“I haven’t been in the same room with a single one of them since I left for the airport after our last show”: Gary Holt is looking forward to the Slayer reunion
Five years on from their Farewell Tour, thrash metal titans Slayer are set to play a trio of festivals this autumn. While there are no plans for a fully-fledged reunion, thrash fans are rejoicing – and the band themselves are equally as excited.
In an interview with the Scandalous podcast, guitarist Gary Holt is almost giddy when discussing the upcoming Slayer dates at Riot Fest, Louder Than Life and Aftershock. “It’s gonna be fun!” he enthuses. “I’ve had to relearn a lot. It’s been five years, and I’m trying to be ready for whatever Kerry [King] and Tom [Araya] decide they wanna do.”
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Since Slayer called it quits, Holt has been focusing on his own band, Exodus. Understandably, he’s forgotten a few riffs. “I don’t know the whole catalogue,” he admits. “Obviously, I’ve learned the hits… Of course, we’re gonna play Angel Of Death…”
Holt explains how Slayer allows him to focus solely on shredding his heart out. “The thing I always liked most about playing in Slayer was it allowed me just to be a guitar player,” he explains. “I didn’t have to make decisions, just be prepared to go out and shred. I try to play the role of a guitar hero.”
“There’s a lot of solos,” he says. “Sometimes there’s two or three solos in one song! [I] just go out and have fun. They always just accepted me to play like me, and I tried to pay homage to [ex-guitarist] Jeff [Hannenman] as best as I could, but at the same time being true to my own self as a guitar player. And it always worked.”
While the music is certainly exciting, Holt is mostly looking forward to performing alongside his old bandmates again. “I’m looking forward to seeing those guys again, ’cause the pandemic happened and I haven’t seen anybody since then,” he admits. “We talked, but I haven’t been in the same room with a single one of them since I left for the airport after the last show. So it’ll be a good time.”
Bandmate Kerry King has also voiced similar thoughts. Speaking to ClassicRockHistory.com, King expresses his own excitement over performing with the gang again. “It’ll be fun to play with Gary for a few gigs,” he says. “I haven’t seen him in almost five years! It’ll be cool to get together with Tom and spit some hate out at people.”
But King is firm on one crucial point: “Don’t get used to this being a yearly event!”
In an interview with Metal Hammer, King further knuckled down on the fact that Slayer will not be reuniting. “This is not going to translate into recording and it’s not going to translate into touring,” he asserts. “For me, it’s three shows marking five years since our final shows. A fun, ‘Hey, remember us from before the pandemic?’ celebration.”
Back in May, Kerry King released his knockout solo debut, From Hell I Rise. Considering the response was overwhelmingly positive, it’s clear that that solo life is treating him well. There’s no looking back.
So fans better make sure they hop along, because there’s no guarantee that Slayer will regroup after these September dates. And it’s sure to sound great, as King tells ClassicRockHistory.com: “it’s the same heads, same cabs, same pedals, same guitars. You know, there will be a lot of fire when SLAYER plays… those shows will just be fun.”
Slayer will be performing this September and October. Tickets to Riot Fest, Louder Than Life and Aftershock are available now.
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