Slayer and Metallica began to unleash thrash metal on the world at nearly the same time. Metallica started playing shows locally in Southern California less than a year before Slayer took off. As a result, Kerry King remembers watching and meeting some of the band’s early members including current Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine.
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Recently, King appeared on the Lipps Service podcast with host Scott Lipps to talk about his new album and reflect on his legendary career in metal. During the conversation, recalled seeing Metallica with their original lineup and shared his thoughts on Mustaine.
[RELATED: 4 Songs from Kerry King’s Debut Solo Album ‘From Hell I Rise’ That Slayer Fans Will Love]
Kerry King on Why He Won’t Hang Out with Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine
Kerry King recalled seeing Metallica at a club called The Woodstock in the early ‘80s. “When I first saw Mustaine, I was sitting kind of between James [Hetfield] and [Ron] McGovney where the audience is,” he recalled. “I was just blown away watching Mustaine just ripping on guitar and not even looking at his fingers and I’m like ‘I can’t do that.’ To this day, he’s a badass guitar player,” King added.
While King respects Mustaine as an artist and guitarist, they don’t hang out. “Mustaine’s cool,” he said when Lipps asked him about his relationship with the Megadeth frontman. “But Mustaine’s one of those guys that he can’t help but stick his foot in his mouth. So, you know, I’ll take my 20 minutes and I’ll bolt before anything gets uncomfortable,” King explained.
How Mustaine “Puts His Foot in His Mouth”
According to a Loudwire report, Mustaine’s former bandmates Jeff Young (guitar) and (Dave Ellefson) don’t have many kind things to say about their former bandleader. Former Megadeth drummer Shawn Drover explained one reason why so many have negative opinions about Mustaine. “I think some of it may come from his political viewpoints at any given time. You know how that goes—politics and religion can definitely rub people the wrong way,” he said. “That’s certainly, I would say, maybe part of it. Which I never had any comment of any sort on any of that stuff,” he added.
In the past, Mustaine has stated that he opposed same-sex marriage. Additionally, he has endorsed conspiracy theories including a future one-world government bent on microchipping its citizens, and has made comments about the September 11 attacks being an inside job, citing Alex Jones’ talking points on the terrorist attack.
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