Kerry King says that he was angry over the prospect of SLAYER calling it quits when the subject was first brought up. He was asked in a new interview with Metal Hammer magazine for his feelings on the subject of retiring when the conversation cane up to end the band. The 58-year-old guitarist said: “Anger… what else? It was premature. 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,” he continued. “We were on top of the world, and there’s nothing wrong with going out on top of the world, it’s a good way to go out. So, bravo for that. But do I miss playing? Yeah, absolutely
In the same interview, King also revealed that SLAYER fans will be happy with the musical direction of his yet-to-be-announced new band. “If you know my work, you know what it’s going to sound like.”
Back in October 2021, EXODUS-guitarist Gary Holt, who spent almost nine years touring with SLAYER, told Metal Hammer that he agreed SLAYER retired too soon. “We were still playing at the top of our game, we were totally killing it,” he said. “The band had a lot of years left in it, but I guess when it’s time, it’s time. When you decide to walk away from something, walk away. I can’t tell anybody they made the wrong decision. Better to go out on top than go out unable to play your own songs, and this shit isn’t easy. Playing ‘Angel Of Death’ at 70 years old would be fucking hard. But it was time for me to come back, let’s put it that way. I was really missing my first family.”
SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya talked about his possible retirement in a 2016 interview with Loudwire. He said: “At 35 years, it’s time to collect my pension. [Laughs] This is a career move.” He continued: “I’m grateful that we’ve been around for 35 years; that’s a really long time. So, yeah, to me, it is. Because when we started off, everything was great, because you’re young and invincible. And then there came a time where I became a family man, and I had a tough time flying back and forth. And now, at this stage, at the level we’re at now, I can do that; I can fly home when I want to, on days off, and spend some time with my family, which is something I wasn’t able to do when [my kids] were growing up. Now they’re both older and mature. So now I take advantage of that.” Araya added: “Yeah, it just gets harder and harder to come back out on the road. 35 years is a long time.”
