KERRY KING Explains Why He Played Bass On Every SLAYER Record Since The ’90s

Kerry King originally revealed that he’s played bass on every Slayer record since the ’90s thanks to one comment in an interview with Rolling Stone: “I have [played bass in the studio]. Not on [my solo album], but since the early nineties I’ve done all the rhythm guitars and all the bass [on Slayer records]. I’ve always done bass because my guy [Tom Araya] really didn’t.”

But why did King take up the four-stringed mantle in the studio? Long story short, Araya never really learned the songs. In an interview with Guitar World, King also noted that Araya is perfectly capable of playing the songs live, it’s just that he never really got it together in the studio.

“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.”

On his new solo album From Hell I Rise and bassist Kyle Sanders playing on it, King added: “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.”

Kerry King will be out on tour with Lamb Of God, Mastodon, and Malevolence later this month. Get your tickets here.

7/19 Grand Prairie, TX Texas Trust CU Theatre
7/20 Austin, TX Germania Insurance Amphitheater
7/21 Houston, TX 713 Music Hall
7/23 Jacksonville, FL Daily’s Place
7/24 Orlando, FL Orlando Amphitheater
7/25 Alpharetta, GA Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
7/27 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheater
7/28 Richmond, VA Virginia Credit Union LIVE!
7/30 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE
7/31 London, ON Budweiser Gardens
8/1 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
8/3 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
8/4 Manchester, NH SNHU Arena
8/6 Bangor, ME Maine Savings Amphitheatre
8/8 Reading, PA Santander Arena (w/ Unearth, no Malevolence)
8/9 Cleveland, OH Jacobs Pavilion (w/ Unearth, no Malevolence)
8/10 Sterling Heights, MI Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre @ Freedom Hill (w/ Unearth, no Malevolence)
8/13 Moorhead, MN Bluestem Center For The Arts Amphitheater
8/15 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
8/16 Penticton, BC South Okanagan Events Centre
8/17 Kent, WA accesso ShoWare Center
8/18 Portland, OR Theater of the Clouds
8/21 Los Angeles, CA The Kia Forum
8/23 Phoenix, AZ Arizona Financial Theatre
8/24 Rio Rancho, NM Rio Rancho Events Center
8/25 El Paso, TX El Paso County Coliseum
8/27 Magna, UT The Great Saltair
8/29 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre
8/31 Omaha, NE The Astro Amphitheater