Slayer’s Kerry King names the guitarist who “plays circles” around him

Kerry King in 2024 — (Image credit: Press/Andrew Stuart)

Slayer’s Kerry King has named a metal guitarist who “plays circles” around him.

During an interview with the Talk Louder podcast, the 60-year-old offers the praise to Phil Demmel, formerly of Machine Head and now a member of King’s solo band.

King mentions Demmel when he’s asked about how he divvied up the solos on his 2024 debut solo album, From Hell I Rise, which also features vocalist Mark Osegueda (Death Angel), bassist Kyle Sanders (ex-Hellyeah) and drummer Paul Bostaph (Slayer).

“I probably would have given him more, because Phil Demmel’s a wizard,” King answers (via Ultimate Guitar). “He plays circles around me. He’s really, really fucking good, and he’s definitely more melodic than me. I’m far more archaic. But together, it works.”

He continues: “And in the beginning, when I was trying to decide who would play what, I thought about what fans would expect me to play, because I didn’t want to let fans think I wasn’t thinking about them, or passing the buck because I’m doing something else.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, King talks about the differences between his solo band and his work with Slayer.

“Say, for instance, you’ve got a horse with blinders on – that was me in Slayer,” he explains. “Not completely blind, just looking straight forward. In my band, I’d say [the blinders] open five to seven percent – not a lot, but it’s a different perspective. You know, Slayer was this juggernaut. And people had an established opinion – as well as I – about what the songs should be, how they should sound, things like that.

“And then, when I did this band, I was just looking to do an 80s tribute punk song. That was Two Fists. I wanted the riffs to be as if they were written by a punk band. There’s a big riff in the middle that I just had to throw in there, because I couldn’t do it without one. But I wanted the vocals to be presented that way too.”

King unveiled his solo band in February 2024 with the announcement of From Hell I Rise and the release of their first single Idle Hands. The news came just days before Slayer, who’d previously retired in 2019, announced their surprise comeback.

Slayer are now active as an occasional live force, and are booked to play Louder Than Life in Kentucky in September, but King spends the majority of his time with his solo project. Since releasing From Hell I Rise, they’ve toured prolifically. They’re currently playing across the Americas and are set to also perform in Europe from July to August. See dates and details via King’s website.

Demmel is best-known for his stint in Machine Head from 2002 to 2018, but he’s also performed with Lamb Of God and Testament as a fill-in guitarist. He played several dates with Slayer during their 2018-to-2019 farewell tour as well, filling in for Gary Holt.

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Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.