In a recent interview with Bruno Sutter on Brazil’s Rádio Kiss FM 92.5 for the “Bem Que Se Kiss” program, Kerry King discussed about the difference between being part of a band like Slayer and leading his own solo project.
Kerry responded (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “I still think of myself as a bandmember. Believe it or not, I never wanted to call [my new band] my name. I wanted to have a band name, but let me tell you something-you try to get a band name, see how far you get. I worked on it for years-years I had-and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do it. And then it became time to announce some of our first shows, and we had to call it something. So, everybody knew my name, the logo’s pretty cool, so we went with it.”
He continued: “I still wish I could come up with a band name and maybe do like a Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow because it’s really awkward for me when five of us are on stage and they’re just shouting for me… It’s weird. It’s weird. I’m not that kind of guy. I’m not that dude that needs my ego filled. I don’t need that at all. I want everybody else to get recognition too.”
When asked about people describing his debut solo album, From Hell I Rise, as “Slayer on steroids,” Kerry replied: “I appreciate that. I didn’t go out of my way to outdo Slayer. To me, it was honestly the next 12 or 13 songs, the ones we finished, the ones we felt good about. I do think that record’s got teeth. It’s fierce; it just rips out of the speakers. I never set out to do anything better than Slayer. I just wanted my next thing to be good.”
Regarding those who believe his solo project should have taken a different musical direction instead of following the same path as Slayer, Kerry responded: “The only thing I have to say to something like that, and it makes perfect sense-I want AC/DC to be AC/DC. I want Judas Priest to be Judas Priest. People want Kerry King to be Kerry King, I think. To me, it’s people that are just haters on the Internet. They have an opinion about everything, and no one gives a s**t about their opinion.”
King unveiled his debut solo album, From Hell I Rise, in May 2024. Alongside King, the album includes contributions from 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.
Every track on From Hell I Rise was composed by the 60-year-old Slayer guitarist. The album’s recording sessions took place in 2023 at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, with producer Josh Wilbur at the helm. Wilbur, known for his work with Korn, Lamb of God, Avenged Sevenfold, and Bad Religion, helped shape the album’s sound.
King was responsible for writing all the lyrics, primarily due to logistical reasons. “I finished everything before Mark knew he had the gig,” he explained. “But that’s not to say he will or won’t write on record two.” Since the songs were completed in advance, King provided the initial vocal tracks for the demo recordings. “I did scratch vocals on everything,” he said, noting, “I’m not a singer. I’m a guitar player. I’ve got conviction when I sing, but I have no range, and I need some distortion to help me out a little bit. There was always, ‘I got this if whatever we’re looking for doesn’t work.’ Luckily, we didn’t have to go that route.”
Last year, Kerry acknowledged that From Hell I Rise would inevitably be compared to Slayer. “I’m not afraid of that because I think it stands up to anything we’ve done in our history, musically, performance-wise,” he said. However, he also anticipated mixed reactions: “There will be people complaining, ‘Why does it sound like Slayer?’ And ‘why doesn’t it sound more like Slayer?’ That’s just what people do.”
King launched his first-ever headlining tour on January 15 at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, California.
Joined by Municipal Waste as a special guest and Alien Weaponry as support, the tour concluded on February 22 at House of Blues in Las Vegas.
In early May 2024, the Kerry King band made its live debut at Reggies in Chicago. Shortly after, they transitioned from an intimate club setting to performing on massive stages at major U.S. festivals, including Welcome to Rockville in Florida and Sonic Temple in Ohio.
