. I remember, a long time ago I read a review where the writer said me and somebody else were on fire, but the other two mailed it in, and it bummed me out. I never wanted Slayer to be that. Tom just came to the point where he was done, and if we tried to keep going with no endpoint, we would have been setting ourselves up for failure. Even if we succeed in talking that guy into staying, to me, it just doesn’t have the chance to be as good.”

As bittersweet as it was to end Slayer, doing this solo album and having complete control of everything must be rewarding in its own way. You don’t have to negotiate with bandmates or play band politics.

“It’s refreshing. I never wanted it. It’s not something I needed musically. It’s not something I needed personally. Having it was super cool and super fun, and working with new people was super fun. This is the first record I haven’t played bass on, probably, since the Nineties.”

Why did he stop playing bass guitar on the albums?

“We would always let Tom play bass until he got tired of not being good at it. In Tom’s defense, up to that point, he had never played the songs. It was always just me and Paul going through ’em. And then we get in the studio, it’s time to record. I think Tom’s got it in his head that he’s gonna be able to pull it off. But for anybody that’s never played a song before, to come in without knowing the music and get it up to recording level is not realistic.

“So, if I’ve already done my guitar tracks, Jeff’s done his guitar tracks, And Tom doesn’t know the bass parts, I can pick up a bass and get it done in less than a day ’cause I already know the songs. It got to where he’d mess around and play one song for eight hours before he got frustrated and just said, ‘Here, you do it!’ I don’t want anybody to think for a second that he couldn’t do it if he had the time to learn it.”

Hellyeah bassist Kyle Sanders played bass on the album. How did you know him, and was it a relief to have someone else playing bass in the studio for your songs?

“I was good friends with Dime and Vinnie. We played with Hellyeah in 2015, then we hung out with Kyle, and he was cool. I didn’t know I was gonna need a band then, but he’s the only bassist that came to mind. Had he been busy or couldn’t have done it, I could have come up with number two, but it never got that far.

“I sent Kyle four songs, and he sent them back two days later with his bass parts. I went, ‘Hmm, that’s never happened in my life.’ And he’s a real bassist so he came up with stuff I probably wouldn’t have thought of. So, it was cool.”

Some people mellow with age. You’re not trashing hotels anymore, but it doesn’t seem like the fire within has cooled. Are you still as angry as you were in the Nineties?

“Man, I don’t feel any different than when I was 18. I’ve always had music to cope with anger. But I just think being alive in this stupid world we’re living in that gives you enough fury for 10 lifetimes. I’m not gonna talk politics because I’m not into that. But there’s so much that’s fucked up about the world today.”

Slayer were a gateway to death metal for tons of bands. Were you a fan of Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse? And did you ever think of taking a toe-dip into the murky swamp of extreme metal?

“Do I feel like we were a stepping stone to that? Absolutely. Fuck, yeah! But it’s not my forte. I think where we teeter is on the fine line between thrash and death metal. And that’s as far as we want to go. I mean, are they edgier? Maybe. Are they doomier? Probably.

“A lot of bands have been influenced by our music and taken it to where they want to be, and that’s fine. I don’t want to be heavier. I don’t want to be faster. I don’t want to have more growly vocals. I love what we’ve done. And I want to keep doing it with my new band.”

• From Hell I Rise is out now via Reigning Phoenix.

It might have been a coincidence, or maybe an evil act of fate. But a major volatile career move put Phil Demmel in the front of the line to be the second guitarist for Kerry King, a gig Demmel now proudly holds.

In September 2018, following a 15-year tenure with Machine Head, Demmel quit the band – and lost the paycheck it provided – due to personal differences with frontman Robb Flynn.

Two days later, he got a call from Kerry King, who told him that guitarist Gary Holt had to drop off the Slayer tour due to a family emergency and asked Demmel if he could fly to Europe on short notice to play some shows.

“The timing happened to be good, and I think me stepping into the Slayer situation and learning 19 songs on the flight over to Europe made a good impression on Kerry and helped me when it came time for him to bring on a second guitarist in his new band,” Demmel says.

Demmel didn’t track any of the rhythm parts with King for From Hell I Rise, but he worked hard on leads; when it was time for him to record, he popped into the studio with King and producer Josh Wilbur and recorded around 10 solos and transition licks in three hours.

That’s not much of a time expenditure, for sure, but he was so well prepared that he didn’t need any longer. Demmel wrote all of his leads at home and ensured they complimented King’s songs before entering the studio.

“I wanted to make the string bends sound good with the rhythms, so I’ve been working a lot on my left-hand technique to make sure the bends and tremolo parts are in key,” Demmel says.

“With this record, I wanted to make my signature sound a part of the songs and have that go hand-in-hand with the vibe of the music. I wanted my playing to stand out but also blend in well with what Kerry did.”

Kerry said you were persistent about playing in his new band.

“Let’s just say I made myself available. In 2018, I was poking around – ‘Hey, what are you doing next? What’ve you got going on after this?’ And he told me that he and Paul were gonna continue, probably with Gary [Holt], but he hadn’t made much of it. So, when I announced that I quit Machine Head, he texted me that day or the next day and said, ‘Ah, that’s why you were asking.’ And I told him, ‘Yeah, I’m available and would be up for whatever you want to do next.’”

Did he get back to you right away with an offer?

“No. I filled in [live] for Gary in September for a few dates. Kerry got back to me in December and still kind of thought he was going to go forward with Gary. But then things changed. I don’t think he and Gary had any sort of fight or anything, I just think that Exodus is Gary’s baby and this would be Kerry’s thing.”

When did Kerry ask you to join him for the album and tour?

“I was in limbo for a good eight months after we talked. Then, on the opening night of football for the Raiders, we were at the Monday-night game. We went to celebrate afterwards, and that’s when he said, ‘So, this is what I’m thinking.’ He let me know that night.”

Are you looking forward to playing Slayer songs on tour?

“Fuck, yeah. I love Slayer. I went to the last show at the Forum in California. By then, I knew I was gonna be playing in his band. I had this crazy, surreal moment of watching Slayer from the front of house with [actor] Jason Momoa and Scott Ian and his family, and all these other celebrities.

“I was talking with Scott, and Slayer were going into Angel of Death. And I said, ‘Oh, my God. This is my last chance to pit for Slayer!’ Scotty says, ‘You gotta do it!’ So I went in and made some rounds in the pit with my reading glasses on my head the whole time. Such an old man thing to do!”

What were the first new songs you heard from Kerry?

“I heard some of the demos. Crucifixation was one of them – and I also heard “From Hell I Rise.” This was before [Death Angel singer] Mark [Osegueda] did vocals, so it was Kerry singing on the songs. And I could really tell from his vocal inflections that he was really instrumental in the vocal approach for a lot of the Slayer stuff and even with Tom’s vocals.

“For obvious reasons, Kerry didn’t want to send any of the songs out and was pretty tight-lipped about sharing stuff. So he played a lot of the songs to me over his phone. By the time I got the music to record on, the rhythms were all done.”

How did you approach your leads for From Hell I Rise?

“I recorded stuff at my home studio and sent it back to him. My solo style is obviously different from Jeff Hanneman and from what Gary had been doing. So I wanted to make sure he was gonna be okay with that.

“What I’m doing is a little more melodic than what you’re used to hearing from Kerry’s music, but he was totally on board with it. I was glad about that because I wanted to stray away from all the brutal music and add a little dynamic to it with these more melodic lines.”

Did you pre-write your leads or improvise them in the studio and then string them together?

“My leads were all planned out. I played through them and pieced them together at home. A lot of my stuff in Machine Head was thrown together in the studio. I wanted this to be a lot more structured.

“I wanted to get to the point where I could play my leads in one pass to make all the feelings and all the transitions natural. So I played my leads for months. We tried a couple things spontaneously, but for the most part, they were ready to go.”

Did you cater your playing style to fit into the Kerry King mold?

“No, but I wasn’t confident about it right away because in Machine Head, I couldn’t write riffs that sounded like Machine Head until I was in the band. But I quickly found that with Kerry, I can write in my style and it works with the songs.”

You finished the album a year ago. Was it frustrating to wait this long for it to finally come out? And have you contributed to any of the songs for the next Kerry King album?

“It’s funny because the album is almost out and we did a photo shoot for it a little while ago, and that was only the second time all five of us had been in the same room together. We haven’t jammed as a five-piece yet. But I have new material. When I was writing for Vio-Lence, Kerry said, 'Well, save some of your good stuff for me,' so he’s open to hearing material from me.”

Do you think you’ll be more involved in the songwriting process for the next Kerry King album?

“I’d like to be, but he’s pretty prolific and he gets his stuff done fast. So we’ll see what happens. We’ve yet to play a show together, and the second album will probably already be done by the time we do so, which is fine. I have outlets for my music to go. We’ll see how much I can be involved when the next record comes around.”

What’s the hardest thing about learning the rhythm guitar parts for Kerry King?

“There’s a lot of triplet picking, and some gallops that I want to make sure I’m playing exactly like Kerry does. I’ve had to dissect a couple little tricky things. Tension is in 6/8, so there’s a lot of counting going on, but it’s really a matter of learning to speak that language again. When I was learning those 19 Slayer songs on the plane to Germany, I had to do the same thing.

“It’s kind of the Rosetta Stone language-learning immersion that I’ve adapted to learn all this stuff. That’s how it’s been with a lot of the bands I’ve played with. They have their language, and once you start to understand where they go with certain things – I call them conjunctions, how they put them together and how the transition segues work – then you’re that much closer to getting it down.”

• From Hell I Rise is out now via Raging Phoenix Music America.

Over the decades, Kerry King has been endorsed by B.C. Rich, ESP and now Dean. As much as he has always loved the company’s guitars, he wasn’t ready to work with them when they first approached him shortly after the death of former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell.

“I was friends with a lot of the Dean people, even though I didn’t use their guitars ’cause Dime was there, and he and I were good friends,” King says.

“When Dime unfortunately left us, Dean wanted me the next day. They needed a new guy. I had a great deal with B.C. Rich, and Dean didn’t want to match it. I’m like, ‘Why am I leaving if you’re not gonna match my deal?’ So I stayed with B.C. Rich until almost the end of the Slayer run.”

That’s when Dean made King an offer he couldn’t refuse, and, just in time for his musical rebirth as Kerry King, he was adopted by a new guitar company.

“That’s my new family now,” he says. “I’ve only used Dean onstage for about a month, so it’s still very new to me. But I did the new album with Dean guitars. I knew the owner’s dad [Elliott Rubinson] before he passed away, and now I’m really tight with everyone over there. And I’m super loyal. If you don’t give me a reason to leave, I won’t.”

To date, Dean has created two signature guitars for King, the USA Kerry King V (limited edition 50 PC) and the USA Kerry King Overlord Battalion Grey, and there’s more to come. Below, King discusses the particulars of his Dean guitars and how he landed his past endorsement deals.

Your first B.C. Rich was a Mockingbird. Was that before you were endorsed?

“Yeah, we certainly weren’t made of money back then. My dad was my sponsor for a while. He would live vicariously through me. He played a little bit of guitar, so he would scour the free newspaper, The Recycler, ’cause everyone would put guitars, amps, all kinds of shit in there.

“He found a B.C. Rich Mockingbird. I didn’t even know what a B.C. Rich was. He took me to see it, and I didn’t have any idea what all the switches were for, but I’m like, ‘If I can’t make a cool sound with all these switches, there’s gotta be something fucking wrong with me.’”

You’re playing the Mockingbird on the back of Slayer’s first album, 1983’s Show No Mercy.

“That guitar belonged to the Hard Rock Japan for a while. I donated it. And then when I got together with my wife of 21 years almost, she was like, ‘You should get that back.’ And I went, ‘Yeah, you’re kind of right.’ So I traded them another one for it. I got in contact with the manager of that Hard Rock, and he understood the situation. I offered him something else and he said, ‘Fine – it means more to you than it needs to be here.’”

That guitar led to your relationship with B.C. Rich. Didn’t they paint it red for you?

“That was back in the day when I didn’t know what strap locks were. We were at rehearsal, and I got underneath my strap with my thumb. The guitar undid itself, the head came down on the ground like a fucking guillotine and the headstock broke off.

“That was not a nice day, but it gave me my first introduction to the people at B.C. Rich, the Rico family. They put a truss rod and two other rods in it so it would never happen again – just in case I dropped it. I had them paint it red ’cause it was Koa. It still is Koa, but it’s a red Koa. Call me a dick now, but I didn’t think I wanted a natural guitar.”

