The Los Angeles Forum, just before midnight on Saturday, November 30, 2019. Slayer’s Kerry King stood center stage, his signature chains hung from his belt, he walked over to stage right, unhooked the chains and held them high, dropped them onto the stage floor, turned around and walked off the stage.
“I knew early on that I wasn’t done, and I had no intention of not continuing to play.” — Kerry King
With enough new material for two full albums, all written by King, if it hadn’t been for the COVID pandemic, his long-awaited solo project would likely have emerged back in 2020. For his debut album, From Hell I Rise, due out May 17 on Reigning Phoenix Music, King, on lead guitar, enlisted drummer Paul Bostaph (Slayer), bassist Kyle Sanders (Hellyeah), Phil Demmel (formerly Machine Head) on lead guitar, and vocalist Mark Osegueda (Death Angel). Working with producer Josh Wilbur (Korn, Lamb of God, Avenged Sevenfold, Bad Religion), the vast bulk of King’s solo album was recorded at Henson Studios in Los Angeles in about two weeks, and was finished this past June.
“I didn’t know what to think, you know, it’s Kerry King from Slayer who I’ve heard a million times,” said Wilbur. “He’s a very strong presence. I wouldn’t say Kerry has an ego, but he has confidence in himself, which is a good thing. That’s what you want in your rock stars and in your band. He never comes off as a jerk or mean guy. But he does know exactly what he wants. He doesn’t beat around the bush. He’s like, ‘I don’t want to do that, but I want to do this.’ Very direct, but it comes from a place of confidence, and not from a place of anything else. I really enjoyed working with Kerry.”
According to King, the new music consists of “various religious topics, some war entries, heavy stuff, punky stuff, doomy stuff, and spooky stuff, with Herculean speeds achieved. If you’ve ever liked any Slayer throughout any part of our history,” he adds, “there’s something on this record that you’ll get into, be it classic punk, fast punk, thrash, or just plain heavy metal!”
Also announced today is the release of Idle Hands, the debut track from King’s upcoming solo project. It’s fast, it’s aggressive, it will smash you up against a brick wall, leave you breathless…and wanting more.
