In a recent interview with Axe Lords, Kerry King opened up about the influence Jeff Hanneman had on Slayer in terms of how Hanneman’s punk roots began to shape the band’s sound over time.
“I don’t think I would apply it like that,” King said. “I think it was more like an influence kind of thing. He introduced all of us to punk because at that point in my teenage years, I was sitting on the Halfords, Ronnie James Dios, and Ozzys of the world.”
However, as Hanneman started bringing punk into the mix, King was skeptical at first. “Then he started bringing the punk in and I didn’t get it,” he admitted. “I’m like, ‘Well, I’ve already got like the best singers on the planet I’m into, what’s going on with this punk thing and why are you into it?’ I’m not going to say one day it clicked, but over the time of being force-fed punk by Jeff Hanneman, it grew on me.”
As years went on, Hanneman continued incorporating punk elements into Slayer’s music. “Then for years and years, he was incorporating it into Slayer material, be it more trashy riffs. Toward the end of Jeff’s time, it kind of flip-flopped and I was writing the punkier stuff and he was writing the moodier stuff. Our influences became each other’s influences. In the beginning, he would write punkier stuff and, in the end, I ended up writing punkier stuff,” he added.
King also reflected on his role in bringing Hanneman’s music to life in Slayer, particularly when it came to rhythm guitar parts. He recalled using Hanneman’s gear to make sure his style and tone were accurately captured. “In Slayer, when Jeff was still in the band and I did [the second track of guitar rhythms] on songs he wrote, I would use Jeff’s guitar,” he said in a chat with Guitar World. “So, any nuances from his rig or his guitar would still come through, even though I was playing it.”
Later in the interview, King was asked if he intentionally wrote parts of his solo album to mirror Jeff’s style. “That’s overthinking things,” he said. “It didn’t occur to me once to write like Jeff. This is me. But I played Jeff’s songs and he played my songs for so long that our styles became kind of integrated.”
While Slayer is only scheduled to perform at Louder Than Life Fest from September 18-21, Kerry King’s next solo performance is set for tomorrow night in Wisconsin.
