speaks onstage at the 2014 Revolver Golden Gods Awards at Club Nokia on April 23, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.
When you’ve developed a following of fans so devoted that they’ll literally carve your band’s name into their body, hateful internet comments are water off a duck’s back.
Slayer’s Kerry King revealed as much in a recent interview with SPIN. The metal guitarist and noted kitten-saver is preparing for blowback for the band’s new album Repentless, the first without drummer Dave Lombardo and guitarist Jeff Hanneman.
“People online are 10 feet tall and bulletproof. They just say what’s on their mind without having to have any ramifications. But I know people are gonna just hate this record because Jeff and Dave aren’t on it. And that’s fine because I know — just by people I’ve played this for in the industry — that it’s gonna be great.
And there’s gonna be people that say it sucks, period. There are gonna be people that say it sucks without listening to it. That’s just part of society… I mean, at the end of the day it’s about having thick skin and not letting one opinion get you down. It’s not like your girlfriend or wife just told you your record sucked. It’s some faceless idiot — just dipsh*ts on the internet.”
King also noted that Slayer’s situation is unique in getting to continue as a band in a collapsing music industry.
We’re still recording great albums, sure we are, but nobody’s buying ‘em. But we’re very lucky to have a fanbase that has to have every shirt we’ve ever made. So that’s pretty much how you gauge your popularity these days. It’s people coming to shows and people of all ages wearing our stuff.
To get a taste of Slayer’s new album, check out the making of the Danny Trejo prison gorefest music video for “Repentless.”
