Kerry King: “For me Deep Purple is a metal band”
The founder of the thrash metal band the Slayer Kerry King he recently released his first solo album entitled “From Hell I Rise”so it is not surprising that in this period is often interviewed. In a meeting I had with American Musical Supply together with the former guitarist of Deicide Chris CannellaKing revealed his main musical influences outside of metal.
When asked if he liked any other genres of music outside of metal, the 59-year-old Los Angeles guitarist replied: “Hard rock, '70s rock, but it could be anything from Elton John to The Deep Purple to me is a metal band. I think a lot of people call them that, but to me they're quite metal.”
Cinnamon chimed in on the conversation saying, “Putting a keyboard through a Marshall.
It's pretty metal.” And King added: “Jon Lord (Deep Purple's keyboardist) was like God.”
Already in 2017, speaking with Rolling Stone magazine, Kerry King did not fail to express his admiration for the Deep Purple and their guitarist Ritchie Blackmore claiming that they had had a major influence on thrash metal. “As for Blackmore, I love Deep Purple and I love Rainbow until Dio left and tried to go the pop route with Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner. I would say his work in Deep Purple influenced thrash. If I had to choose my favorite Deep Purple album, I would probably opt for “Machine Head” (1972 album, ed.)”.
According to King, i Deep Purple they were faster than Black Sabbath: “On 'Highway Star' it seemed like Ritchie was more interested in playing faster tempos than Sabbath. It took Sabbath a long time to get anywhere quickly. I would say it probably happened in God's era with “Neon Knights” (song included on Black Sabbath's 1980 album “Heaven and hell”, ed.). For me it's thrash, but Blackmore was thrash way before that.”
In 2022
Kerry King
he also talked about grunge and expressed his admiration for the
Alice In Chains
and for their singer,
Layne Staley
praising
“Them Bones”
(song included in Alice in Chains' 1992 album “Dirt”, ed.) for its heaviness and disturbing vocals.
