Posted by wookubus
Former Slayer guitarist Kerry King has lifted the veil on his new ‘solo’ venture. The tenured thrash metal veteran is launching his titular new band this year, with the first single, “Idle Hands“, having newly made its way online below. King has also unveiled the roster of musicians joining him in that venture, all of whom are seasoned vets.
That lineup includes:
Vocals: Mark Osegueda (Death Angel)
Guitars: Kerry King (ex-Slayer)
Guitars: Phil Demmel (Vio-lence, ex-Machine Head)
Bass: Kyle Sanders (HELLYEAH, ex-bloodsimple.)
Drums: Paul Bostaph (ex-Slayer, etc.)
The debut album from the project was recorded with producer Josh Wilbur (Lamb Of God, All That Remains) and has been titled “From Hell I Rise“. It is scheduled to meet a May 17th release date through Reigning Phoenix Music.
“From Hell I Rise” track listing:
01 – “Diablo”
02 – “Where I Reign”
03 – “Residue”
04 – “Idle Hands”
05 – “Trophies Of The Tyant”
06 – “Crucifixation”
07 – “Tension”
08 – “Everything I Hate About You”
09 – “Toxic”
10 – “Two Fists”
11 – “Rage”
12 – “Shrapnel”
13 – “From Hell I Rise”
King‘s reveal of the project coincides with a newly published interview with Rolling Stone. As for this first single, he told the aforementioned publication that it is one of a pair of tracks (the other being “Rage“) which he carried over from the sessions for Slayer‘s farewell album, “Repentless“.
“It was finished, we recorded it. I wasn’t happy with the performance part of it, so I was like, ‘All right, I’ll put this in my back pocket until the next Slayer record.’ And that didn’t happen, so it’s now on my record.”
King also mentioned that he currently has an abundance of material up his sleeve, with four more song ideas from the “Repentless” sessions still existing, while six unused songs from this debut album’s sessions exist, along with new material he continues to write.
As for the significance of the title to this introductory track, he stated, “‘Idle Hands‘ are what I’ve been doing the last four years. That and ‘From Hell I Rise‘ have been my frame of mind in the last four-and-a-half years.”
While rumors emerged in 2022 of King potentially planning to call this project ‘Blood Reign‘, it turns out that King had also been considering the moniker of ‘King’s Reign‘ for the project. He explained:
“…It was going to be King’s Reign for a long time, which is really cool. But even with that one, I went to the guys, like, ‘I’m not a vain dude. I don’t want my name to be a part of it.’ We talked about Blood Reign for a while, but it didn’t work. Every time I came up with anything remotely cool, it was taken by some obscure band in Eastern Europe. It became Kerry King because I love that logo.”
King also revealed that Pantera, Down, etc. vocalist Phil Anselmo was indeed at one point in the running for the vocal position in the band:
“It was considered. My management, my promoter, my record label all wanted Phil. Phil’s a good friend of mine, but I always thought he’s not the right guy. That has nothing to do with his ability; I just knew he wasn’t the right guy. When you hear Mark on this record, you know that’s the guy.”
“I had to do due diligence, because at the end of the day, had Philip been the guy, we’d be in arenas immediately because we could play new stuff, we could play Pantera, we could play Slayer, and fans would’ve been happy. It ended when the Pantera thing came up.”
Amid the chat, King also spoke of the dissolution of Slayer. At one point in the interview King copped to playing bass on many of Slayer‘s records, offering, “Since the early Nineties I’ve done all the rhythm guitars and all the bass [on Slayer records]. I’ve always done bass because my guy [Tom Araya] really didn’t.”
Speaking later on why he thinks Tom pulled the plug on Slayer, he offered:
“I think just the wear and tear of the road. I think he wanted to be home. None of us are real spotlight seekers, but he’s certainly not. And when Jeff [Hanneman] was around, he was like a hermit. He did not want fame. I tolerate fame. Somebody’s got to be that guy.”
King also referenced the infamous Donald Trump Instagram post shared by Araya back in 2017 and his own reaction to it. King stated:
“I was super pissed off at that — but not enough to f*cking quit my band. I was like, ‘Dude, that’s what your personal social media is for. You’re the only one in this band that gives a sh*t about this idiot, and when you put it up there, we’re all backing him.’ And I am not [backing Trump], Gary’s not, Paul is not. That’s your opinion, not ours. I would never do that to you.”
King also went on to say that he hasn’t spoken with Araya since the band hung it up with their farewell show back in November of 2019. As King put it, the pair haven’t so much as exchanged a text or email. He elaborated, “If Tom hit me up, I’d probably respond. It probably depends on what he hit me up for, but I don’t wish him dead at this moment.”
King also declared former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo as being “dead to me.” Lombardo and the band fell out back in 2013 amid a public contractual dispute. King told Rolling Stone of that situation amid this new interview:
“He was listening to this woman that was his attorney at the time, and she thought we had Metallica money, which we’ve never had f*cking Metallica money. So she’s just blowing sh*t in his ear, and he thinks he should be getting more than he should be getting. It’s like, talk to somebody that actually knows the situation and isn’t just blowing sunshine up your ass to make money in your commission.”
The interview also saw King speaking on his personal distaste for Donald Trump and various incidents that took place amid his past presidency, some of which lyrically influenced the new album. King also opened up on losing Jeff Hanneman and more. You can read the full piece over at Rolling Stone.
At the moment King‘s band have the following two live shows booked:
05/09 Daytona Beach, FL – Welcome To Rockville
05/16 Columbus, OH – Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival
