Kerry King Announces Debut Solo Album, Unveils Band Members and First Single “Idle Hands”: Stream

The post Kerry King Announces Debut Solo Album, Unveils Band Members and First Single “Idle Hands”: Stream appeared first on Consequence.

Kerry King has announced his debut solo album, From Hell I Rise, arriving May 17th, along with the lead single “Idle Hands.” The guitarist has also unveiled the members of his post-Slayer band.

The official announcement comes years after King symbolically left his iconic chain onstage at the end of Slayer’s final concert in 2019 at The Forum in Los Angeles. At the time, King was quick to inform fans that he would be forming a new solo band to carry on the sound and ethos of Slayer — whose retirement King felt was “premature”.

“I knew early on that I wasn’t done,” remarked King in the press release for the album, “and I had no intention of not continuing to play.”

“Idle Hands” is the first song out of “two full albums” worth of material that King claims to have accumulated in the years since Slayer’s retirement — a period of gestation that was lengthened by the pandemic. Slayer fans will immediately recognize King’s axework on the blitzing thrash track, including one of his signature unhinged solos. As expected, the overall sound falls very close to the guitarist’s former band.

King tapped a supergroup of fellow thrash vets to form his new band, including drummer Paul Bostaph (Slayer), bassist Kyle Sanders (Hellyeah), guitarist Phil Demmel (ex-Machine Head), and Death Angel’s Mark Osegueda on vocals.

Everyone locks in with King’s obviously Slayer-influenced direction without trying to directly emulate Slayer or sound like a tribute act. While Bostaph as a onetime Slayer drummer naturally fits in with King’s vision for the band, Osegueda sticks to the same distinct and more punkish delivery he uses in Death Angel — an intriguing change from the barks and spitfire vocals of Tom Araya.

As for Osegueda, the Death Angel singer has said via Facebook that he is “proud” of his contributions to From Hell I Rise, but also assured fans that he is “still very much the lead vocalist of Death Angel.”

The album was produced by Josh Wilbur (Korn, Lamb of God) and mostly recorded at Henson Studios in Los Angeles in about two weeks this past summer. According to King, the rest of the album explores “various religious topics, some war entries, heavy stuff, punky stuff, doomy stuff, and spooky stuff, with Herculean speeds achieved.” He also promises that “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.”

Added Wilbur on the recording process: “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. 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.”

This is only the beginning of King’s solo career. The guitarist went on to say that he has “so many songs that need to be finished.” He’s also got live dates on the books, with appearances at Welcome to Rockville on May 9th and Sonic Temple Festival on May 16th slated to be the first two live performances of his solo band.

“This is what I know how to do…number one being music, number two being metal,” said King. “It’s been a part of my life for 40 years, and I’m nowhere near being done.”

You can pre-order King’s forthcoming debut solo album via his online store. Stream “Idle Hands” and see the album art and tracklist below.

From Hell I Rise Artwork:

From Hell I Rise Tracklist:
01. Diablo
02. Where I Reign
03. Residue
04. Idle Hands
05. Trophies Of The Tyrant
06. Crucifixation
07. Tension
08. Everything I Hate About You
09. Toxic
10. Two Fists
11. Rage
12. Shrapnel
13. From Hell I Rise

Kerry King Announces Debut Solo Album, Unveils Band Members and First Single “Idle Hands”: Stream
Jon Hadusek

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