One of my favorite things about any Kerry King interview is how hilariously blunt the guy is. King doesn’t strike as the kind of dude that you’ve got to pry an opinion out of – he’s gonna tell you.
In a recent interview with Reigning TV, King and Death Angel vocalist Mark Osegueda (who also plays in King‘s band) were asked if they prefer Metallica or Megadeth. Not one to mince words, King immediately responded: “I’m gonna be brutally honest. Metallica has a singer. Sorry Dave.”
King also noted that he likes James Hetfield over Dave Mustaine, adding: “James Hetfield. Sorry Dave, I know played in your band, but, I’m going with James.” And yes – King was briefly in Megadeth for a stint in 1984 before making Slayer his full-time gig.
Which isn’t to say that King doesn’t like Mustaine. In a 2023 interview with Metal Hammer, King heaped praise on Mustaine, with King saying of Mustaine, “Still to this day, he’s a fucking great guitar player.”
“[Metallica] were great at that point. They were ahead of [Slayer] by at least 16 months to a year. They were doing originals and we were still doing covers. I think we opened for Metallica with Mustaine, I can’t recall, but I know me and Dave [Lombardo] definitely saw them in a club and we were blown away by Mustaine.
“Still to this day, he’s a fucking great guitar player. It was very awesome, it wasn’t big clubs, you could see from anywhere, and I was very enamoured with seeing Mustaine play these insane leads and James [Hetfield] playing these insane rhythms and barking out these lyrics.”
Reflecting on the experience, King said in the interview: “It was way more extreme than what I thought metal was or could be, it was like another arm of it, so to speak.”
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