KERRY KING
The new album. The new band. That surprise reunion. How Kerry King made the most anticipated metal album of the year
On November 29 and 30, 2019, Slayer brought the curtain down on their 38-year career with the second of two consecutive shows at the 17,500- capacity LA Forum. It was a momentous occasion, but Kerry King, guitarist and co-lyricist since the very beginning of the band, shed no tears before, during or after the show.
“I don’t think I had time,” he says today, casting his mind back. “I was busy. Was it overwhelming? Yeah, probably. But tears? No, I don’t think one came out.”
The managers of the Forum had extended the curfew until 3am to facilitate a fabulously messy after-party, but even as family members, friends and VIP guests including Kirk Hammett, Scott Ian, King Diamond, rapper Post Malone and actor Jason Momoa offered their congratulations and best wishes on the night, Kerry had already mentally clocked off, eager to make his next move.
Not only had he already discreetly assembled anew band, and earmarked which unreleased songs from sessions for Slayer’s 2015 Repentless album this as-yet-unnamed group would re-record for his debut solo album, he had even thrown out a handful of bespoke plectrums at the end of each gig on Slayer’s 19-date Final Campaign victory lap. These picks, collectors’ items today, displayed a silhouette of King playing guitar in front of a wall of flames on one side and the words ‘Reborn 2020’ on the other. With this simple declaration of independence, Kerry King made it clear that, post-Slayer, he would still be taking care of business on his own terms.
“I knew what my future was, and Iknew what that future would sound like,” he says now. “I just hadn’t envisaged a pandemic putting the future on hold for so long.”
The global shutdown did at least afford Kerry additional space in which to perfect his plans. He was rarely idle. In fact, the lyrics for two songs on his album were completed during one 36-hour quarantine period spent in a hotel room after testing positive for Covid-19. All the while, he kept details of his new project locked down.
“I’m dragging my feet on letting the world know what I’m doing because there’s no rush,” he told Hammer back in October 2021. “But you will see me in the future. It will be fucking good.”
On May 17, you will be able to decide for yourself whether his debut solo album, From Hell I Rise, lives up to that promise. But trust us, if you’re a Slayer fan, you will not be disappointed. Having previously described it as “an extension of Slayer”, the guitarist is fully aware that From Hell I Rise will be judged against one of the most formidable catalogues in the history of metal.
“I feel this record is some of the best stuff I’ve ever do