Did that lead to your first endorsement?

“The second B.C. Rich I got, or that anyone saw, was the black Warlock I played in the early days. I think the Mockingbird sounded better, but the Warlock looked cool for what I was trying to portray. The B.C. Rich factory was only about 20 minutes from my parents’ house, so I would go to the factory five days a week, just drooling and checking shit out. One day the public-relations guy said, ‘Hey, we want to give you this guitar.’ It might have been a Bich.

“I was maybe 20. I looked at him and said, “Why?” It didn’t occur to me that companies endorse players and give them guitars. The guy showed me a stack of letters from people that wanted to play the guitars that I had, and I went, “Oh, wow.” So that’s how I got my first B.C. Rich deal.”

You stayed with B.C. Rich for a long time, endorsing guitars with various design elements and price points. They did a signature V for you when South of Heaven came out (1988), and you played the Bich, Ironbird and the Beast V. What brought you to ESP?

“That was right after we did Seasons in the Abyss [1990]. B.C. Rich leased their company to Class Axe, and Class Axe couldn’t make a neck-through-body guitar. I’m like, ‘Well, call me when you can.’ And they never did, so I went to ESP for about a decade. I was a fixture for them at NAMM during the ’90s.”

What brought you back to B.C. Rich?

“I was always friends with the Rico family, and when they got their lease back from Class Axe, they kept wanting me to come back to B.C. Rich. I was wary ’cause the way we broke up was not good. I had ordered a Mockingbird Supreme back then, which had cloud inlays and all the electronics.

“I had them make some sexy natural ones. They called me and said, ‘Hey, this guitar’s done, but we’re selling the company, so if you want it, you need to come buy it.’ And I said, ‘Fine, gimme ’til tomorrow.’ That guitar was gorgeous. They didn’t wait. They sold it to someone else, which was a bullshit move.”

How did they get you back?

“I was happy with ESP. They treated me well for a long time, and I’m still friends with the owner. And then one day, I finally decided to give B.C. Rich another chance. I said, ‘Alright; just so we’re sure, build me a guitar and if I like it, we’ll roll.’ I think that might have been the first V with the tribal paint job. So I went back over, and we went on that tribal offshoot for 20 years, with the fire backgrounds and the marble backgrounds. We got a lot of mileage out of that artwork.”

Did you feel like you got all that you could out of your relationship with B.C. Rich when you struck a deal with Dean?

“The Rico family was out of B.C. Rich again. They belonged to HHI. So it was corporate, and I have very strong times with family businesses. I was friends with the Marshall family. I was friends with the Rico family. And I was friends with a lot of Dean people, but I needed some shit changed because Dean was Dime’s label and me and Dime were tight – but I don’t like the guitars Dime played. A fucking headstock that looks like a baby guitar? I don’t need all that fucking real estate up there.

“So we made the headstock look like it’s got devil horns. I took what was reminiscent of my B.C. Rich headstock and combined them into something new that neither one can claim so nobody can say, ‘Oh, it looks like your B.C. Rich.” And that’s how I got my ‘V’ with the points at the edges – and the Overlord, which I put out last year.”

What other guitars are you working on with Dean?

“I’ve got a new A&R guy there. I said, ‘Okay, for the purists, let’s make – and nobody has seen this – a couple of classic ‘V’s for people that don’t like the points on my first Dean V. I had one made trans-black with a really classy inlay. It’s a conservative ‘V’ with teeth. It’s got an edge to it. The other new one I’ve got has this beautiful inlay on it that people will just have to see. I’ll have both of those when I go on tour.’”

• From Hell I Rise is out now via Reigning Phoenix Music America.

Kerry King’s no-nonsense approach to creating razor-sharp, life-affirming heavy metal has made him one of the world’s most influential players. His work in Slayer with co-guitarist the late Jeff Hanneman set the benchmark for a new kind of murderous noise – sounding thicker and angrier than anything before it.

As pioneers of thrash metal in the early ’80s alongside Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and a host of other speed-fuelled bands, Slayer would lay the groundwork for the varying waves of metal that followed.

When Slayer announced their retirement and played their final show in 2019, Kerry was certainly vocal about not being happy with the decision. “We quit too early,” he reflected. “I hate not playing.” But now he’s back on the horse and doing what he does best, writing riffs heavy enough to knock the earth off-axis to create From Hell I Rise – the debut offering from a new band under his own name. 

Before we get to the music, however, we need to address the elephant in the room. Only weeks after Kerry officially announced his comeback, Slayer were confirmed to be headlining US festivals later in the year. Few could have predicted things turning out like this, including the guitarist himself...

“It caught me off-guard, too!” he admits. “Do I wish the timing was different? Absolutely, but that’s completely out of my hands.”

Either way, don’t get your hopes up about a full-scale Slayer reunion. Kerry leaves no room for doubt in his explanation of where the band see themselves in 2024.

“Everyone thinks Slayer are getting back together but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he says. “We’ve been turning down gigs ever since we stopped. This one came and I thought, ‘If we’re ever going to do one, this could be cool because it’s the five-year anniversary of our final tour.’

“We’re not going to record anymore. That final tour was definitely our final tour. This is just a reason to have some fun the guys, play a few shows and then jump back in the coffin…”

The other big news is your new partnership with Dean. It came as a surprise, given how loyal you’ve been to B.C. Rich since Slayer’s earliest days…

“With any of the companies I’m with, I’m super-loyal, and I’d become friends with all my B.C. reps. But the company got sold to people who didn’t have the same agenda. It was time for me to get out.”

Do you still favour a Sustainiac in the neck and an EMG 81, with a PA2 Preamp Booster, in the bridge?

“The boost is a carryover from the way I’ve been playing for the last 20 years or so. It’s just comfortable for me to have it there. If there’s a funny-sounding stage or a situation where I need an extra kick, I’ll use that preamp boost. I was using it for my leads but now I’ll kick in my MXR Zakk Wylde Overdrive.”

You’ve been a Marshall diehard over the years. Is that what we’re hearing on the new album?

“Yeah, I used my signature ‘Beast’ Marshall heads which come with a built-in thing called the Assault, based on my signature MXR 10-band Graphic EQ parameters. They just put it into a knob where you could get more or less of it, working like an overdrive. And for serious gain, it has a noise gate.

“I like the way they sound going through Marshall Mode Four cabinets – there’s a lot of low-end girth. The heads sound different going through a regular 1960 cab. When I was doubling, I would change guitars and heads, just for variety.”

Digital gear, particularly plugins, has really taken off since you last released an album. We can’t imagine you plugging into a laptop because of the lack of air moving, but have you ever tried it?

“When we did the last Slayer album, Gary Holt was using his Kemper for the solos. Phil Demmel, who is playing with me in this new band, used something digital on this album.

“I don’t know what it was. I haven’t been pushed to the point of trying that stuff. Like you said, I want air moving. Is it more difficult towing real amps from country to country? Abso-fucking-lutely. But I haven’t found anything to match that. And if it ain’t broke…”

What do you look for in a riff? Is there anything you tend to rely on?

“One thing that sticks out is my choice of chords and rhythmic patterns. I attribute a lot of that to Judas Priest, because they would write riffs that went from A to F and C, with icing here and there. And I think my go-to is more like E to F and G, or maybe G#. That idea turns up in most of my riffs. I don’t try to change that, it’s just where I end up.

“I probably base too many songs on that kind of progression, but most people probably don’t notice! There are no shocks on this album. I like bands to stay true to the sound that works. I’m happy that AC/DC have been making the same record for 50 years. That’s why I like them!”

Crucifixation is one of the faster tracks. How did that come about?

“Yeah, it’s pretty quick. The one that gave me the most trouble, which has actually been around since the last Slayer album, is the title track. If you’re not warmed up, you’re not getting anywhere near that opening riff.”

How exactly does one master the skill, though?

“It’s like anything. If you want to bench press 200lbs, you start at 80. If you don’t like practising, get a song that’s in the BPM range of where you need to start off, play along and then bump it in increments of 10 until you get to there. You should concentrate on performing with articulation at whatever speed it is – full notes played clean.”

Crucifixation also has a harmonised riff using 5th intervals. You’ve done this a lot in the past to exaggerate the eerie quality to your riffs…

“I always forget what the intervals are. I never talk shop. I always say, ‘This is four frets up, the next is five and the final one is seven!’ There are so many things we’ve harmonised in the past. I try to present it in ways that are familiar to fans, and ways that aren’t as familiar. There are tons of ways to go about it. Find the harmony you like and stick with it!”

Idle Hands was the first single. Kirk Hammett referred to Phil Demmel’s lead as the best solo he’s heard this year – high praise, indeed!

“Anytime Kirk’s got something to say, you should listen. He doesn’t have praise for a lot of things – that’s not to say he doesn’t like them, he just doesn’t freak out about them. He texted me after Idle Hands came out and was raving about the leads. Phil is very well-rehearsed. He comes from a killer pedigree. I think he knew that would be the first single, so he attacked it in a way that would stand out.”

It’s an interesting balance – you’ve described your sound to us as archaic and atonal, while Phil has more melodic influences. Together that creates a really wide sonic picture…

“I remember him sending back lead ideas saying, ‘I don’t know if this is too melodic?’ and I’d say, ‘This is your record, if this is what you are happy with – unless it makes me throw up – I don’t care!’ I wanted him to be proud.

“This band wasn’t called Kerry King originally, and even though that’s what we’re called now, I still don’t look at it like a solo project. Other people might, but whatever. Phil brought a far more melodic approach and I think we play off each other well.”

Even the slower leads, like Trophies Of The Tyrant, seem to follow their own rules. They can be hard to predict, almost like jazz!

“I’m very good at not following rules, especially as I don’t know what all the rules are! That song definitely has some wide-open notes that cascade down the neck. I was picking out notes that worked with the chords behind them.”

But do you ever find yourself listening to jazz?

“I hit a jazz bar in the city once and want to go more. I was bummed they didn’t have a guitarist that day, as that’s what I was hoping to check out. So I’ll definitely be back. So yeah, I like that stuff, I like classical. Me and my wife hit the opera six or seven times a season and take it all in.”

Two Fists has some almost classic rock-sounding moments.

“I know the part you mean – it sounds like me trying to write a KISS riff! I wanted it to sound like a song from an ’80s punk band. Musically and lyrically, I wanted to convey punk thoughts.

“Punk was a big influence on Slayer. We had the doom from Sabbath, the angst from punk, the polish of Priest and Maiden… take that, throw it into a cocktail shaker and it would spew out Slayer!

“On the song Shrapnel I actually wanted to have the wide-openness of Scorpions’ Animal Magnetism crossed with the beginning of [Slayer classic] Hell Awaits.”

Jeff Hanneman was known for being more on the punk side in Slayer while you were the card-carrying metal maniac. Together you birthed a new sound that would go on to rule the world…

“He’d been listening to metal for so long, he became tired of it. When he played punk to us, I didn’t understand it. After years, it started to click. I realised it was cool in a different way. Things didn’t have to be polished to sound angry and raunchy. As time wore on, I became more of a punk guy than Jeff! It helped lay the groundwork for what we’d go on to become.”

You learned on your dad’s Gibson ES-175. It’s hard to picture you with a jazz box like that!

“I’d forgotten about that! It was a fat Ted Nugent guitar. It was a big guitar for me as a teenager, but looking back now after playing guitar for so many years, it was fun. My dad also had a couple of ES-335s. There was a Tobacco Sunburst one that was nice.

“The ES-175 was in a Blonde finish. It had the f-holes and worked nicely as an acoustic when not plugged in. It was a quality instrument to learn on. Without my dad, who knows what kind of tree trunk I would’ve had.”

Given the amount of gain you use, there’s no chance of you stepping on stage with one of those…

“And that picture would break the internet!”

You also played a Strat in those formative years…

“Yeah, my dad had a 1963 L-Series Strat, which apparently is a big deal. I’m not a big collector, but from what I understand that would be an expensive guitar these days. I played that enough for me realise I was definitely not a single-coil guy. I immediately knew I preferred humbuckers. Even though I love Ritchie Blackmore, single-coils are not for me.

“After that is when I got introduced to the B.C. Rich Mockingbird. Jeff had the B.C. Rich Bich, though he played a black Les Paul on the debut.”

What are the most valuable instruments we’d find in your house, then?

