Scott Ian Told Kerry King “Thanks For Making Me Look Like a Liar” After Slayer Return

Remember when it was announced that Slayer was coming back for a handful of shows? Man, the internet was ablaze with people either super stoked that Kerry King, Tom Araya, Paul Bostaph, and Gary Holt were reviving the iconic thrash band or they were shocked because they believed Slayer was the one band that would stick to their guns and stay retired. As it turns out, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian was in the latter camp.

In an interview with Classic Rock that covered topics like the Big Four and Anthrax’s upcoming record, Ian was asked how he felt about Slayer at least temporarily coming out of retirement for a few shows. Having spent a significant amount of time back in 2019 on Slayer’s “final” tour, he said he immediately reached out to King once he found out.

“I wrote to Kerry [King, guitarist] and said: ‘Thanks for making me look like a liar.’ We were on Slayer’s goodbye tour for over a hundred shows. During that year and a half together I got the sense that if they said were ending, then that’s what was happening.

“Personally I felt it was too soon – the world needs Slayer – but I took them at their word on that. I really felt that they would be the one band that when they said they were retiring, they’d be done for good.”

It really sounds like his stance was the Big Four version of “distance makes the heart grow fonder.” With just five years between Slayer’s “final” show and their scheduled “return,” Ian joins a pretty large chorus of fans that think this is all happening way too soon.

To King’s credit, Ian said he got a response that simply read something along the lines to “Hahaha. Hey, it’s just three shows.” Ian’s response?

“I replied: ‘Yeah, we’ll see.’”

Given how things have gone in the past with other big, once defunct bands, I agree with Ian on this one. We’ll see if Slayer really ends up playing only three shows…