Slayer’s Kerry King has weighed in on the Metallica vs. Megadeth debate, quipping that “Metallica has a singer!”
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The guitarist was quizzed on the long-running battle of his fellow ‘big four’ thrash metal bands during an interview on the YouTube show Reigning TV earlier this month, and he took the opportunity to send a dig to Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine.
One of a series of questions he was asked was, “James Hetfield or Dave Mustaine?”, to which he replied: “James Hetfield. Sorry Dave, I know I played in your band, but I’m going with James.”
A follow-up question was simply, “Metallica or Megadeth?”. King responded: “Metallica. I’m gonna be brutally honest, Metallica has a singer. Sorry, Dave!”
Watch the interview here:
In 1984, Mustaine, who had himself been a member of Metallica from 1981 to 1983, invited King to join his new band Megadeth, and he did play a few shows, but ultimately passed up on the opportunity due to his commitment to Slayer, who had released their debut album ‘Show No Mercy’ a year earlier.
At the start of this year, King spoke about his relationship with Mustaine, claiming the singer “can’t help but stick his foot in his mouth”, although clarified that he always has time for him.
Megadeth, meanwhile, have covered Metallica’s ‘Ride The Lightning’ for their upcoming self-titled final studio album, which is coming next year. Mustaine is credited with co-writing the song anyway, as he had been in the band when it was composed in the early ‘80s, and he has said their new version will be more faithful to the original composition than Metallica’s recorded rendition.
In May, Mustaine accused Metallica of stealing the ‘Enter Sandman’ riff from crossover thrash group Excel’s 1989 track ‘Tapping Into The Emotional Void’.
King, meanwhile, played pro wrestler Damian Priest to the ring at this year’s WrestleMania, playing guitar to his theme song ‘Rise For The Night’.
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