In a recent interview with Francisco Zamudio of KNAC.COM, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King was asked if he had been contemplating releasing a solo album before last month’s debut of From Hell I Rise.
“It never occurred to me until Tom [Araya, SLAYER bassist/vocalist] said he was done touring,” Kerry responded. “And when he was done touring, I’m, like, ‘Well, I’m not gonna try to talk you out of it because it’s not cool to talk somebody into it when their heart’s not into it.’ So I said, ‘Well, now I’ve gotta put my band together and continue.'”
When asked whether the riffs and musical ideas on From Hell I Rise were created specifically for this project or if they were concepts he had been developing for a long time, Kerry replied: “There’s a little bit of everything. Like [the song] ‘Residue’, for instance, I think I had the body of that song the last time Paul [Bostaph, SLAYER and KERRY KING drummer] was in [SLAYER]. And it just never had a beginning or an end — it just never had all the parts it needed — but I knew I liked the song. So I just kept it.
“And then this time, during the pandemic, I made up the intro and the outro and put a little glue in it. And I’m, like, ‘That’s what I was looking for.’ So you’ve got stuff like that. You’ve got stuff left over from [SLAYER‘s final album, 2015’s] Repentless. You’ve got a lot of stuff I wrote during the pandemic. And now, for instance, record two still has stuff from Repentless, has leftover stuff from From Hell I Rise and stuff I’ve written since then. So there’s tons of stuff I’ve gotta get to.”
“I’ve got demos of a lot of songs,” he added. “I don’t have any lyrics yet. I’ve got some titles, but I’ve got a lot of music.”
When asked about the conversation with longtime SLAYER drummer Paul Bostaph regarding joining his solo project, Kerry said: “It was super easy. I knew that Tom was done probably four to six months before the other guys [Bostaph and guitarist Gary Holt] did. ‘Cause, for whatever reason, he just never told them. And we were getting ready to go do a photo session with the guys. And I said, ‘Listen…’ I told my manager, I said, ‘I’m not going unless Tom tells these poor guys what’s up, ’cause they deserve to know.’ So he did. And the next day, we do the photos and I went right to Paul and said, ‘Dude, don’t worry for a second because I’m continuing. And I assume you wanna continue with me.'”
After concluding their last world tour in November 2019, SLAYER, featuring Tom Araya (bass, vocals), Kerry King (guitar), Gary Holt (guitar), and Paul Bostaph (drums), will headline three prominent festivals, Riot Fest, Louder Than Life and Aftershock Festival, marking their first live appearances since then.
King released 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.
Reeder, the visionary behind Metal Addicts, has transformed his lifelong passion for metal into a thriving online community for metal aficionados. As a fervent devotee of black metal, Reeder is captivated by its dark, atmospheric, and often unorthodox soundscapes.