KERRY KING On GARY HOLT Contributing To Songwriting On Next SLAYER Album: 'It's A Possibility, For Sure'

Kerry King has once again said that he is “definitely open” to having fellow SLAYER guitarist Gary Holt contribute to the songwriting on the band’s next album.

Holt, who is still a member of San Francisco Bay Area thrash icons EXODUS, has been the touring guitarist for SLAYER since January 2011 when the band’s co-founding guitarist, Jeff Hanneman, contracted necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating disease, from a spider bite in his backyard. The infection ravaged the flesh and tissues of Hanneman‘s arm, leading to numerous surgeries, skin grafts and intense periods of rehab that forced him into semi-retirement and left him near death at several points.

Holt did not write any of the music on SLAYER‘s last album, 2015’s “Repentless”, although he did lay down guitar solos on most of the record’s twelve tracks.

In a brand new interview with Brazil’s Wikimetal, King confirmed that there is a chance that Holt will be more involved with the creative process next time around. “It’s a possibility, for sure,” he said (hear audio below). “We haven’t really talked about that. I mean, the ideas have come up, but then I know Gary‘s still full-heartedly into making EXODUS records. I think if the opportunity arises, I’m definitely open to it, but I also understand that we’ve got a band to write music for as well. So I’m not against it. It’s just something that we haven’t come to that bridge yet.”

Hanneman eventually died in May 2013 from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver. He is credited for writing many of SLAYER‘s classic songs, including “Angel Of Death” and “South Of Heaven”.

Holt told In The Loop magazine last year that he would be ready to contribute song ideas to SLAYER‘s next album, if he is asked to do so. He said: “I’ve certainly never been one to have a shortage of material, so yeah, it’s a bit premature, but down the line, if Kerry and Tom [Araya, bass/vocals] want me to, I have about as good of an insight into SLAYER‘s writing style by now as just about anybody. I think I could write some things that fit right in, sure. But right now, of course, we’re focused on the tour [in support of ‘Repentless’].”

Kerry previously told LA Weekly that part of the reason Holt wasn’t invited to write any material for “Repentless” was the fact that not enough time had passed since Hanneman‘s death. “I thought a long time about this, but I didn’t think SLAYER fans were ready for that yet,” he said. “Even though Gary‘s a household name in thrash, I didn’t feel that the first SLAYER record without Jeff should have Gary Holt contributing as a writer.”

Hanneman‘s last appearance with SLAYER was in April 2011, when he played an encore with the band at the “Big Four” concert in Indio, California.

Interview (audio):