"I had a blast," Slayer guitarist Kerry King enthuses, speaking of the making of the thrash pioneers' imminent new motion picture, The Repentless Killogy, in a new video interview, unveiled today, October 30th. He and frontman Tom Araya sat down to discuss the movie, which mixes a gory narrative short film with concert footage shot in 2017 at the Los Angeles Forum, and is set to premiere right before the end of their final world tour.
When the band first teamed with director BJ McDonnell, who helmed the narrative portion of The Repentless Killogy, they initially thought they were just making a one-off music video for the song "Repentless." This evolved into a trilogy of music videos, and now the new film. "I think it's really unique, and after I saw the 'Repentless' video, I was 'hands off,'" King says in the interview. "I know the direction and I know what's gonna be happening ... my job is to play the guitar. In this one, my job was to play the guitar and headbang."
The performance footage in the movie holds a special significance for the band members, having been filmed at L.A. venue The Forum. "It took all these fucking years to play there," Araya deadpans when asked about the band's choice to include that particular gig in the movie. He tells the story of coming to America from Chile as a child and starting the band in his new hometown, only to be banned from playing Los Angeles County for years and years. Naturally, when the ban was finally lifted, it was time for a homecoming. Slayer will be ending their whirlwind, multi-legged retirement tour at the venue, as well. "If the Forum will have us," concludes King, "that's where I want to end."
You can get tickets to see Slayer's The Repentless Killogy in theaters for a one-night-only event on November 6th at this location. The final leg of the band's farwell tour kicks off Saturday, November 2nd, in North Carolina before wrapping up at The Forum on the 30th.
