Slayer Guitarist Kerry King Details Upcoming Solo Album

2024-02-09

Kerry King solo album news: The guitarist is detailing his upcoming new set – Author Scarlett Hunter, Photo via Anne Erickson

One of the most anticipated albums of the year in the metal genre is former Slayer guitarist Kerry King’s upcoming solo album, “From Hell I Rise.” The set will hit stores on May 17, and lead single “Idle Hands” is very Slayer-esq, with heavy guitars and a very heavy metal vibe.

It’s so wild to think that Slayer has been retired since 2019. Their final show took place at The Forum in Los Angeles. Unlike many bands of their era, Slayer called it quits fairly early. King certainly felt that he had a lot of musical juice left in him. So, after Slayer played their final tour, King announced that he would be putting together a new solo band that would carry the same aura of Slayer. He wants the Slayer tradition to live on a bit longer.

As for the new music, it’s a long time coming. “I knew early on that I wasn’t done,” King said in a press release about the new album, adding, “and I had no intention of not continuing to play.”

“Idle Hands” marks the first solo song that King has ever released, and he says that he has two more full albums ready to go. He’s been putting together new music since Slayer’s retirement, including during the pandemic, when musicians had nothing better than to sit around and create new music. Listening to “Idle Hands” and the new music, it really does sound like Slayer 2.0. His band even includes Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph, alongside a supergroup of Hellyeah bass player Kyle Sanders (Hellyeah), former Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel (ex-Machine Head) and Death Angel singer Mark Osegueda.

For the album, King worked with producer Josh Wilbur, who has worked with Korn and Lamb of God, at Henson Studios in Los Angeles. Listeners should expect “various religious topics, some war entries, heavy stuff, punky stuff, doomy stuff, and spooky stuff, with Herculean speeds achieved.” He adds, “if you’ve ever liked any Slayer throughout any part of our history, there’s something on this record that you’ll get into, be it classic punk, fast punk, thrash, or just plain heavy metal.”

Wilbur said, “I didn’t know what to think, you know, it’s Kerry King from Slayer, who I’ve heard a million times. 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.”

Wilbur continues, “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.”

To pre-order King’s forthcoming debut solo album, head to his online store here. Also, listen to his debut single, “Idle Hands,” here. It’s super heavy, so don’t be surprised by the dollop of power.

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Scarlett Hunter

Meet the expert - Scarlett Hunter has written about alternative music for a variety of publications over the past 10 years. She covers alternative and rock for Audio Ink Radio. Hunter is a graduate of Ohio State University. Contact her at scarlett@audioinkradio.com.

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