Slayer concluded their final tour late last year, but that doesn’t mean guitarist Kerry King is ready to hang it up. While discussing his new partnership with Dean Guitars, King hinted at new music in his post-Slayer career.
When asked about his plans for new music post-Slayer, King told Guitar World: “Let’s just say… Dean didn’t sign me for nothing!”
King previously addressed the possibly of making music after Slayer back in 2010, stating that any new project wouldn’t sound too far off his legendary band.
“If someone quit, I’m not going to go around with a made-up Slayer,” he told AZCentral [via Blabbermouth]. “But my next band would sound like Slayer, that’s all I know.”
When confronted with a similar question in an interview with Rolling Stone in 2015, King echoed those sentiments: “There’s plenty of people that I considered doing [a project] with… but I have to have Slayer covered before I consider anything like that.”
Based on comments from the Slayer camp, it seems like the 2019 tour was a definite moment of finality for the band. The day after the final show, King’s wife, Ayesha King, said that there wasn’t a “chance in hell” that Slayer would reunite.
In the meantime, King and Dean Guitars are rolling out the USA Kerry King V Limited Edition guitar — complete with a custom headstock and body design, intricate fret inlays, and Slayer-esque iconography.
“Well, it’s no secret that I’ve always liked pointy guitars,” King said of the partnership. “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.”
The axe is limited to 50 and retails for the appropriately evil price of $8,666. A larger factory run might be in the works.
Kerry King Hints at Post-Slayer Music Career: “Dean [Guitars] Didn’t Sign Me for Nothing”
Jon Hadusek
