After revealing the results of the Consequence Guitarist Survey, we’re back for more Guitar Week festivities with Kerry King’s individual ballot. Be sure to check out our list of the 100 Best Guitarists of All Time, plus Kirk Hammett’s recent Crate Digging where he breaks down 11 albums he thinks every guitarist should own.
Before he launched Slayer as a co-lead guitarist and songwriter in 1981, Kerry King was completely enamored with the burgeoning heavy metal scene. Black Sabbath and Judas Priest were game-changing discoveries for him at an early age, and when Van Halen burst on the scene in the late ’70s, he saw them live “six times on the first three records.” Once he picked up the guitar at the age of 13, he never looked back.
It was all the right place and the right time for King, who went on to pioneer thrash metal alongside Jeff Hanneman, Tom Araya, and Dave Lombardo. In their impactful discography, you can easily spot some of King’s primary influences in Slayer’s aggressive, whirlwind sound: the dark mayhem of Tony Iommi, the innovative shreds of Eddie Van Halen, the awe-striking majesty of Ritchie Blackmore, the playful grooves of Glenn Tipton.
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And while most players who filled out the Consequence Guitar Survey listed only five of their favorites, King is a rebel at heart and included six guitarists instead — because how can you not talk about Dimebag Darrell? Read on for King’s six picks and why they left an impact on him. Then see where his selections landed on our list of the 100 Best Guitarists of All Time.
Meanwhile, King heads back on the road for more shows with Slayer this summer and fall; get tickets to see them here.
Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath)
Tony Iommi, photo by Chiaki Nozu/WireImage
Yeah, it can’t be anyone else. I mean, realistically, if you are remotely a metal fan — heavy metal, thrash metal, whatever metal — Tony started it all. And without Tony, a lot of us wouldn’t be here. I think it’s safe to say, without Tony, bands like [Judas] Priest might be very different, because he was truly the originator. If you like anything metal, you like Black Sabbath. If you don’t, you’re kidding yourself.
Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow)
Ritchie Blackmore, photo by Frank Hoensch/Redferns
Ritchie Blackmore… the way he wrote music is hard to explain. It sounds different than any other songwriter. That kind of makes sense, but whether it was with Rainbow or Deep Purple, you can generally tell when Ritchie is playing guitar. He has a very unique style.
He wrote some heavy, heavy-hitter songs in the ’70s, and since then as well. But in the ’70s, Deep Purple was huge — bigger than I ever thought of, going through a big Blackmore renaissance right now myself.
Content shared from consequence.net.