“I’ve still got the Mockingbird in my house. I don’t know if I’ll ever part ways with it, but I do find myself looking at my gear wondering, ‘Why do I have all this stuff?’ Maybe it would be good to make these things available for proper collectors.

“I’ve still got my first V from B.C. Rich and the one-of-a-kind doubleneck V that I used on Spill The Blood [from 1988’s South Of Heaven]. I keep about 10 guitars at home, another 25 in storage and then another 20 in the band storage. And there are more in Hard Rock Cafes and Hotels around the world…”

So you’ve never thought about becoming a serious vintage collector like Joe Bonamassa?

“Knowing me, I’d have too many and spend too much doing it! If there was one special guitar I’d consider, maybe it would be something Ritchie Blackmore played or Judas Priest used. I’d love something like that.”

Well, no-one is expecting to see you with a Tele anytime soon.

“I’ll leave that to John 5. He plays them well!”

• From Hell I Rise is out now on Reigning Phoenix.

The old adage “never meet your heroes” usually rings true. However, for Mastodon's Bill Kelliher, meeting guitar heroes like Metallica's James Hetfield and Slayer's Kerry King were key moments in his career that pushed him to improve his guitar playing. 

“It was funny when I first met Hetfield, who's been an idol of mine. It was in Portugal or some big festival we were doing, and I shook his hand,” Kelliher says on The Rockman Power Hour podcast. “I was like, ‘Thank you for teaching me how to play guitar.’ And he was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ ‘Like, you know what I'm talking about. You paved the way for me.’”

Meeting Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo was another surreal moment for Kelliher. “When I met Kirk and Robert, they were walking around together and they saw me, and they came running over and they're like, ‘Hey, man, what's up? Can we get a picture with you?’ I was like, this is a joke. Like, I should get pictures. Yeah, you guys are Metallica. I'm just fucking Bill from Mastodon. That's awesome. It was wild.”

Rubbing shoulders with his heroes was also important for Kelliher to realize that he needed to take his instrument more seriously. One incident, in particular, served as a true wake-up call. 

“Watching Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman warm up before a show and I'm walking around drinking a beer. ‘What are you guys warming up for? Know your fucking songs,’” he recalls. 

“And then I realized there's something to this. I started practicing guitar way, way fucking more. I was like 'You're a guitar player. You're in this really big fucking band. You should be better, like you should spend your time not drinking and playing more guitar. Get better at your craft.’”

Kelliher has previously spoken about his experiences meeting Metallica and their diligent practice routine. In a 2021 interview with Guitar World, he recalled, “Metallica practiced for three hours a night before playing onstage for another two. Meanwhile, we were sitting around drinking beer and picking our noses!”

Mastodon will be heading out on a co-headline tour with Lamb of God this July. The co-headline tour celebrates the 20th anniversary of the two band's 2004 albums Leviathan and Ashes of The Wake respectively. The tour kicks off on July 19 at Grand Prairie, Texas, with Kerry King supporting on select shows. 

Kerry King is perhaps best associated with the Dean and B.C. Rich electric guitars he has brandished throughout his career. However, this wasn't always the case. He actually kickstarted his guitar journey by playing his dad's Gibson ES-175, a hollow body guitar known as the workhorse of jazz guitars.

“It was a fat Ted Nugent guitar,” King reveals in an interview with Total Guitar. “It was a big guitar for me as a teenager, but looking back now after playing guitar for so many years, it was fun.

“My dad also had a couple of ES-335s. There was a Tobacco Sunburst one that was nice. The ES-175 was in a Blonde finish. It had the f-holes and worked nicely as an acoustic when not plugged in. It was a quality instrument to learn on. Without my dad, who knows what kind of tree trunk I would’ve had.”

In addition to these Gibson ES guitars, King also used a Strat during these formative years. "My dad had a 1963 L-Series Strat, which apparently is a big deal. I’m not a big collector, but from what I understand that would be an expensive guitar these days. I played that enough for me realise I was definitely not a single-coil guy. I immediately knew I preferred humbuckers."

His upcoming album takes a page out of his jazz guitar roots, with tracks like Trophies Of The Tyrant seemingly following their own rules in an almost jazz-like manner. “I’m very good at not following rules, especially as I don’t know what all the rules are! That song definitely has some wide-open notes that cascade down the neck. I was picking out notes that worked with the chords behind them.”

From Hell I Rise, Kerry King's newest album, drops on May 17. It comes amid Slayer's announcement of their upcoming reunion shows, just five years after the band played the last concert of what was supposed to be their farewell tour.

Elsewhere in this interview, King clarifies where he and the band stand, “We’ve been turning down gigs ever since we stopped. This one came and I thought, ‘If we’re ever going to do one, this could be cool because it’s the five-year anniversary of our final tour.’ We’re not going to record anymore.”

Slayer's Kerry King is certainly no stranger to light-speed trash metal riffing. It's undoubtedly one of the signifying features of his guitar playing. So how does the king of speed manage to play that fast?

In the latest issue of Total Guitar, King imparts his speed riffing wisdom: “It’s like anything. If you want to bench press 200lbs, you start at 80. If you don’t like practicing, get a song that’s in the BPM range of where you need to start off, play along and then bump it in increments of 10 until you get to there. You should concentrate on performing with articulation at whatever speed it is – full notes played clean.”

King also talks about the elements he looks out for when he's writing a new riff: “One thing that sticks out is my choice of chords and rhythmic patterns. I attribute a lot of that to Judas Priest, because they would write riffs that went from A to F and C, with icing here and there. And I think my go-to is more like E to F and G, or maybe G#. 

“That idea turns up in most of my riffs. I don’t try to change that, it’s just where I end up. I probably base too many songs on that kind of progression, but most people probably don’t notice!”

Kerry King is set to release his debut solo album, From Hell I Rise, on May 17. Alongside King, the album features Death Angel's Mark Osegueda on vocals, Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph, Hellyeah bassist Kyle Sanders, and ex-Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel. 

“There are no shocks on this album,” reveals King. “I like bands to stay true to the sound that works. I’m happy that AC/DC have been making the same record for 50 years. That’s why I like them!”

For more Kerry King, plus new interviews with Slash and St.Vincent, pick up issue 384 of Total Guitar at Magazines Direct.

Oh, hey. Nice of you to join us. You might remember we used to run a weekly track roundup around these parts – Essential Guitar Tracks, as it was known. Well, say your goodbyes, for EGT is no more.

Now dry those tears – preferably from the heat of some pre-warmed 6L6 tubes – and say hello to Guitar World Editors’ Picks, our brand-spanking-new, monthly guide to the songs our editors are digging very much indeed, yessir.

We’ll have a Spotify playlist for you to tuck into, and we’ll round up our favorites of the month in an article just like this – where our editors will wax lyrical on the playing, tones, and songwriting that had their six-string senses a-tingling.

Make sense? It will do. Anyway, without further ado, let’s hand things over to our EIC MAB to get things started…

Michael Astley-Brown – Editor-in-Chief

Full disclosure: I went to NAMM, took a vacation, and I’ve been catching up on music (and emails… mostly emails) up until roughly 10:37 a.m. this morning. So forgive me if I allow one or two late-January releases into my picks of the musical litter.

My month has mostly been dominated by Radiohead offshoot The Smile’s sophomore effort. It’s the sound of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood finally shaking off the chains of expectation surrounding their best-known gig, and it’s all the better for it. Read the Room is an absolute jam, Greenwood’s angular riff snaking around your consciousness, before the trio go full Sonic Youth. Yes. Yes, please.

Then there’s the small matter of a new Pearl Jam single. Dark Matter fizzes with the energy emblematic of producer Andrew Watt’s latest efforts with the Rolling Stones and Iggy Pop. And dang, it’s good to hear Mike McCready dial up the fuzz for that pull-off-heavy solo. 

In fact, I’ve been struck by the quality of latter-day releases across the board: Kerry King’s long-awaited solo debut is pure kinetic freneticism, the returning Kittie sound as vital as ever; and Judas Priest have no right delivering riffs this lithe so many decades into their career.

My guitar highlight of the month, however, comes from nu metal survivors Alien Ant Farm, of all bands. I’ve long maintained the band’s first two records are criminally underrated, just for the tonal and technical diversity of guitarist Terry Corso alone.

Comeback single So Cold harks back to that era with its incisive riffs and heavily modulated extended chords, but it’s the triumphant ’80s-vibed solo – whammy wiggles! taps! legato! – that steals the song, and presents a kind of revisionist history where guitar solos were cool after all in the early noughties.

Jackson Maxwell – Associate Editor 

First off, as a Radiohead fanboy for life, I’m with Mike – The Smile’s Wall of Eyes has some of the most agile, inscrutable riffs in Jonny Greenwood’s already lofty catalog, giving the album some of that Radiohead ‘x-factor’ we’ve been so sorely missing. Ok, fanboying over.

Though it comes from a genre that, admittedly, isn’t my usual bag, I found it impossible not to be awed by Felix Martin’s dizzying neoclassical tapping clinic, Thundertap. Having witnessed his double-neck wizardry in person at NAMM last year, Thundertap – which also features double-neck bass tapping, to boot – feels like the culmination of Martin’s development as a player and composer to date. 

On a very different note, Khruangbin keep going from strength to strength, as evidenced by their new tune, May Ninth. A perfect balm for a hard day, this easy-strolling song finds Mark Speer getting incredible melodic miles-per-gallon. Kept surprisingly low in the mix, his dreamy, movie score-like arpeggios and clipped single-note statements are colorful and integral to the song’s charm, but never once overshadow the band’s always air-tight rhythm section. 

What I’m most excited about as February comes to a close, though, is the return of Mdou Moctar, the Nigerien guitarist who took the world by storm with his breakthrough 2021 album, Afrique Victime – a thrilling record that mixed traditional assouf guitar music from West Africa with Western influences, particularly the flash and fire of Jimi Hendrix. 

Funeral for Justice – the lead single and title track from Moctar’s forthcoming album – takes things to another level, turning up the distortion and volume and adding a touch of meat-and-potatoes riffing, especially in the intro. Moctar’s Strat fingerpicking, though, remains the star attraction, and is as driving and hypnotic as ever. 

Matt Owen – Staff Writer

NAMM festivities aside, it’s been a very busy start to the year indeed – and as far as new music goes, I personally have been eating especially well in February. 

For starters, Julian Lage is one person who endlessly inspires me to continue exploring new ways of navigating the fretboard. The jazz extraordinaire’s latest slew of releases – culminating in Nothing Happens Here – have put a firm focus on his acoustic prowess, and in turn I have found myself picking up my own Fender Paramount over the past few weeks as I look to learn from Lage’s limitless creativity. 

To satiate my hunger for blues, soul and some more electric-leaning soundscapes, St. Vincent, Gary Clark Jr., and Marcus King have been on hand to deliver the goods, providing masterclasses in dynamics, feel, and phrasing with Broken Man, Along Together (feat. Keyon Harrold), and Mood Swings, respectively.

It’s also been a big month for indie rock. Social media sensation-turned-recording phenomenon Towa Bird put in an early claim for my highlight of the month with B.I.L.L.S – yet another home run from the D’Angelico-toting titan.

But it was the return of Catfish and the Bottlemen – one of the finest indie guitar acts of its type – for which I will be remembering February. The band, which unofficially disbanded a few years ago after some personnel departures, has been AWOL for the past few years, but returned this month with Showtime – their first new music in five years.

Who’s in the band now? Well, frontman Van McCann (the beating heart of the group) is back, but beyond that we’re not quite sure. What we are sure of, though, is that Catfish are here for round two, and – if the new track’s Springstreenian leanings are anything to go by – the album that follows their revival looks poised to be their best yet.

Matt Parker – Staff Writer

May I be the first second to say that the big news for me this month is the return of Mdou Moctar? 

God knows how many words I have read (and, yes, written) about the guitar heroes of yore – wielding blazing guitars in the face of (sometimes violent) authoritarianism and inspiring a counter-cultural movement that shredded the social fabric of the era. 

Well, Moctar does all of that – and, more importantly, he’s doing it right now. So if, like me, you’ve spent time staring at pictures of Hendrix and wondering what it’s like to see a living, breathing guitar hero who plays with wild abandon in the service of something much bigger – look to Niger and Moctar. 

Elsewhere, I’m currently cycling between the crushing brutality of Knocked Loose’s newbie Blinding Faith and Hermanos Gutiérrez’ sun-kissed psychedelic beauty Sonido Cósmico (which dropped a few weeks ago), both of which offer first tasters of forthcoming albums. 

