Kerry King's history with Pantera and his love for the band runs deep.
The Slayer guitarist met Phil Anselmo, Dimebag Darrell, Rex Brown and Vinnie Paul back in the Eighties, and they all hit it off royally. King would hang out with the guys and jam with them onstage frequently over the intervening years, influencing Dime, in particular, to take a more aggressive, thrash-inflected approach to his guitar playing. Pantera paid their respects to Slayer on Reinventing the Steel's "Goddamn Electric" ("Your trust is in whisky, weed and Slayer") and even invited King to lay down a guitar solo on the track.
Below, King pays his own respects, singing the praises of his favorite Pantera song.
"Becoming"
My favorite Pantera song? That's tough, man. As much as I've played 'Fucking Hostile' with them live, I've got to go with 'Becoming.' That's just one you turn on and you've got to turn your radio up as far as it will go.
When I first heard it, I thought they were using samples. You know that guitar squeal that Dime got? I got all pissed off, Why are these fucking guys using samples? [Laughs] And later I came to realize that, of course not. Dime is doing it with his feet with guitar pedals."
Below, see Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown join Anthrax for an epic rendition of Pantera's "This Love," as well as the intro to Slayer's "Raining Blood" in tribute to Jeff Hanneman:
