King is hopeful of releasing the record in 2013. “As usual, every time we get ready to put out a record, American Recordings changes distribution, so that always holds us up. So we’ve got three weeks ‘til we’re done in Australia, and hopefully all their pieces fall where they need to fall, we can get some contracts done and start recording. We’ve got plenty of music; I’m taking my days off in Australia to work on lyrics, so hopefully we’ll just get closer to the end product, so we’re not going to waste a lot of time in the studio. I think it’s pretty much Slayer. As a guitar player I try to come up with things I’ve never heard us do or maybe I’ve never heard anybody else do, but still in the parameters of super heavy music. If you get a surprise, I would say chances are it’s still heavy; you’re just not used to hearing heavy in that way.”
EXODUS' Gary Holt continues to fill in for injured guitarist Jeff Hanneman live. “If he came in, knocked on my door in five minutes and said, ‘Hey dude, I’m ready, let’s go practice’, I’d say, ‘Good, get your gear, let’s go practice’,” King explains. “But until that day comes, I’ve gotta cover Slayer’s butt and have his gig filled in. ‘Cause I don’t want it to be a carousel, where there’s, if Gary can’t do it we get somebody else and if he can’t do it we get somebody else again. I want to have continuity. We told Gary when our schedule is and said, ‘Please keep it open’, because we don’t know when Jeff’s gonna be able to play guitar. Jeff’s kind of like a wait-and-see thing.”
When asked about the 30th anniversary of their debut, Show No Mercy, King reflects: “I wish somebody told us before Reign In Blood we didn’t need reverb,” he chuckles when reflecting upon their first full-length. “But it’s good shit, you know? People always ask me, ‘Do you think you should go re-record Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits?’ I say no, because those are a moment in time and that’s what Slayer was. If we were recording them again now, the way Slayer sounds… Rule number one: it would sound like a completely different record. Which could be good or bad, I don’t know. But people love those historically for what they are.”
Read more at Themusic.com.au.
The full dates for Soundwave 2013 are as follows
February
23 – Brisbane, Australia - RNA Showgrounds
24 - Sydney , Australia - Olympic Park
March
1 – Melbourne, Australia - Flemington Racecourse
2 – Adelaide, Australia - Bonython Park
4 - Perth, Australia - Claremont Showground