The former is blowing out the winter cobwebs with some vicious near-percussive hardcore riffing and I love those blink-and-you-miss-them shreddy central licks. Points are also gained for the use of a wall of amps, matching guitar finishes and getting an Ibanez Iceman in the video. 

Hermanos Gutiérrez, meanwhile, are helping to reset the blood pressure after all of the above overexertions. I’m a massive fan of that country-inspired muted clean tic-tac tone and Sonido Cósmico is absolutely laced with it, albeit in the dreamy context of a sort of cosmic spaghetti western. It’s a stunning ride.

NAMM 2023: Dean USA’s Custom Shop has been busy in the metal mines crafting a new signature guitar for thrash legend Kerry King. The Overlord is the brand’s second collaboration with the Slayer guitarist and features a wealth of high-end components and custom appointments. 

The electric guitar build is based around a viciously carved mahogany body and maple top, complete with set-thru neck of three-piece maple. It has a 24 3/4” scale-length, C-shaped neck profile that has been developed to King’s personal specifications.

On it you’ll find an ebony fingerboard, 24 jumbo frets and LED fret markers, which offer a little light in the darkness. The fretboard is also inlaid with custom pearl inlays, featuring the Slayer crucifix logo.

The custom features don’t end with the carves and decoration, though. The electronics on the Overlord are also pretty unique, with an idiosyncratic pairing of a Sustainiac neck pickup and, at the bridge, an EMG 81, paired with a PA2 preamp booster.

Many guitarists will be familiar with concept of the Sustainiac – a pickup system that uses a toggle switch to kick in near-infinite sustain. However, the PA2 Booster is less well known. An EMG invention, the PA2 adds a tiny preamp to the circuit (concealed underneath a toggleswitch) that adds up to 20dB of boost to the signal. 

This means the Overlord features no fewer than four toggle switches – two for the Sustainiac, one for the PA2 and the fourth being a relatively simple three-position pickup selector. These are augmented by single volume and tone pots.

On the hardware front, King has spec’d his own Kahler KFK Tremolo system, which makes sense given it’s his signature model (yes, people have signature tremolos nowadays), and there are Grover 18:1 ratio locking tuners. It even comes loaded with King’s signature Dunlop string set.

The price for all this high-end hijink-ery is $6,499 and that includes a hardcase, which is probably a good thing, because those spikes would be murder on your gigbag.

For more information on the USA Custom Shop Kerry King Signature Overlord, head to Dean.

In a sprawling new interview with Metal Hammer, Slayer guitarist Kerry King dives deep on his illustrious career, touching on his early days in the California thrash metal scene, and even the time he contributed a guitar solo to a song by Canadian punk rock vets Sum 41.

In the conversation, King piles praise upon Dave Mustaine, frontman of another quarter of the Big Four, Megadeth, calling him a “fucking great guitar player”.

Recalling Mustaine’s time with Metallica in the early ‘80s, King says: “They were great at that point. They were ahead of us by at least 16 months to a year. They were doing originals and we were still doing covers. 

“I think we opened for Metallica with Mustaine, I can’t recall, but I know me and Dave [Lombardo, Slayer drummer] definitely saw them in a club and we were blown away by Mustaine.”

Now, Mustaine has offered a wholesome response to King’s comments on social media. “It’s not every day one of the most fearsome guitarists in the world gives you a compliment like this,” he says. “Thank you Kerry, I look forward to hearing your new stuff and we should definitely go out together.”

It’s pleasant to see the pair of metal guitar legends getting along once again. For a time, the duo had an acrimonious relationship following their 1991 Clash of the Titans co-headline tour, primarily over who came up with the idea for the trek.

In a 2005 interview with Metal Edge magazine, King responded to negative comments Mustaine made in the press about him, saying: “Somebody asked me recently, ‘What do you have to say about Mustaine ragging on you?’ You know, it don’t matter, because if you let Mustaine talk long enough, he’ll bury himself.

“It has nothing to do with me – ask anybody in the biz about Dave Mustaine. If they have an opinion, he’s a cocksucker. I take it for what it is. I have no vendetta against him.”

Things between the pair have sweetened over the years, though. In the August 2022 issue of Guitar World, Mustaine detailed how he’d like the Big Four to work together again someday.

“I sometimes think how much better things would have been if we would’ve all tried a little bit more within The Big Four,” he said.

“The four of us still have so much authority and power and we could do so many great things. It would be great if we could get together and have a meeting of the minds as these four figureheads – the metal Mount Rushmore – and think of something special we could do to really benefit young bands and musicians and artists.”

Read the full Kerry King interview in the new issue of Metal Hammer, available via Magazines Direct.

Responsible for some of the most vicious guitar riffs ever conceived, you’d be forgiven for thinking Kerry King exclusively channels his six-string prowess into the metal genre.

You might be surprised, then, to find out that the hulking Slayer man once contributed a solo to a song by Ontario, Canada punk rockers, Sum 41. That song was the upbeat, powerchord-driven What We’re All About, the group’s 2002 single for the soundtrack of Spider-Man, released in the same year.

As King explains in a new interview with Metal Hammer, he had turned down the opportunity to play electric guitar on the track “10 times”, but ultimately agreed to do it at the request of his record label at the time.

“A friend of mine at the label came to me at an angle that I just couldn’t argue with,” the guitarist recalls. “He was like, ‘Well, you know you played on the Beastie Boys record [1987’s No Sleep Till Brooklyn].’ Fuck! Haha, he’s got a point! That was my epiphany. That was before we put ourselves back on the map – those dudes were fun and they were popping.

“So, yeah, I played on the Beastie Boys record and I played on the Sum 41 record. I mean, those weren’t choices for me, those were just career choices I made. Some people may agree with them and some people may not.”

Elsewhere in the interview, King recalls his anger when the idea to call Slayer quits first surfaced.

“It was premature,” he says. “The reason I say ‘premature’ is because my heroes from my childhood are still playing! I can still play, I still want to play, but that livelihood got taken away from me. But anyway, on to the next chapter, I guess. 

“We were on top of the world, it’s a good way to go out. So, bravo for that. But do I miss playing? Yeah, absolutely.”

He adds that “every one of those shows” on Slayer’s farewell tour was a “bummer”.

“We were going to all these places and all these cities where we have all this history. We probably have as much history in London as we do LA… well, not LA, but you know what I mean. It’s a bummer to think, ‘I’m not gonna see my friends there again.’

“You’d get to that country and know you were going to see these people, and you’d see them yearly. I haven’t seen them now in three years! That sucks! And the fans, too. Slayer means a lot to our fans, and they mean a lot to us. I know I will see these people again, but no Slayer leaves a big hole for a lot of people.”

Read the full interview with Kerry King in the new issue of Metal Hammer.

Kerry King has told Metal Hammer that he won’t be “dragging my feet much longer” when it comes to his new post-Slayer project, adding that fans of the now-defunct thrash metal juggernaut won’t be disappointed with his new material.

The guitarist revealed back in 2020 that he has “more than two records’ worth of new music” for the yet-to-be-named project.

“You know me, so you know what it’s going to sound like,” King says. “I played this new song for a buddy, and I said to him, ‘If there’s anything I’ve written in the last few years that sounds like Slayer, it’s this.’ And he said, ‘That sounds like you could have pulled it off of any Slayer record.’ I actually made that riff up backstage at a Slayer show. We were walking to the stage and I got my phone out and recorded it so I wouldn’t forget it.”

He continues: “That actually ended up being one of the last songs that I finished for the sessions, so when that hits the air, or stores, or Apple, or wherever it is that people buy music from these days, you can all play the guessing game discussion about which one it is.”

The rest of the personnel for King’s new project remains a mystery, expect for the drummer, who the guitarist now reveals to be former Slayer sticksman Paul Bostaph.

“We just started rehearsing and the only person I can give away is Paul because I took him from Slayer and we work very well together,” King explains. “We didn’t start rehearsing until the end of March, and that was the first time since that last Slayer show at the end of 2019 that me and Paul finally got into a room together.”

King goes on to say how he’s been waiting for the pandemic to “run its course” before thinking about touring with the new outfit, and now that – knock on wood – live music is back, he’s eyeing up “much smaller” venues than he was paying toward the tail end of Slayer’s career.

“Had it been up to me then I’d have been out in 2020,” he continues. “But that thing called the pandemic fucked everything up for everyone. You know, I waited on that, because it had to run its course. I didn’t want to be the guinea pig; I didn’t want to learn how to tour again. I already did my dues; I don’t want to have to prove myself again.

“Have I been dragging my feet? Yeah, because I wanted this [pandemic] shit to get sorted. I won’t be dragging my feet much longer.”

Slayer played their final show in November 2019 at the Forum in LA. A day later, King’s wife Ayesha said that there was “not a chance in hell” that the band would reunite for more live appearances in the future. But last year, Kerry King said that he feels the thrash metallers “quit too early”.

King hinted at post-Slayer music back in a March 2020 interview with Guitar World, shortly after the announcement that he’d signed with Dean Guitars. “Let’s just say Dean didn’t sign me for nothing!” he said, before waxing lyrical on his departure from B.C. Rich.

Kerry King has revealed that he thinks Slayer’s 2019 farewell was premature, saying that he feels they “quit too early”.

The guitarist for the thrash icons shared his thoughts as part of a video montage celebrating Machine Head’s 30th anniversary.

“So, I hear congratulations are in order for my friends in Machine Head,” says King. "Apparently, it's 30 years, which is quite an achievement. Not a lot of bands get there. We did… and then we quit too early. Fuck us. Fuck me. I hate fucking not playing!

“But that’s besides the point. This is a Machine Head celebration. I’m not sure Rob knows this, I think Rob [Flynn] knows this, but if he don’t… The only band I ever demanded to open for Slayer was Machine Head. 1994, Burn My Eyes... Greatest thing I ever did. Cheers to my friends, you guys deserve it.”

Slayer split following their farewell tour in 2019 but King has not left his guitar hanging on the wall during the past few years. 

As he told his endorsers Dean Guitars last year, “I’ve been very lucky with riffs in 2020,” said King in a video interview. “I’ve got more than two records’ worth of music, but to be able to go through that and pick the best 11 or 12? That first record should be smoking.”

We’re still not yet sure just what form that material is going to appear in, but we do know former bandmate Paul Bostaph is involved and has heard much of the material. 

“Kerry's on fire right now,” Bostaph told Riff Crew back in August. “So, all I can say is if you like heavy music and you like Slayer, you'll like this. Is it gonna be Slayer? It's not gonna be Slayer – Slayer is done; they retired…”

Children of Bodom electric guitar player and singer Alexi Laiho passed away unexpectedly at the age of 41 in December, 2020, and since then we’ve seen tributes roll in from around the rock and metal worlds, including from guitarists like Steve Vai and Nita Strauss.

Now Slayer axman Kerry King has offered his thoughts on Laiho, telling Metal Hammer, “Are You Dead Yet? was probably my favorite album by them. Even back then I was like, ‘This is the next dude, this is the next guitar hero.’ He’s one of those effortless guys that you watch and you’re like, ‘Fuck! I’ve been working all day and I can’t do that shit?’ ”

King also recalled touring with Children of Bodom, and how the band was able to handle Slayer’s notoriously devoted fanbase.

“They went down okay; I’ve seen people go out there and just fail miserably,” he said. 

“Their setlist was on the heavier side, which is a smart thing to do when you’re opening for us. I was up there almost every night watching them. They’re fun to watch play and Alexi was a guitar god.”

The new issue of Metal Hammer, which serves as a tribute to Laiho, is available for purchase from Magazines Direct.

NAMM 2021 isn't taking place in the physical realm this year, but you'll find all the hottest January gear launches in our guide to the biggest guitar, amp and pedal releases of 2021 so far.

Back in April, Dean guitars teased a more affordable version of its USA Kerry King V Limited Edition model, which came with a whopping $8,666 price tag.

Now that new electric guitar, the Dean Kerry King Signature V, is here. Like its older, more expensive brother, the V model boasts a mahogany body and maple top, but in place of neck-through construction the new KK sports a three-piece maple set neck.

There’s also an EMG 85 pickup at the neck in place of a Sustainiac, while the bridge pickup remains an EMG 81 with a PA2 Preamp Booster. The guitar also swaps in a Kahler Hybrid system in place of a Kahler KFK Kerry King signature tremolo.

