It seems like every band who breaks up these days inevitably ends up getting back together, but Gary Holt really thinks Slayer are done for good. The Exodus bandleader, who moonlit as Slayer's guitarist from 2013 through their breakup in 2019, was recently asked if he thinks the thrash pioneers will ever reunite, and his answer wasn't hopeful: " I don't think it's ever gonna happen," Holt said.
Back in 2021, less than two years after they wrapped up their final tour in November 2019, co-founding guitarist Kerry King said that Slayer "quit too early," and expressed serious remorse about what he's since described as the band's "premature" retirement.
"The reason I say 'premature' is because my heroes from my childhood are still playing," King told Metal Hammer earlier this year. "I can still play, I still want to play, but that livelihood got taken away from me."
Even so, Holt thinks that the band's days are done. Speaking at a guitar clinic this past Monday (July 17th) at Pitbull Audio in California, Holt said that while he'd immediately jump at the opportunity to kickstart Slayer, he doesn't believe that that day will ever come.
"Ah, man. You've gotta talk to other people. That's outta my pay grade," Holt said when a fan asked about a potential reunion, as transcribed by Blabbermouth. "Look, if anybody ever asked me to do it, of course I'd be down to do it.
"But I don't think it's ever gonna happen. I think the band's ended. Unlike all the other farewell tours that started five years ago and are still continuing, I think this one's over."
Fortunately, fans have King's new band to look forward to, which is confirmed to feature ex-Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph, and is slated to be revealed before the clock strikes 2024. "You know me, so you know what it's going to sound like," King revealed last summer.
