Kerry King Fires First Volley In Mayhem Catfight

Slayer guitarist Kerry King has written some of the most instantaneously awesome riffs in metal, but when he starts talking, it’s a whole different ball game.

King has never been one to censor himself, so when Musicradar.com asked him if he’d had their current Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Fest tourmates Killswitch Engage thrown off a previous tour, as had been rumored, King answered:

“We actually didn’t get to. I tried. Because I’d never seen ‘em live, and then I saw them live at some, I don’t know, maybe at Kerrang! awards over in Europe. And I’m just offended by the silliness that goes on on stage [on the part of] the guitar player [Adam Dutkiewicz]. He puts his foot in his mouth all the time and he says stupid shit, and I just didn’t think that side show should be on my stage. So I pulled the plug on the spot, but on that particular Jägermeister tour, we didn’t have any product and they did, so Jäger kind of insisted, and I went… They’re all friends of mine, so I said, ‘OK, I’ll deal with it.’ Still don’t like it.”

I mean sure, Adam D. is completely ridiculous onstage – he’s worn Daisy Dukes, regularly spouts off non-sequiters, and generally has fun. But honestly, what’s sillier, Dutkiewicz’ antics, or a man in his mid ’40s talking about how dumb religion is but how awesome Satan is (yo Kerry, Satanism IS a religion). And what could Adam D. wear that’s any more ridiculous than this? At the end of the day, I’d rather judge both bands on their music, not their message, but I’m sure this rivalry, if you can call it that, has made for some interesting backstage encounters at the Mayhem Fest so far.