Other features on the Kerry King Signature V include an ebony fretboard with a flat 12″ radius, 24 jumbo frets and custom “crossed nail” inlays, a 24.75″ scale length and a Black Satin finish (sorry – no Gloss Red Cross graphic this time around).

It’s still, of course, a more-than-impressive metal beast of a guitar, and it now comes with a much-less aggressive price tag: just $1,399.

For more information, head to Dean Guitars.

Slayer may have parted ways at the end of 2019, but Kerry King has certainly been busy during the 2020 lockdown, revealing he already has enough material for two albums.

King shared the news in a new interview with Dean Guitars, while discussing his approach to riff-writing.

“I’ve been very lucky with riffs in 2020 – maybe because I can't go anywhere,” King says. “But riffs have not been a problem. And looking forward, what that means for me is I’m going to be able to pick the best stuff – and it's good stuff.

“I’ve got more than two records’ worth of music, but to be able to go through that and pick the best 11 or 12? That first record should be smoking.”

That said, King hasn’t quite determined who will be performing those songs with him, so it’s unclear at this stage whether this will be a solo project or an entirely new band.

“I’m the only lyricist, because I’m the only one writing music,” he says. “I’m not positive who everybody is that's going to be playing with me. I’ve got to pick those songs and start trying to put lyrics on them to move the process forward.”

The Slayer icon was also quizzed on how he comes up with his trademark solos – and his response was typically good-humored.

“Throughout my career, unfortunately, being not only a songwriter but a lyricist too, by the time I get to leads – I don’t want to say an afterthought, because it’s never an afterthought, but it’s at the end of the process.

“I’ve got to make sure the lyrics are up to speed with the rest of the music, so you’ve got an entirely great product. Then is usually when I get to have time to make up or work on leads.

“You know, I’ve had some historically good ones, and I’ve had some historically shitty ones! [laughs] But sometimes it’s just a matter of time, and time is not on my side in that way.”

The longtime B.C. Rich endorsee made the surprise announcement that he was switching to Dean Guitars in October last year.

In an interview with Guitar World about his collaboration with Dean, King teased a new post-Slayer project, stating, “Dean didn’t sign me for nothing!”

A new DVD release, Flying V, will tell the story of the iconic electric guitar model through interviews with a slew of metal artists who have helped to make the V famous, including Metallica’s James Hetfield, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, Slayer’s Kerry King and Michael Schenker.

Other players on board include former Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing, current Priest men Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap, Scorpions’ Matthias Jabs, Mercyful Fate’s Michael Denner and Hank Sherman and Accept’s Wolf Hoffmann, as well as Diamond Head’s Brian Tatler, King Diamond’s Andy La Rocque, Wishbone Ash’s Andy Powell and Arch Enemy’s Michael Amott. 

Part of the “Inside Metal’ series, the 67-minute doc was directed by Peter Hansen and produced by Hansen and Michael Denner, and “chronicles the origin of the most unique guitar on earth and its incredible influence on the history of rock and roll and heavy metal.”

You can check out the trailer above, and head to MVD Shop to pick up a copy.

Back in November we introduced you to Dean’s first electric guitar collaboration with Kerry King, the USA Kerry King V Limited Edition.

Now Dean has released a new Pat’s Picks video detailing the guitar’s specs, as well as offering a demo of the V in action, including the tones available via its EMG 81 and Sustainiac pickups.

And while the Limited Edition V is priced at a rather hefty $8,666, Dean Guitars CEO Evan Rubinson recently told Stay Metal Ray that the company is planning a range of King models at lower price points.

"My idea is good, better and best," Rubinson said. “So we have the USA, of course, it's kind of on its own. We have the limited run that we're starting with, but then we're also going to have regular-production USA guitars.

“But the good, better and best will all be imports. The best will be about probably a $1,399 guitar, and that will have Kerry King's signature Kahler on it. It'll have the Sustainiac. It'll have exactly, almost an identical replica of what he plays. it'll just be an import model. And that's going to be the highest end that we make that's going to come from overseas."

He continued, “Then we're going to do kind of a middle tier, probably around $699 or so, and that will still come with a Sustainiac. It will come with a Kahler, but not a Kerry King signature, and it'll have a few downgrades, so to speak. And then we're also going to do probably a $399 or a $499 that may be a fixed bridge Kahler instead of a tremolo system. And that, of course, is going to cater to the intro guys and maybe people that are saving up for that $1,399."

Rubinson also hinted at a possible mega-metal Dean guitar package featuring King, Dave Mustaine and Dimebag Darrell.

“To have Dave Mustaine, Dimebag, as well as Kerry King under one roof, it's incredible," Rubinson said. "And hopefully we're going to do something really cool with a three-guitar package, one with each artist that is super iconic, and it'll be a limited series. 

"This is in the works right now, no guarantees, but something where we'd have one exclusive guitar for each of our iconic artists and we'd sell it as a package as kind of an exclusive thing - hand-signed, artist appearances and the whole deal."

For more info on the USA Kerry King V Limited Edition, head to Dean Guitars.

After a nearly 40-year reign as thrash metal’s most uncompromising band, Slayer have called it quits. The game-changing Los Angeles crew concluded their Final Campaign farewell tour November 30, 2019, at the Forum in Inglewood, California - a fiery, furious show with blistering versions of fan favorites and genre classics like Angel of Death, South of Heaven, Raining Blood and more.

While the Big 4 road dogs may have reached the end of their live actions (management has clarified that while Slayer is finished touring, they haven’t officially broken up), founding guitarist Kerry King isn’t quite ready to hang up his axe. In fact, he recently signed on with Dean Guitars and unveiled the first fruits of their partnership: the USA Kerry King V Limited Edition signature guitar.

The striking six-string, prototypes of which King sported during the last tour leg, boasts a custom V-shaped mahogany body, EMG and Sustainiac pickups, Kahler KFK bridge, three-piece maple neck, 24 jumbo-fret ebony fingerboard, pearl, stone and ebony inverted-cross inlays, fiber optic LED side dots, Black Satin with Gloss Red Cross finish and more.

Only 50 of the USA Kerry King V models are being made, and, as such, each arrives with the appropriately hefty price tag of $8,666 - the number of the beast, plus.

“We really went out of our way to make something unique - and not so crazy that it would turn people off. I, for one, am very proud of it,” explains King, who, along with late founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman, was the architect behind the sinister themes, vicious rhythms and hell-raising, squealing solos that always defined Slayer’s unparalleled attack.

Throughout the final world tour, King and his bandmates - founding bassist/ singer Tom Araya, guitarist Gary Holt and drummer Paul Bostaph - were uncharacteristically silent offstage. They eschewed the typical press rounds and public goodbyes and were tight-lipped about what new musical projects might be on the horizon. 

But the week before King hit the Forum for Slayer’s finale, the guitarist agreed to open up to Guitar World about the details behind his new Dean - including why the signature six-string is a good sign that we’ll be hearing some new solo music from King in the not-too-distant future.

Why was Dean the right company to partner with for your new signature guitar?

"Well, it’s no secret that I’ve always liked pointy guitars. I’ve been friends with the Dean people for at least 15 years, so it was really a no-brainer. And Dean has given me the opportunity to create things no one has seen before."

Dimebag was obviously a Dean guy for years, and you two were tight. Did you ever test out any of his guitars back in the day?

"I have one of the Razorback Vs numbered to 333, so yes!"

You were with B.C. Rich for a lot of years, a partnership that resulted in a bunch of iconic signature guitars. What were your requirements when you first sat down with Dean to brainstorm a brand-new guitar? From first glance the black finish is a big departure from some of your previous tribal-inspired designs.

"Well, nothing against the tribal paint - that’s been my thing for 20 years. But it was more about making something fresh - first new company in 20 years, gotta have fresh ideas.

"So I had them make a couple guitars made from different woods. It was all about having to make sure what was right for Kerry now, not 20 years ago. And that also meant new paint ideas."

Dean is touting the new USA Kerry King V Limited Edition model as having a “never before seen guitar design.” Can you share some details about the inspiration behind the new V guitar body and headstock shape?

"For me, Dean has its own iconic headstock shape. It was just a little too big for my taste. So I suggested that if we were going to join forces, how about if we made a headstock more my style? And this is what we came up with. 

"Then we basically had the body mimic the headstock. Funny story. The first body they cut for me off a drawing I sent them was way too big. We had to downsize it twice! Dean guitars for giants!"

Did you start with one of their existing guitars as a template and then tweak the design? Did you test a lot of different prototypes before you landed on something you liked?

"Actually, the only thing I wanted the same or similar was my neck dimensions, of course. The only other parameter I was focused on was doing something with a V. In the beginning that’s all, because that’s what I play 90 percent of the time. And I certainly wasn’t going to ask Dean to do anything resembling a [B.C. Rich] Warlock! 

"We really started nailing the design down when I was able to go to the Dean factory on a day off in Tampa on whatever tour I was on at the time. We did a lot of streamlining in those 36 hours."

You mentioned neck dimensions. The neck shape is listed as “Kerry King Spec C.” Is it closer to an oval C shape or more of a modern, shallower flat oval shape?

"I really don’t know! It’s my fuckin’ shape!"

The custom fretboard inlays are rad. What inspired that design?

"To tell you the truth, I think it was my friend Josh [Maloney] at Dean. Early on he was shooting me ideas that I believe he was predominantly responsible for. It’s two crossed stakes with an upside-down cross in the middle of them. [He] definitely stepped it up for this one."

You’ve been playing a prototype of the Dean during this last leg of the final tour. How’s it holding up? Has the live trial by fire brought to light any aspects of the guitar that needed to be tweaked?

"I play the Dean guitars for 12 of the 20 songs we play live. And, I know, everyone talks great things about new products, but I also know that my reputation is being a straight shooter. I am super pleased with the new guitars. The only thing I’ve changed from the first two Deans is I’ve finally come up with graphics."

Dean will be kicking off the line with a limited run of 50 US-made, signed models. Are there talks yet of a larger factory run?

"I’m sure there will be a larger factory run. I’ve been so busy with the final [tour] that we haven’t really discussed it, unfortunately."

Speaking of the final Slayer tour, now that you’re at the end of the run, fans are anxious to learn what you’ll be up to next. You’ve been clear in the past that you’re not retiring. Is it safe to say fans can expect to hear some new music from Kerry King and the new signature Dean guitar in the future?

"Let’s just say… Dean didn’t sign me for nothing!"

Softube and Marshall have partnered up for two new native guitar amp plug-ins – the Marshall Plexi Super Lead 1959 and a replica of the Beast, Slayer guitarist Kerry King’s Marshall 2203KK.  

The Marshall Plexi Super Lead 1959 is modeled on a pristine 1967 example taken from Marshall’s museum. It’s combined with an era-appropriate 1960BHW 4x12 cab recorded by AC/DC engineer Tony Platt.

Other features include mic selections and placements by Platt, captured in London’s Kore Studios; more than 50 Platt-designed presets; three microphone combination setups (FET, valve, and dynamic); three separate mics per setting (two close and one room); and a Channel Strip that includes pans, volume faders and solo for each mic, plus a two band Main presets Out EQ.

The Beast, meanwhile is an exact recreation of Kerry King’s model, down to the KT88 power tubes and hand-wired circuit. Softube further replicated the amp’s tone by going in the studio and on the road with King to capture cabinet responses and microphone combinations for both live and recording situations.

Features include two Marshall Mode Four cabinets recorded in two studio setups and one live stage setup; studio setups Studio and Custom recorded by producer Terry Date in L.A.’s Henson Studios; more than 25 King-inspired presets; and three different cabinet recording options (studio, live and custom).

For more information on both plugins, head to Softube.

Last week we unveiled the first fruits of Dean’s new collaboration with Slayer’s Kerry King, the very pointy (and, at $8,666, quite pricey) USA Kerry King V Limited Edition electric guitar.

Now, we’re happy to report on the guitar’s first user and, not surprisingly, it’s Kerry King himself, who wielded the new V onstage at Slayer’s headlining show at New York’s Madison Square Garden on November 9.

Below, check out fan-filmed footage from YouTuber Jim Powers of King putting his new Dean through its paces on War Ensemble, Stain of Mind, Disciple and When the Stillness Comes. And perhaps he’s still getting used to the guitar, as he clearly struggles more than a bit with the intro to that last song - although he laughs off any mistakes.

