Kerry King Hasn’t Spoken to Tom Araya Since 2019, Dave Lombardo is “Dead to Me”
Today’s been a whirlwind of tribal tattoos and comically large wallet chains, as former Slayer guitarist Kerry King finally shares details about his solo effort. With the new album and its first single now out in the wild, people have been combing through Rolling Stone’s exclusive interview with King to get to the good stuff. The inter-personal drama between himself and the other former members of Slayer.
And if that’s what you were looking for, then you won’t be disappointed. The drama knows no bounds.
During the aforementioned Rolling Stone interview, King’s conversation with Kory Grow naturally veered off into Slayer land. As a founding member of the band, King’s been through it all and known the other members extremely well. And while he says he’s remained in touch with almost everyone, he revealed that he hasn’t heard so much as a peep from frontman Tom Araya.
“Not even a text. Not even an email.
“I’ve talked to everybody else from the band on the phone, text, or email. If Tom hit me up, I’d probably respond. It probably depends on what he hit me up for, but I don’t wish him dead at this moment.”
According to King, things with him and Araya were never really on the same page, joking that if he would say the sky was blue, the former frontman would be a contrarian and say it’s white. The two just never saw eye to eye.
While that may be the case, King said he’d happily share a tequila shot with him before parting ways, stating that he doesn’t see them hanging out anytime soon “because we are very different people.”
That’s not what he would say about ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, though. King deeply dislikes that guy, noting that he really fell out with him during the financial disputes that resulted in the Lombardo leaving the band.
“He went on that tirade when we were on a flight to Australia, and he knew we couldn’t retort for 14 hours, and he threw me under the bus. I was the only one keeping him in the band. Tom wanted him out before that, and Jeff had just gotten the spider bite [causing him to contract a flesh-eating bacteria, forcing him off the road], so he wasn’t playing with us much. I said, ‘We need [Dave]. The fans won’t get it if we replace him right now.’
“And then the Australia thing came up. He threw me under the bus, and I’m like, ‘I’m the guy that kept you here.’ So I thought, ‘Fuck that guy.’”
As for a potential Slayer reunion, King didn’t sound hopeful that it was going to happen. And yeah… I don’t know… When asked if he and Araya would ever make another album he had this to say:
“I can pretty much a hundred percent say no because I have a new outlet, and it’s not Slayer, but it sounds like Slayer. I’m making the music I like to make still, so I don’t need to do that. Records don’t sell anymore anyway. It’s just a means to have a product out so people know what I’m playing when I come to town.
“Will Slayer tour again? I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen. Could Slayer play a show again? I’m sure there’s a scenario. Am I looking for it? No, I’m just getting ready to start my career. So if that happens, it happens. But I’m going to be doing this for the next 10 years at least.”
So yeah. Lots to unpack there. If you want to read the whole thing, be sure to check out the interview on Rolling Stone.
