Mike D’Antonio Responds to Kerry King: ‘They Don’t Get It’

Before it was Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift, it was Slayer vs. Killswitch Engage. From the center of the Rockstar Mayhem Fest this summer, in which both bands graced the main stage, Kerry King infamously discussed his malicious attempt a few years ago to kick Killswitch Engage off of the Jägermeister tour. King told musicradar.com about the circumstances, saying:

"I'd never seen 'em live, and then I saw them live at some, I don't know, maybe at Kerrang! Awards over in Europe. And I'm just offended by the silliness that goes on on stage [on the part of] the guitar player [Adam Dutkiewicz].

"He puts his foot in his mouth all the time and he says stupid shit, and I just didn't think that sideshow should be on my stage. So I pulled the plug on the spot, but on that particular Jägermeister tour, we didn't have any product and they did, so Jäger kind of insisted, and I went ... They're all friends of mine, so I said, 'OK, I'll deal with it.' [But I] still don't like it."

Though the uproar amongst metal fans seemed to be eye-rolls and statements in defense of Adam D.'s 'silliness,' it's also been months of silence on KsE's part, but bassist Mike D'Antonio has finally addressed the hate. In an interview with Way Too Loud, D'Antonio says that playing Mayhem Fest knowing what King had said "was uncomfortable."

And goes on to say, "They don't get it, and probably never will that you can actually be in a metal band and have fun, and smile. You can do things differently than other metal bands have ever done. We just like to have a good time. We're just a party band, and I think that comes from punk rock roots where anything goes. A lot of the old guys think it has to be straightforward or nothing, and that's their loss I guess."

But King is not the first 'old guy' to take a stab at the high-selling metalcore act and their eccentric stage antics. KSE's labelmate Max Cavalera told Sweden's Close-Up magazine last winter that Killwitch Engage "was the gayest show I've ever seen."

Regardless of the negative opinions that have surfaced, Mike D. proudly contends that, "It's all about having fun and having a good time, coming up with new things and not doing the same boring stuff over and over again." And as far as Adam D.'s silliness goes, D'Antonio commends his brother-in-arms, saying, "He's entertaining and fun! We just wind him up and let him go!"