As we previously reported, the new model features a 'Kerry King V'-shaped mahogany body with a beveled maple top, Kerry King spec C-shape three-piece maple neck and a 24 jumbo-fret ebony fingerboard with pearl, stone and ebony Kerry King custom inlays and fiber optic LED side dots.

There’s also a Kahler KFK signature bridge, Floyd Rose R2 nut and Grover tuners, and pickups are a Sustainiac at the neck and an EMG 81 with PA2 Preamp Booster at the bridge. 

For more information on the USA Kerry King V Limited Edition, head to Dean Guitars.

Dean recently announced the addition of Kerry King to its artist roster, and now the company has unveiled its first electric guitar collaboration with the Slayer guitarist, the USA Kerry King V Limited Edition.

Dean is only making 50 models of the new V, and getting your hands on one will cost you $8,666 to be exact.

As for what you get for that (somewhat) evil-sounding price?

For starters, there’s a 'Kerry King V'-shaped mahogany body with a beveled maple top, Kerry King spec C-shape three-piece maple neck and a 24 jumbo-fret ebony fingerboard with pearl, stone and ebony Kerry King custom inlays and fiber optic LED side dots.

There’s also a Kahler KFK signature bridge, Floyd Rose R2 nut and Grover tuners.

Pickups are a Sustainiac at the neck and an EMG 81 with PA2 Preamp Booster at the bridge.

Finally, the rather Flying V-shaped body is finished in a Black Satin with Gloss Red Cross design, with matching headstock.

For more information on the USA Kerry King V Limited Edition - or, if you happen to have nine grand laying around to purchase one - head to Dean Guitars.

Dean Guitars has announced that Slayer's Kerry King has come onboard the company’s artist roster, and that a new, never-before-seen signature electric guitar design is in the works.

King, who until recently was a signature artist with B.C. Rich, said of the new partnership, “I'm super-stoked to be part of the Dean Guitars family. This has been an insane[ly] long time coming! 

"Together we're going to create some amazing guitars that Dean, Slayer and Kerry King fans will be as excited as I am to play. It's gonna be a wild ride for years to come!"

Dean will kick off the Kerry King line with a limited run of 50 handcrafted USA models signed by the Slayer guitarist. 

Additional product information outlining King's Signature Dean Guitars USA and import models will be revealed over the coming months.

In the meantime, keep your eye on Dean Guitars for updates. Hell awaits...

Having already announced the first and second North American legs of their farewell tour, Slayer have announced the details of the tour's swing through Europe.

Just as they will be on the tour's North American legs, Slayer will be joined by Lamb of God and Anthrax for their trek through Europe. The European shows will be opened by Obituary. You can check out the band's full European itinerary below.

"If you are lucky enough to be invited to play even just once with living legends like Slayer, it's an incredible honor," Randy Blythe—the lead singer of Lamb of God—said in a press release. "Slayer gave Lamb Of God our very first two overseas shows. Slayer have subsequently taken us on several full-length tours, both at home and abroad. The guys in Slayer and their crew have also always been very, very cool to our band."

"It is irrefutable that Slayer helped create the genre of aggressive metal, and all modern bands of that ilk owe them a huge debt—I know we do," he continued. "To be asked to be a part of their final tour—well, it just makes you stop and realize just how lucky you are."

For tickets and more info, head on over to slayer.net.

Slayer 2018 UK and European tour dates

• Nov 01: Dublin 3 Arena, Ireland
• Nov 03: London SSE Arena Wembley, UK
• Nov 05: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, UK
• Nov 07: Birmingham Arena, UK
• Nov 09: Manchester Arena, UK
• Nov 10: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, UK
• Nov 12: Glasgow SSE Hydro, UK
• Nov 14: Dortmund Westfalenhalle, Germany
• Nov 15: Zwolle Ijsselhallen, Netherlands
• Nov 17: Madrid Vistalegre, Spain
• Nov 18: Barcelona St Jordi, Spain
• Nov 20: Milan Mediolanum Forum, Italy
• Nov 21: Zurich Halle 622, Switzerland
• Nov 23: Vienna Stadthalle, Austria
• Nov 24: Freiburg Sick Arena, Germany
• Nov 26: Hamburg Barclaycard Arena, Germany
• Nov 27: Lodz Atlas Arena, Poland
• Nov 27: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
• Nov 30: Erfurt Messehalle, Germany
• Dec 02: Berlin Mercedes-Benz Arena, Germany
• Dec 03: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
• Dec 05: Stockholm Hovet, Sweden
• Dec 06: Oslo Spektrum, Norway
• Dec 08: Helsinki Ice Hall, Finland

Slayer have announced a special edition Repentless collector's vinyl box set.

The limited edition set will be available with black or red and gold-colored discs, and only 2500 of each color will be manufactured worldwide. Each set will feature six single vinyl EPs, each one measuring a unique 6.66-inches in diameter. Each will contain two songs from the Repentless album. The gold disc set will retail for $73.99, while the red and black discs version will retail for, you guessed it, $66.66.

The box set will be available June 6 via Nuclear Blast. You can preorder it here.

Slayer recently announced a lengthy farewell tour with Lamb of God, Anthrax and Testament. You can check out their full itinerary below.

Slayer North American Tour Dates:

• May 10 - Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, CA
• May 11 - FivePoint Amphitheatre, Irvine, CA
• May 13 - Papa Murphy's Park at Cal Expo, Sacramento, CA
• May 16 - PNE forum, Vancouver, BC
• May 17 - South Okanagan Events Centre, Penticton, BC
• May 19 - Big Four, Calgary, AL
• May 20 - Shaw Centre, Edmonton, AB
• May 22 - Bell MTS Place, Winnipeg, MB
• May 24 - The Armory, Minneapolis, MN
• May 25 - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL
• May 27 - Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre @ Freedom Hill, Detroit, MI
• May 29 - Budweiser Stage, Toronto, ON
• May 30 - Place Bell, Montreal, PQ
• Jun. 01 - Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT
• Jun. 02 - PNC Banks Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
• Jun. 04 - Santander Arena, Reading, PA
• Jun. 06 - Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
• Jun. 07 - Blossom Music Center, Cleveland, OH
• Jun. 09 - KeyBank Pavilion, Pittsburgh, PA
• Jun. 10 - Jiffy Lube Live, Bristow, VA
• Jun. 12 - VUHL Amphitheatre, Virginia Beach, VA
• Jun. 14 - PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, NC
• Jun. 15 - Orlando Amphitheatre, Orlando, FL
• Jun. 17 - Smart Financial Center, Houston, TX
• Jun. 19 - The Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX
• Jun. 20 - Austin 360 Amphitheatre, Austin, TX

July 26 - Gilford, NH @ Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
July 27 - Bangor, ME @ Darling's Waterfront Pavilion
July 29 - Wantagh, NY @ Jones Beach
July 31 - Scranton, PA @ The Pavilion at Montage Mountain
August 1 - Albany, NY @ Times Union Center
August 3 - Darien Lake, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
August 4 - Syracuse, NY @ Lakeview Amphitheater
August 6 - London, ON @ Budweiser Gardens
August 7 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena
August 9 - St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
August 10 - Atlanta, GA @ Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood
August 12 - Nashville, TN @ Municipal Auditorium
August 13 - Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP
August 15 - San Antonio, TX @ Freeman Coliseum
August 16 - Oklahoma City, OK @ The Zoo Amphitheatre
August 18 - Denver, CO @ Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
August 19 - Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre
August 21 - Boise, ID @ Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater,
August 23 - Portland, OR @ Sunlight Supply Amphitheater
August 26 - San Jose, CA @ SAP Center

Back in January, Slayer announced that they would be calling it a day after one final world tour. A couple days later, they announced the North American leg of the tour, a two-month jaunt through the West Coast, the Midwest, the South and the Northeast and Canada, during which the band would be joined by Lamb of God, Anthrax, Testament and Behemoth.

Now, due in part to overwhelming demand for tickets, the band has announced a second North American leg. Like the first leg, the shows on the second leg will feature Lamb of God, Anthrax and Testament, though these shows will be opened by Napalm Death.

Running from late July through late August, the shows will take the band across the United States, with a stop in London, Ontario for good measure. You can check out the full itinerary below.

"If you are lucky enough to be invited to play even just once with living legends like Slayer, it's an incredible honor," Randy Blythe—the lead singer of Lamb of God—said in a press release. "Slayer gave Lamb Of God our very first two overseas shows. Slayer have subsequently taken us on several full-length tours, both at home and abroad. The guys in Slayer and their crew have also always been very, very cool to our band."

"It is irrefutable that Slayer helped create the genre of aggressive metal, and all modern bands of that ilk owe them a huge debt—I know we do," he continued. "To be asked to be a part of their final tour—well, it just makes you stop and realize just how lucky you are."

For tickets and more info, head on over to slayer.net.

Slayer Leg 2 Tour Dates:

• July 26 - Gilford, NH @ Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
• July 27 - Bangor, ME @ Darling's Waterfront Pavilion
• July 29 - Wantagh, NY @ Jones Beach
• July 31 - Scranton, PA @ The Pavilion at Montage Mountain
• August 1 - Albany, NY @ Times Union Center
• August 3 - Darien Lake, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
• August 4 - Syracuse, NY @ Lakeview Amphitheater
• August 6 - London, ON @ Budweiser Gardens
• August 7 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena
• August 9 - St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
• August 10 - Atlanta, GA @ Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood
• August 12 - Nashville, TN @ Municipal Auditorium
• August 13 - Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP
• August 15 - San Antonio, TX @ Freeman Coliseum
• August 16 - Oklahoma City, OK @ The Zoo Amphitheatre
• August 18 - Denver, CO @ Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
• August 19 - Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre
• August 21 - Boise, ID @ Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater,
• August 23 - Portland, OR @ Sunlight Supply Amphitheater
• August 26 - San Jose, CA @ SAP Center

Last month, Slayer announced that—after 37 years as a metal institution—they were calling it a day after one final world tour. Now, as a celebration of their career, the band has announced a new video series documenting their career. You can watch the first episode above.

The premiere—dedicated to the band's formation and earliest days—contains some amusing anecdotes about how the group came together, and what the members were up to before they began dedicating themselves full-time to Slayer.

"In my teen years, my last job was working a mini-golf course or something," laughs guitarist Kerry King. "I was one of the people that does stupid shit that no one else wants to do. I was there for like a month, and the dude said 'Cut your hair' and I said 'Suck a dick' and that was about the end of it."

Bassist Tom Araya, for his part, was working at an emblem company, while original drummer Dave Lombardo earned his keep delivering pizzas.

As for the formation of the band, King said "I found [guitarist Jeff Hanneman] auditioning for another band at some warehouse. He was playing songs I know on the guitar sitting at a desk. And I was like, 'Hey, are you in a band?' And he wasn't. So I said, 'Would you like to get together and see what happens?' ... We just put it together and it stuck."

You can check out the itinerary for Slayer's farewell tour with Lamb of God, Anthrax, Testament and Behemoth below.

Slayer North American Tour Dates:

• May 10 - Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, CA
• May 11 - FivePoint Amphitheatre, Irvine, CA
• May 13 - Papa Murphy's Park at Cal Expo, Sacramento, CA
• May 16 - PNE forum, Vancouver, BC
• May 17 - South Okanagan Events Centre, Penticton, BC
• May 19 - Big Four, Calgary, AL
• May 20 - Shaw Centre, Edmonton, AB
• May 22 - Bell MTS Place, Winnipeg, MB
• May 24 - The Armory, Minneapolis, MN
• May 25 - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL
• May 27 - Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre @ Freedom Hill, Detroit, MI
• May 29 - Budweiser Stage, Toronto, ON
• May 30 - Place Bell, Montreal, PQ
• Jun. 01 - Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT
• Jun. 02 - PNC Banks Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
• Jun. 04 - Santander Arena, Reading, PA
• Jun. 06 - Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
• Jun. 07 - Blossom Music Center, Cleveland, OH
• Jun. 09 - KeyBank Pavilion, Pittsburgh, PA
• Jun. 10 - Jiffy Lube Live, Bristow, VA
• Jun. 12 - VUHL Amphitheatre, Virginia Beach, VA
• Jun. 14 - PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, NC
• Jun. 15 - Orlando Amphitheatre, Orlando, FL
• Jun. 17 - Smart Financial Center, Houston, TX
• Jun. 19 - The Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX
• Jun. 20 - Austin 360 Amphitheatre, Austin, TX

B.C. Rich recently unveiled the KKW30 Kerry King Signature guitar, and we’re happy to bring you a demo video featuring none other than King himself.

