Four years, nine months and 23 days – that’s how long Slayer’s retirement lasted. When the thrash icons announced back in February that they would be returning with a trio of festival shows after they took their allegedly final bow in November 2019, it was a complete shock – not least because guitarist Kerry King was about to drop his debut solo album, taking a few shots at his not-so-former bandmate, Tom Araya, in the press in the process.
But you can’t keep a great band down. The two comeback shows they played in the US (Hurricane Helene put paid to the third) were as triumphant as we wanted, celebrating past glories and burnishing their legacy. They’re warning us not to expect any new music, but think of it this way: a world with Slayer back in it is infinitely better than a world without them. In celebration of their live reunion, we asked longtime super-fan and Body Count leader Ice-T for his take.
Did you expect a Slayer comeback in 2024?
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“I always expected it would happen. Kerry King has come out and done his own band, but it’s not gonna take much to get them back together. It’s different when a group retires to when a group breaks up. When a group breaks up, you may never see them again. But when a group retires, that’s just taking a break. I’m like, ‘Yeah, that means they’ll retire from the ritual of touring, but they’ll play one-off gigs down the road.’ The worst thing is to retire and nobody gives a fuck and people go ‘Good riddance’, but that’s never gonna happen with Slayer, is it?!”
Do you want to hear new music from them?
“Of course. You always want to hear new music from bands you love. That’s like saying Body Count shouldn’t make a new album. They should do whatever the fuck they want.”
Why do Slayer still matter after all this time?
“Slayer’s a one-off band. There’s no group like them. They created a sound – they’re the bar as far as precision, this fast thing that knows how to stop on a dime. Body Count have been fortunate enough to work with them, they’ve allowed us to cover them. We’re in debt to Slayer forever.”
