Kerry King’s Long-Awaited New Project Coming Next Year
Ever since Slayer‘s final show back in 2019, fans of the iconic thrash metal outfit have openly wondered what’s next. Frontman Tom Araya‘s taken retirement seriously and vanished off the face of the Earth, Gary Holt is back killing it in Exodus, and Dave Lombardo is out there playing in any band that needs one of the best drummers on the planet. Yet for Kerry King and the band’s final drummer Paul Bostaph, the spotlight may return to them soon enough.
Earlier today, the Kerry King’s publicist Heidi Ellen Robinson-Fitzgerald sent out an image via email to metal news outlets of a chain on a stage floor with the caption “Coming in 2024.” The message reflected exactly what was posted over on Kerry King’s official Facebook page, as well. And no, King’s not getting into the chain making game — it’s pretty obvious that we’re talking about the guitarist’s previously announced new band.
It’s no surprise that King wants to get out there and play again. We’re talking about the guy who admitted this past January that he was super pissed off when Slayer initially called it quits, saying the decision was “premature.”
“It was premature. The reason I say ‘premature’ is because my heroes from my childhood are still playing! I can still play, I still want to play, but that livelihood got taken away from me.
“But, anyway, on to the next chapter, I guess. We were on top of the world, and there’s nothing wrong with going out on top of the world, it’s a good way to go out. So, bravo for that. But do I miss playing? Yeah, absolutely.”
Still, we’re now a few years out since King initially began talking about starting up a new band. We’re sure the pandemic didn’t help his timing, but it’s been forever for this thing to get off the ground. Still, we’re crazy excited to see this play out live.
Not much is known about the project, other than the fact that King and Bostaph are members. The rest of the band’s composition is still unknown at this point. As has been pointed out before, Bostaph has been active on social media in recent days showing him in the studio working on new material, so why knows? Maybe we’ll hear some new music from King’s new band sooner than we think.
