Slayer’s Kerry King Has ‘Distaste’ for Christian Metal

Kerry King is the kind of dude who doesn't often hold back when asked a question about something, especially when the question has an obvious answer. So this week, a week during which the band called off a tour with Megadeth because of Tom Araya's immediate medical issues, King spoke to New York magazine, and guess what? He doesn't like Christian metal.

Seriously. The tatted-up guitarist for blasphemous thrash metallers Slayer, who have a new album out containing two songs about serial killing and another track with the lyrics "I'm a godless heretic / Not a god-fearing lunatic / That's why it's become my obsession / To treat God like an infection," doesn't dig on bands like Underoath and Norma Jean and the Chariot. Shocking, right?

When asked which metal trend he'd most like to see dissolved, King let loose.

"There seems to be a plentiful amount of metal bands that are like, religious, so to speak," he says. "Personally, for me, it's an odd thing ... bands that are doing metal, but they're singing, like, Jesus metal. And I don't mean Stryper. When I hear them I'm like, 'Oh they're one of them Jesus bands.' It's enough of a distaste to me that I don't even want to hear it."

But he didn't stop there. When asked why he feels God is bad, King said, "I think it's force-fed upon people, especially in America and especially in certain parts of America, where it's just a way of life. People just accept it without questioning it. I think anybody's entitled to whatever opinion on anything, but I also think you need to suss out these opinions and why you believe what you believe. Just don't believe blindly."

Later, King was asked about regrets. Reflecting on what's nearly 30 years for Slayer, what advice would he give to a younger version of himself? "Pay more attention to the mix on [1994's] 'Divine Intervention,'" King says.