Photo by Steve Appleford
It's been four years this month since Slayer last bid farewell with their mammoth live finale at The Forum in Inglewood, CA. On November 30th 2019, after nearly four decades of relentless thrash domination, the band played their final show - a heavy moment for various reasons and for some, a premature end to the band's reign.
Now, Slayer guitarist Kerry King is hinting that next year will finally see the unveiling of his new project. Slayer's longtime publicist has shared an image of King's stageworn chains that always fashioned to his side while performing. For Slayer's final show, King took off the chains and dropped them with emphasis, marking the end of era.
As reported via Blabbermouth, King spoke with Dean Guitars about the impromptu gesture and how symbolic it was for him.
"One of the reasons I did the chain drop at the last show was so everybody in the building could hear it. And it wasn't something I planned. We were doing the last run, and I said, 'I wanna do this on the last Forum show so people take it more seriously.' Like, 'King took off his chains. He left them on the stage. What the fuck, man?' So people hopefully got that. This isn't one of those, 'We're gonna be back next year and do it again.' The chains took me through Slayer. I took them off, dropped them on stage, and I walked off, and that's the end of Slayer for me."
While King has remained quiet in the years since Slayer's finale, he has confirmed that he is working on his own music and has shared that for those familiar with his work, the creative direction is definitely on brand with King's signature. Last year, it was confirmed that former Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph was working with King to flesh out some musical ideas, but nothing yet has surfaced.
While no additional information has been released, the reveal of the photo referencing the chains and offering a date is the first formal announcement of any kind of the project.
2024 is already looking up.
