As one of the most revered thrash metal guitarists of all time, Slayer's Kerry King is first and foremost a guitarist. But he can also sing.
Aside from occasional backing vocals, King sticks to guitar, especially on Slayer. However, like many songwriters, he makes demos with his own improvised vocals to get his ideas down.
Get tickets for Kerry King here
In the case of his solo debut, From hell I riseThose rough demos were then handed over to Mark Osegueda of Death Angel, who performed vocals on the final recordings and took on the role of King's solo band leader.
In a new interview with The SDR ShowKing was asked about those demos and what his voice sounds like when he sings.
“I sound like an angry white punk kid… I think it sounds a little adolescent,” King admitted. [as transcribed by Blabbermouth]adding that most of the demos were first takes.
He continued: “I just put it there so we had something existing. I knew I didn’t want to sing because I can’t sing or play much. The easy parts, yes, but not like Zakk. [Wylde] or James [Hetfield] “They do. They're crazy vocalists who play crazy riffs underneath what they sing. I don't know how they do it.”
King is apparently not too embarrassed about his singing ability. When asked if he would ever consider releasing his demos with improvised vocals, he replied: “I'm not against it.”
“If you ask me, what would happen if Glenn Tipton sang all the songs? [Judas] “Priest songs…” King mused. “Would you like to hear them? I think that’s a strange situation, because it’s Rob fucking Halford. But I’d be curious. It’s intriguing.”
King and his solo band are currently supporting Lamb of God and Mastodon's joint North American tour (get tickets) here). Shows will resume Tuesday night (August 13) with a concert in Moorhead, Minnesota, with dates through the end of August.
Watch the full interview with Kerry King below.
thanks to our partners at consequence.net
