Kerry King Talks Next Slayer Album, Says “I Miss Jeff Hanneman More Personally Than Artistically”

Jeff Hanneman wrote all the best Slayer songs. Everyone knows that, including Slayer — four years after Hanneman’s death, their setlist is predominantly made up of songs penned by the late guitarist.

So fans by surprised by Kerry King’s statements in a new interview with R7 POP. Asked if he misses Hanneman more “personally or artistically,” King replies:

“Probably more personally, I guess. ‘Cause like I said, we had tons of material [already written for Repentless]. We still have like six or eight songs left over that may find their way onto the next album… The hardest part [about losing Hanneman as a collaborator] for me was just [losing] his opinion in the studio. [inaudible] to bounce ideas off of… I always have. So I had to do all that myself. If I had a big question, I’d bounce it off Tom [Araya] and Paul [Bostaph].”

To be clear, I’m not saying King should miss Hanneman more artistically than personally — losing a friend sucks worse than losing a collaborator. But it’s odd for King to say the only part of collaborating with Hanneman he really misses is having the soundboard, because a substantial portion of the time, that soundboard had written the music being discussed.

(Quick digression: Gary Holt doesn’t get an opinion I guess?)

Watch the entire interview below and then share your two cents in the comments section. Fair warning: the audio in this interview is HORRIBLE, because apparently R7 POP weren’t given enough time with King to properly mic him or the interviewer. That being said, as long as you play it loudly, you can make out most of what King is saying.