The KKW30 is a guitar more than suitable for the likes of King—a member of Slayer and a pioneering icon of speed and thrash metal—and features excellent playability, an iconic design, and an affordable price. So if you're seeking the path of the Metal Master, this is the guitar for you.

"If I had something of this quality back then, I definitely would've spent more time rehearsing than chasing chicks,” says King.

Check out the video below, and to purchase the KKW30 or find out more, click here.

This in an excerpt from the new November 2015 issue of Guitar World. For the complete interview, pick up the new issue at newsstands or the Guitar World Online Store.

It’s hard to imagine a world without Slayer. But just two years ago that looked like a real possibility when the band was suddenly ripped in half.

In February 2013, drummer Dave Lombardo left the four-piece in a bitter, public way after a contract dispute, and three months later, on May 2, guitarist Jeff Hanneman died of complications from cirrhosis of the liver.

Despite those potentially catastrophic losses, remaining members Kerry King and Tom Araya soldiered on. But even today, on the eve of the band’s new album, Repentless, you can scan any online comment thread or survey a group of metalheads about the state of the thrash-metal legends, and a few doubts remain.

How will they recover from Jeff’s death and Dave’s exit? Can Kerry King write a record by himself? After 30-plus years is Slayer finished? As far as King’s concerned, haters can hate, and doubters be damned—he has no time for it.

“I wanna put that demon to bed,” the guitarist tells us moments before we ignite a warehouse studio in downtown L.A. for our fiery photo shoot. “The diehard fans are rabidly waiting for the new record. But there are the dickhead 10 percent that expect you to fail because things are so different. But I’m not even concerned. I’m stoked. Repentless is gonna shut them right up.”

Heralded by inspired screams, merciless guitar work and maniacal drumming, Repentless marks a triumphant return for the band after the six difficult years since 2009’s World Painted Blood. That Slayer have managed to deliver such a powerful statement 11 records into their career is made even more surprising when you consider that not long ago, the jury was out—even within the Slayer camp—on whether it was possible for the band to continue. While the steadfast King has always been clear about his desire to move forward, it took Araya a while to come around.

“After 30 years, it would literally be like starting over,” the bassist told us back in 2013 just weeks after Hanneman’s death. “To move forward without Jeff just wouldn’t be the same. You can have someone sit in for him, but there’s no one on this planet that can do what Jeff did. There’s no replacing him.”

With Slayer’s long-term future uncertain in the months after Hanneman’s passing, the band focused on the task at hand and set out to fulfill previously booked touring commitments. Araya and King leaned forward and hit the road with drummer Paul Bostaph (who was previously in the band during Lombardo’s 10-year break in the Nineties), and Exodus’ Gary Holt on second guitar (a role he’d occupied since Hanneman was first sidelined in 2011 from a flesh-eating condition known as necrotizing fasciitis stemming from a spider bite). It was in the crucible of performing their blazing set night after night onstage that Araya and King found a common ground, and hesitation slowly gave way to inspiration.

“We were finishing up a tour and had to decide whether we wanted to complete this record,” says Araya. “Kerry and I had communicated our thoughts and feelings about what was going on. That was not an easy thing! [laughs] It’s ongoing, but we managed to say, ‘Listen, let’s do this record and see what happens.’ ”

With Araya fully committed, King and Bostaph started refining the material the guitarist had been compiling since 2011. “When Jeff got hurt I took it upon myself to dive-bomb into making up stuff,” says King. “I didn’t know if Jeff had anything, or was gonna have any more. Either way I’d be prepared, and Slayer would be covered. As it turns out, we recorded 12 songs for this record and there’s still like six others we recorded without leads and vocals. So we’re halfway to the next record. People see it like we’ve had six years off. But in six years I wrote a record and a half!”

Despite the absence of co-writer Hanneman, the dozen tracks that make up Repentless are quintessential Slayer: fast, furious and wicked thrash metal. From start to finish Repentless is packed with circle-pit inducers (“Implode,” “Repentless,” “Take Control”), fist-pumping headbangers (“You Against You,” “Chasing Death”) and grim death marches (“Cast the First Stone,” “When the Stillness Comes”), and it even includes one final song penned by Hanneman, “Piano Wire.”

“We did ‘Piano Wire’ for a three-song demo with [producer] Greg Fidelman before we started World Painted Blood,” Araya explains. “It didn’t make that record, but we listened to it when we were working on the new one, and it sounded really, really good. So I went in and finished the vocal parts.”

“Paul replayed the drums, but guitar-wise it’s the same as it was six years ago,” adds King. “But if there’s ever a thing as ‘Unfortunately, it’s my solo,’ it’s for this one, because Jeff isn’t on it.”

While King wrote all the remaining music for Repentless—believing that fans weren’t ready for an outsider to contribute songwriting ideas—he did enlist his touring co-guitarist Holt to lay down some solos, a task the capable musician knocked out in just one day.

“Gary’s a superstar, and I didn’t worry about what he’d play,” King says. “I was praising him for years before I ever hit him up for this gig. I know he’s good, professional and he wouldn’t think for a second to put anything inadequate on our record.”

After three decades of creating some of the purest and most iconic expressions of the thrash style, Slayer have been forced to evolve. And thanks to the dedication and focus of King and Araya the band hasn’t lost the plot.

“We’ve been together this long, we have a passion for the band, and we take what we do seriously,” says Araya. “We’re one less person, but we’re moving forward with what we’ve always done. People ask us, ‘Will it be Slayer?’ Well, yeah, it’ll be Slayer. When we went in to record, I was thinking, This stuff is good. And when we were done I went home and listened to the master. I was like, Woah, this is some heavy shit. This is fucking great.”

Photo: Jimmy Hubbard

This in an excerpt from the new November 2015 issue of Guitar World. For the complete interview, pick up the new issue at newsstands or the Guitar World Online Store.

Today we bring you an exclusive clip of Slayer in the studio discussing their upcoming album, Repentless.

In this video, which is part of an ongoing "behind the scenes" series, Slayer's Kerry King and Tom Araya talk guitars, basses, amps and the recording process behind the new album, which will be released September 11 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Expect to see plenty of Marshalls!

Repentless, the band's 11th studio album, is available for preorder (in a variety of formats) right here. You can check out the title track below (bottom video).

For all things Slayer, visit slayer.net.

“This has been the most adverse between-records session that Slayer’s ever had,” says Slayer guitarist Kerry King of the six long years since 2009’s World Painted Blood.

It has indeed been a grueling stretch of adversity for the legendary thrash-metal band, one marked by the illness and death of founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman, and the less-than-amicable departure of drummer Dave Lombardo.

But with the help of returning drummer Paul Bostaph and Exodus guitarist Gary Holt, Slayer is finally returning with a new album—and King could not be more stoked about it.

“I would play any of these songs live,” says the guitarist of the forthcoming 12-track beast, which was produced by Terry Date (Pantera, Deftones) and is tentatively scheduled for an August release. “There’s no filler on this record—it’s great!”

Slayer fans will already be familiar with some of the new album’s material. “Atrocity Vendor” was originally released in 2009 as the B-side of the “World Painted Blood” seven-inch, while “Implode” was released last year as a free download—but both tracks have been re-recorded for the album, with “Atrocity Vendor” being significantly re-written to include new vocals from bassist Tom Araya and a longer guitar solo.

Other tracks include the ominous “When the Stillness Comes,” the punky “You Against You” and the Araya-King collaboration tentatively titled “Pride,” which King says is “really cool and super–Black Sabbath heavy.”

The as-yet-untitled album is also the first Slayer record to feature the playing of Holt, who joined the band on tour as a temporary fill-in for the ailing Hanneman in 2011, and agreed to soldier on with Slayer following Hanneman’s death from liver failure in 2013.

“I figured the best way to introduce Gary Holt on a Slayer record was to have him play some leads,” says King, who handled all of the record’s rhythm guitar chores. Though Holt didn’t contribute to any of the new songs as a writer, he did record lead parts for “six to eight” tracks on the album, according to King.

“Holt is a Slayer fan, and he’s been a good friend of ours personally for almost 30 years,” says King. “He has an opinion about what a Slayer guitar player should be like. So he didn’t come into this with a mindset of, This is an Exodus record—he came in thinking, What would a Slayer lead sound like here? It sounds like Gary, but it definitely sounds like Slayer as well.”

Despite earlier reports to the contrary, the late Hanneman does not actually appear on any of the new album’s tracks. “We ended up resurrecting one of his songs from the last record, called ‘Piano Wire,’ ” King explains, adding that Hanneman doesn’t play on it “because I played Jeff’s stuff on record since the mid-Nineties, except the leads—he always wanted to play the leads. It was really more time-effective for me to do that sort of thing. I recorded the guitar tracks for ‘Piano Wire’ at the World Painted Blood sessions, and he didn’t have a lead in it, so it’s just me.”

King says that Slayer already have the basic tracks of six songs—including another one that Hanneman wrote the music for—in the can for the next record. Hopefully, he says, there won’t be another six-year wait between Slayer albums.

“If Tom’s on board, I’d say we go out and tour hard on this record for two and a half years, go right back into the studio with momentum, finish the next record, then go out again for another two and a half years. And if that’s the end, so be it—we go out with guns blazing.”

Below, check out a video from RevolverMag.com featuring Slayer's Kerry King and Paul Bostaph.

In the clip, King discusses material left behind by co-founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who died in May. King implies he'd like to rework the material and include it on Slayer's next studio album.

"If we're gonna release things that Jeff wrote — I've seen other bands do it in the past, and it's generally not good," King says in the video. "I don't want it to be perceived like that. If we're gonna put out Jeff's last contributions in Slayer, if it ain't awesome, you're not gonna hear it."

Slayer are in the middle of their fall tour, which features what the band calls an "old school" set list. It ncludes tracks from 1983's Show No Mercy, 1985's Hell Awaits, 1986's Reign In Blood, 1988's South of Heaven and more.

"We're having such a great time rehearsing this old-school set, we've decided to play it on every one of our upcoming tour dates," King said in a previous statement.

"The final set list is still coming together," said Tom Araya in the same release from the band. "But we're going to give the fans what amounts to decades of aggression. It's going to be a great night of music and moshing for everyone." You can check out the band's remaining dates below!

Confirmed dates for Slayer's 2013 Fall North American tour:

• NOVEMBER
• 4 Shaw Center, Edmonton, AB
• 5 Praireland Park Center, Saskatoon, SK
• 7 MTS Center, Winnipeg, MB
• 8 Myth, Minneapolis, MN
• 10 FunFunFun Fest, Austin, TX
• 12 Bayou Music Center, Houston, TX
• 13 South Side Ballroom, Dallas, TX
• 15 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL
• 16 The Fillmore, Detroit, MI
• 17 LC Pavilion, Columbus, OH
• 19 The Fillmore, Washington, D.C.
• 20 Stage AE, Pittsburgh, PA
• 21 Kool Haus, Toronto, ON
• 23 CEPSUM/University of Montreal, Montreal, QC
• 24 Pavilion de la Jeunesse, Quebec, QC
• 26 Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford, CT
• 27 Theatre @ MSG, New York, NY
• 29 Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ
• 30 Tsongas Arena, Boston, MA

"There are so many different fuckers up here jamming, it could be a clusterfuck," says a very sweaty Philip Anselmo, pointing at the audience in an accusatory fashion after he and a pantheon of metal giants finish playing a hyper-charged rendition of Pantera's "Mouth for War" at the Metal Masters 4 concert in New York City this past Friday night, September 7.

"But guess what?" He assumes a gravely, almost whispered tone to show his seriousness. "It ain't."

He looks to his left at Slayer guitarist Kerry King and then to his right at Anthrax bassist Frank Bello and assumes his alpha-male growl, as if we ever doubted him: "It's fun!"

For the rest of the night, and in the hours leading up to this performance, which was presented by Samson, Zoom, Hartke, Guitar Center and Revolver magazine, positivity seems to emanate from the stage toward the 500 or so lucky metalheads who were able to get into the sold-out show at NYC's Gramercy Theatre.

As with the three previous Metal Masters concerts, a number of luminary musicians who play with metal bands like Slayer, Anthrax and Exodus have joined together, alongside Down and Pantera's Anselmo and bass virtuoso Billy Sheehan, to show off their skills and maybe teach something in a clinic setting followed by a no-holds-barred jam of some of their greatest hits.

