Kerry King and his solo band are set to make live debut in Europe this June, with hints of SLAYER covers in the mix—albeit exclusively songs he contributed to.
In a recent Metal Hammer Q&A, King emphasized his disinterest in performing tracks solely penned by Jeff Hanneman to avoid any perception of exploiting SLAYER‘s legacy for profit.
He said: “For this coming summer in Europe we’re gonna do like nine or 10 tracks from the album and depending on set length fill it with stuff I’ve done – something I wrote in SLAYER or co-wrote.
“So nobody can say ‘he’s playing Jeff songs!’ because although I love Jeff songs and he was such a big part of my life, I don’t want to rely on it this year, this album cycle. At some point, I will play ‘Angel Of Death’ but there’s so many f**king faceless haters on the internet I don’t want to give them ammunition.”
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.
When asked if he plans to perform covers from any of his band members’ band’s, King offered: “We’ve spoken about covers. But we probably won’t be doing them in June and July, but the format for covers in my band is music from bands that don’t exist anymore. Say for instance, ‘Ace Of Spades’. I want to cover bands that don’t play those songs anymore – like IRON MAIDEN don’t play the first two albums. Stuff like that which is meaningful and my band can go out and kick the s**t out of it.”
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.”
