According to Loudwire.com, in a recent interview, Kerry King explained that he had been handling some of the bass parts for Slayer, dating back to the 90s. When speaking with Guitar World about his solo album, King mentioned how his contributions helped Slayer become successful in the world of music. During the conversation about his solo album, King discussed how there was less negotiation needed in the studio with his current lineup: “It’s refreshing. I never wanted it. It’s not something I needed musically. It’s not something I needed personally,” said of doing a solo record. “Having it was super cool and super fun, and working with new people was super fun. This is the first record I haven’t played bass on, probably, since the Nineties.”

When being asked why Tom Araya  gave up some of his duties, King says: “We would always let Tom play bass until he got tired of not being good at it. In Tom’s defense, up to that point, he had never played the songs. It was always just me and Paul Bostaph going through ’em [in advance]. And then we get in the studio, it’s time to record. I think Tom’s got it in his head that he’s gonna be able to pull it off. But for anybody that’s never played a song before, to come in without knowing the music and get it up to recording level is not realistic.”

King also credited his solo band’s bassist Kyle Sanders: “Early on, I sent Kyle early demos of just me and Paul, no bass. Three days later, he sent them back with bass. I went, I’ve never had anybody do that for me. That turned on all the light bulbs.”

Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado