In a recent episode of “The Metal Forge” podcast, Phil Demmel discussed Kerry King‘s forthcoming debut solo album.
King will release his debut solo album, From Hell I Rise, on May 17. In addition to King, the album features DEATH ANGEL vocalist Mark Osegueda, longtime SLAYER drummer Paul Bostaph, former HELLYEAH bassist Kyle Sanders, and ex–MACHINE HEAD and ex-VIO-LENCE guitarist Phil Demmel.
Regarding From Hell I Rise and King‘s future plans, Demmel said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “I get kind of spoonfed information as it comes down, and that’s understandable. This thing has been kind of hush for four-plus years now. And I’m given information on a need-to-know basis, and I’m totally fine with that; that’s what I signed up for. This is Kerry‘s venture. This is Kerry‘s band. And I play lead guitar for Kerry.
He continued: “So the record comes out in May. Almost all the songs are pretty new. I think that there was a holdover track — one or two — from the [SLAYER] Repentless session that he had. But the songs are strong. I think people will be — not shocked, but kind of like… Everybody’s on this whole, ‘Jeff [Hanneman, late SLAYER guitarist] wrote all the good [SLAYER] songs. Kerry‘s songs suck,’ kind of…”
When asked about the impact of such remarks, Demmel responded: “Well, it doesn’t affect me at all. I mean, I didn’t write any of the material. I, of course, want it to be accepted well. I like it, and Kerry‘s my friend. I want his creation to be met with agreeing terms or people that like it and people that will give it a chance instead of, like I said, ‘Jeff wrote all the good [SLAYER] songs.’ Well, if you take away the songs [for SLAYER] that Kerry wrote too, and you have half a record or whatever. And they’re not all filler songs that he wrote either. So Kerry‘s more than capable of writing iconic riffs. If I played you some of the [SLAYER] riffs he wrote you, you’d go, ‘Oh, yeah.’
“So I think that this record is gonna wake people up to that fact that Kerry, he’s been the guy that’s been making [SLAYER] happen for the past — sh*t, I don’t know — 20 years or however long. And I equate it to — not really on the same level, but there was a point when Gene Simmons was getting away from KISS and acting and doing all this other sh*t. And meanwhile, Paul [Stanley] is still back there waving the flag, doing all the work. And Kerry did a lot of work for [SLAYER]. He played all the bass on the records, and towards the end, I think he wrote most of the lyrics. On the demos that I heard, he’s singing, and it sounds like SLAYER. I mean, Kerry was SLAYER towards the end there.”
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!”
As King admits, “Even with a record in the can, I’ve still got so many songs that need to be finished. This is what I know how to do…number one being music, number two being metal. It’s been a part of my life for 40 years, and I’m nowhere near being done.”
