In a new interview with Metal Hammer, Body Count’s Ice-T talked about Slayer, and their comeback after disbanding in 2019.
“I always expected it would happen,” he told the magazine. “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.”
He continued, “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?”
Fans aren’t the only people who want to hear new music from Slayer. “Of course. You always want to hear new music from bands you love,” Ice-T said of new Slayer material. “That’s like saying Body Count shouldn’t make a new album. They should do whatever the f*ck they want.”
While Ice-T is hopeful to hear new music from Slayer, Kerry King earlier said Slayer would never make another album again. “Mark my word: we’re never gonna make a record again, we’re never gonna tour again. Because that was the last thing,” he said during a chat with Metal Roos. “We said [back in 2018], ‘This is our final tour.’ It took five years for us to come and say, ‘Hey, here’s a couple of shows, five-year anniversary.'”
In February 2024, Slayer announced their first show since disbanding at Riot Fest on September 22, with a second show at Louder Than Life on September 27. Louder Than Life canceled the September 27 shows due to Hurricane Helene but later announced the rescheduled dates. The festival will now take place from September 18 to 21 this year.
