“That’s probably our fastest song. It’s not one I’m looking to play live any time soon!” Kerry King picks out the hardest Slayer song to play – and the greatest showcase of Jeff Hanneman’s talents

Kerry King may be one of thrash metal’s most iconic electric guitar players and hardmen, but he’s admitted there’s one particular Slayer song that still intimidates him.

Sitting down recently with Metal Hammer to answer fan-written questions, King singled out the hardest song from the band’s repertoire to play – and the song that people shouldn’t expect to grace Slayer setlists any time soon.

“I could go a number of ways with that [question],” he admits, before narrowing his choice. “I’ll say Dittohead for the sheer speed of it. That’s probably our fastest song, and it’s not one I’m looking to play live any time soon!”

He was then asked to pick his favorite riff written by his late guitar partner, Jeff Hanneman, whose wife recently gifted a rare ESP prototype to young sensation Maya Neelakantan.

“That’s difficult,” King replies. “I have to say Raining Blood [from 1986’s Reign In Blood],” he answers. “It’s not just one riff in that song, but a whole showcase. If you pushed me, I’d say the intro too, as people still sing along to that guitar line.”

Raining Blood – YouTube

Watch On

King released his first solo album, From Hell I Rise, earlier this year, following 12 LPs with the hard-edged thrashers. He’s confessed to Guitar World that life without Slayer “sucks”, and that releasing a solo album was the only way he knew to keep busy.

Slayer continued for six years after Jeff Hanneman’s passing in 2013, though much of the band’s fierce reputation rested upon the guitar partnership of Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, and so they called it a day in 2019.

The band reunited for three US festivals over the summer, but there are currently no plans for more shows to follow in their wake.