Although some of the musicians got together for an L.A.-based Metal Masters show in April, which boasted a special appearance by Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler, they seem almost like their own band — a metal dream — on Friday.

As artists like Anthrax's Scott Ian seamlessly switch off places with others, like Exodus' Gary Holt, on a stage bearing a sculpted wall of amps, Anselmo's proclamation rings true: A clusterfuck it ain't.

The fun times began when Slayer drummer-slash-Tasmanian-Devil Dave Lombardo played a dimly lit set with his echoey avant-garde punk trio, Philm. Considering part of the night is meant to show off each musician's instrumental prowess — the evening is presented by musical instrument companies Hartke, Samson and Zoom — Lombardo situated his kit with a sideways view so gawkers could parse every polyrhythmic paradiddle.

Mouthpiece Gerry Nestler growled and shouted as he wrung bluesy bends and rumbly distorto riffs from his guitar and bassist Pancho Tomaselli whoodled and wheedled up and down his four strings, the pair only taking a break to help the audience cheer on, "Dave! Dave! Dave!" (The pair should deserve their own chant, though, for being able to keep up with the man who does this on a regular basis.)

After that performance, the clinic portion of the evening began with a rousing lesson/lecture/standup routine/pep rally by a Motörhead-shirt-wearing Bello, who promised early on, "You guys are gonna get fucked up tonight. I'm not even kidding. Some of the songs that are gonna be played on this stage, you haven't heard in a long fucking time."

He'd hold true to that oath hours later, but for now he recants stories of Geezer Butler teaching him how to correctly play Black Sabbath's "Neon Knights" at the L.A. Metal Masters show, the impact deceased Metallica bassist (and Bello's friend) Cliff Burton had on him and how much he enjoys playing with Anselmo. And, of course, he rumbled out some impressive notage on his bass, even interpolating Burton's classic wah-wah-infused "Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)" solo.

The hulking Sheehan followed him and whipped out some jaw-dropping feats of fingertapping, but the most impressive part of his set occurred when Anselmo, Bello and Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante joined him for a rendition of Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher." Playing his bass, Sheehan nailed every note Eddie played on the original while Frankie Lee Roth and Philly Hagar handled the vocal duties. The performance was bizarre and exciting if not for the fact that only Benante was handling the role he's best known for.

The rough position of following this up went to Scott Ian, who had to deal with his set being interrupted by a fire alarm. ("Too much metal," he joked.) When order was restored, he led a sort of "Devil Went Down to Georgia"-type duel where he would play the rhythm-guitar parts to Anthrax classics and then give his instrument to a member of the audience to replicate. The concertgoers in question (perhaps to Ian's chagrin?) all did respectable jobs of matching his riffing on songs like "Madhouse," "Indians" and "Imitation of Life." But that's what you get for challenging a room likely full of musicians.

His bandmate Benante followed his set by playing some rattling drum solos, during which Lombardo came out to duel with him. They traversed a number of famous patterns, including Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" — playing an estimated 39 billion beats between them — until Benante says, "I think we're done. There's only so much double bass you can do … we've met our quota." And with that, the audience prepped for the main event, which Benante joked would consist of "Smiths and Journey tunes."

The concert portion of the evening begins with an ensemble of Kerry King, Scott Ian, Billy Sheehan and Charlie Benante playing Anthrax's "Room for One More," as Bello takes a rare turn at vocals, handling the part originally sung by John Bush. It's just a sampling of the permutations of musicians who mount the stage over the course of the next 11 songs. Next up, King, Holt and Anselmo — who has dressed for the occasion in a shirt whose back reads "Classic Not Classy" — comes out to sing "Mouth for War."

As a sea of camera phones make waves in the audience, he exclaims, "Getting all of us together like this, it's fuckin' awesome … Since we're in New York, I want to see that fuckin' old-school energy out there." And the audience obliges, moshing and running into each other like atoms in a nuclear fission experiment.

The evening progresses by playing one hit after another, culled from respective oeuvres of each band represented. Anselmo attempts songs he hasn't sung since Pantera's final tour ("5 Minutes Alone," "Goddamn Electric"), and the group the odd Slayer classic ("War Ensemble"), an Exodus cut ("Strike of the Beast") and a trio of songs by Scott Ian and Charlie Benante's hardcore-metal crossover group Stormtroopers of Death. "Cro-mags up next," Anselmo jokes, referring to the NYHC powerhouse group, between S.O.D. songs. Kidding aside, the way that band merged hardcore and metal meant a lot to the singer, who says, without them "I'd be out of a fuckin' job."

As with the previous installments of Metal Masters, the crowd goes ape to hear Anselmo sing Pantera classics like "Fucking Hostile" and "A New Level" again, but it's just as impressive to hear him take on the work of a singer like Tom Araya's more high-pitched screams on Slayer canon like "Angel of Death" and the indefatigable "Raining Blood." His husky growl fits right in. Meanwhile, Kerry King nimbly assails each note Dimebag plays in the Pantera classics.

Overall, it's a scene of peers being fans and vice-versa. Before playing one song, Anselmo tells the crowd, "I grew up with hippie parents, and they would listen to Hendrix, Janis Joplin, all that shit. And 'Stairway to Heaven' was the pinnacle. Well, this was my 'Stairway' when I was 15."

Then the group played "Chemical Warfare." Later, Anselmo says, "I'm just a music fan. Don't judge me any other way." The same could probably be said of everyone in the room, who cheer as the artists who performed tonight — three guitarists, two bassists, two drummers and one singer — plays Pantera's hasty hardcore-thrash crossover salvo "Fucking Hostile."

It's a communal experience, and compared to the four Metal Masters shows so far — including the second one where Anselmo made an unannounced surprise appearance — it's the best organized, having more of a concert feel. The musicians should take note, though: Part of the fun of it all is the shambolic spontaneity that comes from maybe not being so well rehearsed. If they refine their playing any more next time, it might turn into (gasp) a band. But that wouldn't be a bad thing either.

Considering they've headlined the Jägermeister Music Tour three times, it's safe to say Slayer have cemented their relationship with Germany's most famous exported liquor.

Fittingly, a new ad for Jägermeister features Slayer guitarist Kerry King in a starring role as part of the "brotherhood," along with big-wave surfer Nathan Fletcher, former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson and others.

You can watch the ad, as well as a behind-the-scenes interview with Kerry, below.

Slayer will be on the road this summer as part of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, with Exodus guitarist Gary Holt once again filling in for the ailing Jeff Hanneman. Slayer released an official statement earlier this week detailing the severity of Hanneman's condition, while remaining hopeful that the band will be able to wrap up work on their new album sometime late in the year.

This video related to the March 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full text and tablature for the column, you can pick up the issue of newsstands now or in our online store.

In the following video, Guitar World's Paul Riario takes a look at the next X series guitar from Jackson, including new signature models for Kerry King and Randy Rhoads.

While Kerry King stopped short of saying everything was smooth sailing when we talked to him at the Guitar World Rock & Roll Roast of Zakk Wylde in January, the Slayer guitarist seemed upbeat on what 2012 holds for thrash's most evil band.

"Before the holidays, me and Dave were already working," King said. "We got three songs down before we broke, and I sent him a fourth one, and we've got a couple we didn't use on the last record, so we're already six deep."

With King's bandmate and co-writer Jeff Hanneman still feeling the ill effects of a necrotizing fasciitis -- a flesh-eating disease he caught while on tour in Australia, likely from a spider bite -- King has taken the lead writing material for what will become the band's 12th studio album.

"I've got parts to like five or six songs I just can't finish. December was great, January's been a drought. I'm waiting for the drought to be over so I can finish them. I've got halves; I just can't marry the half to something else."

That’s not to say the follow-up to 2009’s World Painted Blood won’t feature some riffs from King’s partner in crime.

"We always said we'd never entertain the idea of doing an album without [Jeff]," King recently told Metal Hammer. “But there he is, getting those riffs ready!"

King was adamant that his comrade would be ready when the band hit the road in the late spring, but with some questions over Hanneman’s health lingering, the question remains: Will there be a new Slayer album this year?

"Absolutely," King said. "I want to be [in the studio] in March and April. I want to be done before we go on tour, which is May 25."

If you've already watched our interview with Slayer guitarist Kerry King from Yankee Stadium, then this news will come as no surprise, but for those of you who haven't heard yet, Megadeth were all set to pull out of the Big Four show at Yankee Stadium this past week.

Those of you kept up with our live blog will know that Dave Mustaine showed up to his pre-show interview wearing a neck brace. Dave reportedly injured his neck/shoulder during the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, and had been told by doctors not to play the Big Four show.

"I was in a hospital yesterday morning, so I'm going to have to get surgery right after this," Mustaine told Rolling Stone. "If I move wrong tonight, I could be paralyzed." (You can watch his pre-show interview with Rolling Stone below.)

Fortunately for all involved, MegaDave showed up, played the show and is still intact. But what if Megadeth was unable to show? Talking to Kerry King before Slayer's set at Yankee Stadium, the guitarist revealed that Exodus "were working on flights" to make it to the show as a last-minute replacement.

"I just felt bad for Exodus, 'cause they were on the bill," said King, later adding, "I mean, Gary [Holt] is gonna be here anyway, but the band Exodus, I felt bad for them."

Gary Holt is of course still standing in for Jeff Hanneman, who did not make an appearance at the Yankee Stadium show.

Originally printed in Guitar World, September 2006.

In the midst of 2006's Unholy Alliance tour, Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton took a few minutes to interview Slayer's Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King.

MARK MORTON What was your collective mindset going in to make the new record [Christ Illusion]? Were there concepts that you wanted to see come to fruition, or was it more about letting the songs come out in the moment?

KING We don’t do concepts. We don’t have band meetings. The only time we made a collective decision to do something different was with South of Heaven. We had done Reign in Blood, and we said, “Let’s give them something they won’t expect.” And it was also to make the live sets more interesting, because to go up there and just play fast, it’s a barrage that people can’t take. We wanted to mix it up and make our show more of a rollercoaster ride.

MORTON How has studio technology changed the way you write and record?

HANNEMAN Pro Tools rules. You get the opportunity to try more things because you don’t waste so much time trying to get the perfect take.

MORTON What do you do when you’re at home? Do you have any hobbies? Do you cut your own grass?

HANNEMAN I pay somebody to do that! It’s just hockey and video games for me.

KING I breed snakes. I got out of it for a while because it was taking too much time away from Slayer. When I got remarried, my wife had a snake and I got back into it. I’ve got about 50 now, and I’m starting to breed again.

MORTON What’s in your stage monitor mix?

KING My guitar and Dave’s drums.

HANNEMAN Mostly kick drum.

MORTON What’s left to do with heavy metal music that hasn’t been done? Where can we, as musicians, break new ground?

HANNEMAN Don’t overthink things. Make the next record, and keep rolling with it.

KING Just have fun. It ain’t about analyzing it. Instead of wondering, “Where do we go from here?” just fucking go. Let the Jäger lead you. [laughs]

Originally printed in Guitar World, September 2006.

In the midst of 2006's Unholy Alliance tour, Children of Bodom guitarist Alexi Laiho stopped drinking long enough to interview Slayer's Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman.

ALEXI LAIHO What do you do before the show if you’re totally hungover?

KING There’s no escaping that shit! You just have to deal with it. Get onstage, get through the first two songs, let the adrenaline kick in and you’ll be fine.

LAIHO Jeff, do you play only Jackson guitars? If so, would you be willing to try other brands?

HANNEMAN I actually have only one Jackson! ESP makes all of my guitars now. But that Jackson was probably the last one I paid for, which is why I used it so much; I had to get my money’s worth. That’s why, for the longest time, it was in all of our photos.

LAIHO What’s your favorite song to play live?

HANNEMAN “Angel of Death” or “Raining Blood.”

KING Whether you open with “Raining Blood,” close with it or put it somewhere in the middle of a set, the crowd will go fucking nuts. It’s chaos.

LAIHO Jeff, what led you to play such extreme music?

HANNEMAN Punk rock. No doubt.

LAIHO How do you guys kill time on the road?

KING Any way we can. There’s so much downtime. Neither of us would trade the time onstage for fucking anything. But the worst is the time between soundcheck and the show. You can’t leave the venue, and you can’t party too much. You’re stuck either inside or on the bus. So in between cities, Jeff and I generally stay up and play movies all night until we get to the next town. Then we crash. You make the best of your time that way. We sleep all day, wake up for soundcheck and get going.