"It's nonstop badassery." Slayer guitarist Kerry King picks his favourite Black Sabbath album

Kerry King and Black Sabbath
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Living thrash metal legend Kerry King has named his favourite Black Sabbath album - and fans may not be too surprised to find that it's one of Sabbath's heaviest records. Speaking to Wall Of Sound, the Slayer guitarist says (transcribed by Blabbermouth): " I would take…It's easy and it's hard 'cause I'm a super Dio fan. But I would take Sabotage. Something about the vibe on that record. It's cool. I mean, they're all cool, but something about that one. Maybe Symptom Of The Universe. I don't know. It's nonstop badassery."

Released on July 28 1975, Sabotage was Black Sabbath's sixth studio album and is widely regarded as the final entry in Sabbath's first 'golden run' of records. Recorded at a time when tensions around the band were rising, Sabotage found Sabbath in a battle with their own management and their record label, Vertigo.

“We were constantly stoned,” explained bassist Geezer Butler later, “so we were never confrontational towards each other. It was an ‘us against them’ attitude in the band. We relied on each other – there was no one else we could trust.”

You may like

“We’d taken some knocks,” agreed drummer Bill Ward, “but we carried on. It was a tough band."

“That album,” Ward also noted, “it was so hard for us making it. But when I listen back to it now… God, it’s incredible.”

Black Sabbath split up in 2017 following a final reunion that began in 2011 - a reunion that Ward would ultimately sit out owing to contract disputes. Slayer, meanwhile, called it a day two years later, though they made a surprise return this year for two festival shows in the US. A third reunion show is planned for next year's Louder Than Life festival after bad weather caused part of this year's event to be cancelled, though Kerry King has recently insisted that fans should keep their expectations low when it comes to any more future Slayer activity.

"Mark my word: we're never gonna make a record again, we're never gonna tour again," he told Metal Roos this month. "Because that was the last thing. We said, 'This is our final tour.' It [then] took five years for us to come and say, 'Hey, here's a couple of shows, five-year anniversary.'"

Merlin Alderslade
Executive Editor, Louder

Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site. 

Read more
Kerry King in 2024
“Iron Maiden’s tough, because it’s a very different vibe between Killers and Number Of The Beast”: Slayer’s Kerry King names his five perfect metal albums
Black Sabbath posing against a wall in 1975
"Flashes of utter brilliance mixed with too many extra-curricular activities and bad management." Black Sabbath's Sabotage is the end of a golden age - and the point cracks are beginning to show
Kerry King in 2024
“If you look at the leads he was doing and when he was doing them, he kind of innovated a lot of that stuff”: Slayer’s Kerry King names metal’s most overlooked guitarist
Ice-T/Slayer
"We're in debt to Slayer forever." Ice-T explains why Slayer's comeback is great for metal fans
Kerry King in 2023 and Dave Mustaine onstage with Megadeth in 2024
“Dave Mustaine can’t help but stick his foot in his mouth”: Slayer’s Kerry King explains his relationships with Metallica members old and new
Kerry King in 2024
“He’s really, really good, and he’s definitely more melodic than me”: Slayer’s Kerry King names the guitarist who “plays circles” around him
Latest in
Queen posing for a photograph in 1978
"Freddie’s ideas were off the wall and cheeky and different, and we tended to encourage them, but sometimes they were not brilliant.” Queen's Brian May reveals one of Freddie Mercury's grand ideas that got vetoed by the rest of the band
Mogwai
“The concept of cool and uncool is completely gone, which is good and bad… people are unashamedly listening to Rick Astley. You’ve got to draw a line somewhere!” Mogwai and the making of prog-curious album The Bad Fire
Adrian Smith performing with Iron Maiden in 2024
Adrian Smith names his favourite Iron Maiden song, even though it’s “awkward” to play
Robert Smith, Lauren Mayberry, Bono
How your purchase of albums by The Cure, U2, Chvrches and more on Record Store Day can help benefit children living in war zones worldwide
Cradle Of Filth performing in 2021 and Ed Sheeran in 2024
Cradle Of Filth’s singer claims Ed Sheeran tried to turn a Toys R Us into a live music venue
The Beatles in 1962
"The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have?" Record shop owner finds 1962 Beatles' audition tape that a British label famously decided wasn't good enough to earn Lennon and McCartney's band a record deal
Latest in News
Queen posing for a photograph in 1978
"Freddie’s ideas were off the wall and cheeky and different, and we tended to encourage them, but sometimes they were not brilliant.” Queen's Brian May reveals one of Freddie Mercury's grand ideas that got vetoed by the rest of the band
Adrian Smith performing with Iron Maiden in 2024
Adrian Smith names his favourite Iron Maiden song, even though it’s “awkward” to play
Robert Smith, Lauren Mayberry, Bono
How your purchase of albums by The Cure, U2, Chvrches and more on Record Store Day can help benefit children living in war zones worldwide
Cradle Of Filth performing in 2021 and Ed Sheeran in 2024
Cradle Of Filth’s singer claims Ed Sheeran tried to turn a Toys R Us into a live music venue
The Beatles in 1962
"The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have?" Record shop owner finds 1962 Beatles' audition tape that a British label famously decided wasn't good enough to earn Lennon and McCartney's band a record deal
Lizzo and Sister Rosetta Tharpe onstage
"This is my baby, my passion – because Rosetta deserves": Lizzo to play rock'n'roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe in upcoming biopic