"It's nonstop badassery." Slayer guitarist Kerry King picks his favourite Black Sabbath album

Kerry King and Black Sabbath — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Living thrash metal legend Kerry King has named his favourite Black Sabbath album - and fans may not be too surprised to find that it's one of Sabbath's heaviest records. Speaking to Wall Of Sound, the Slayer guitarist says (transcribed by Blabbermouth): " I would take…It's easy and it's hard 'cause I'm a super Dio fan. But I would take Sabotage. Something about the vibe on that record. It's cool. I mean, they're all cool, but something about that one. Maybe Symptom Of The Universe. I don't know. It's nonstop badassery."

Released on July 28 1975, Sabotage was Black Sabbath's sixth studio album and is widely regarded as the final entry in Sabbath's first 'golden run' of records. Recorded at a time when tensions around the band were rising, Sabotage found Sabbath in a battle with their own management and their record label, Vertigo.

“We were constantly stoned,” explained bassist Geezer Butler later, “so we were never confrontational towards each other. It was an ‘us against them’ attitude in the band. We relied on each other – there was no one else we could trust.”

“We’d taken some knocks,” agreed drummer Bill Ward, “but we carried on. It was a tough band."

“That album,” Ward also noted, “it was so hard for us making it. But when I listen back to it now… God, it’s incredible.”

Black Sabbath split up in 2017 following a final reunion that began in 2011 - a reunion that Ward would ultimately sit out owing to contract disputes. Slayer, meanwhile, called it a day two years later, though they made a surprise return this year for two festival shows in the US. A third reunion show is planned for next year's Louder Than Life festival after bad weather caused part of this year's event to be cancelled, though Kerry King has recently insisted that fans should keep their expectations low when it comes to any more future Slayer activity.

"Mark my word: we're never gonna make a record again, we're never gonna tour again," he told Metal Roos this month. "Because that was the last thing. We said, 'This is our final tour.' It [then] took five years for us to come and say, 'Hey, here's a couple of shows, five-year anniversary.'"

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Merlin was promoted to Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has written for Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.