SLAYER's KERRY KING 'Thought A Very Long Time' About How To Get GARY HOLT Involved In Making Of 'Repentless'

Fuse conducted an interview with SLAYER guitarist Kerry King at the 2015 edition of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, which was held on June 11-14 in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On SLAYER‘s new album, “Repentless”:

Kerry: “The new album comes out September 11 again — which was totally a coincidence. I didn’t even know September 11 was a release date this year, but I found out a few weeks ago. And the last time we put out a record on September 11, it was ‘God Hates Us All’, and that was the last record our drummer, Paul [Bostaph], was on, and now Paul‘s back. And it’s kind of, like, just lost time for him. It’s really weird how that panned out. But if you’ve ever been a SLAYER fan at any point in our career, you will like this record.”

On the making of “Repentless”:

Kerry: “As far as recording goes, it was really business as usual — nothing was really different — except we didn’t have our longtime friend, co-songwriter [late SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman] there to give his two cents’ worth. And that was missed. But that, for me, was the weirdest part — just Jeff‘s not being there.”

On SLAYER‘s current lineup, featuring Bostaph and guitarist Gary Holt (also of EXODUS):

Kerry: “Paul, I mean, he’s a machine. I don’t worry about him at all. He never would have been out of SLAYER if he didn’t quit twice. It was never over anything personal — he was always my friend — so it was very easy for him to come back and be a part again. Gary, on the other hand, was the first time we’ve ever had another guitar player play on a SLAYER record, so that one was a little odd. And I thought a very long time about how I wanted to proceed with that, and I came to the conclusion that I didn’t think he should contribute, song-wise, on this one; I don’t think SLAYER fans are ready for that. But, in order to keep him interested, I said, ‘Well, I’d love for you to play some leads, so you’ll feel like you’ve actually contributed something to these songs you’re gonna be playing live, so maybe it’s not completely a cover to you.”