Slayer co-founder Kerry King makes an impressive debut solo album from his solo project released on 17th May 2024.
Teaming up with Mark Osegueda of Death Angel, ex-Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel, Hellyeah bassist Kyle Sanders and King’s former bandmate Paul Bostaph on drums, the overtones of this album bring a sound that will please any lifelong Slayer fans. King brings the classic Slayer sound that is pleasantly complimented by Osegueda’s vocals which he finds the middle ground between full screaming and Tom Araya-like (Slayer Bassist) singing. What you get is what you expect here –aggression, antichrist, demonic, thrash metal which as a debut solo album will quench the thirst of Slayer and Kerry King fans.
With highlights such as Idle Hands and Residue (singles released from the album), blistering riffage and aggression is prominent throughout the whole album, nothing that is foreign to Kerry King. The album also infuses elements of the newer thrash sounds with doomy, demonic rhythms akin to Slayers last release, Repentless in 2015 and some influence from the other band member’s former bands and sounds.
The album begins with the opener “Diablo” an instrumental that begins with a typical thrash riff and is progressively joined by the bass and drums. It brings a sense of anticipation as an opener and sets the expectations for what is to come. It reveals that King has not strayed too far from the well-known original Slayer sound that he is well known for. As it ends on a hang and a whammy high-pitch note, the riff for “Where I Reign” then kicks off like a missile launch and Bostaph brings in the classic fast-paced thrash beat we all know and love. Osegueda enters with a in your face scream which transitions to a part-broken scream, part singing reminiscent of Tom Araya. The lyrical content is consistent with the anti-christ movement which is maintained throughout much of the album. Lines like “God wears a crown of lies” and “Faith is your cross to bear” make this an aggressive start to an aggressive album.
Next on the album comes “Residue” and “Idle Hands”. Some nice rhythmic dynamics and breakdowns to keep the listener engaged and “Residue” is overdubbed by an almost Meshuggah-like melody, making these songs fat headbangers. “Idle Hands” goes through a range of chugging, gallops and big chords to create a rhythmically powerhouse song. The lyrics once again throwing shade at religion in an in-your-face chorus “Where do I get in line to question all divine?, so many rules to bend, Til the end, idle hands, do the devils work”.
Whilst off to a hot start “Trophies of the Tyrant” is a nice change of pace with a solid 4/4 beat and heavy guitars to compliment the punching harmony. Osegueda seems to be directing the lyrics at a traitor and how they can collect metaphorical evidence of their works. The darkness explored in the lyrical content appeals to fans of this music, which is an age-old recipe for Slayer and the like.
Kicking back in with the thrash intensity is “Crucifixation”. By this point, you do start to notice the repetition of the antichrist lyrical content, which can feel overused. The endless referencing of war, blood, demons and a basic f*ck religion attitude comes through in spades, but to the credit of King and his band, they do it well, especially when you concur with the sentiment. “Crucifixation” hits a breakdown at about the 2-minute mark with a demonic riff accompanied by the bell of the ride which makes it one of my personal favourites of the album. Then breaking open into a typical King wild solo with plenty of shred, pinch harmonics and whammy action. Osegueda’s chorus here is as basic as they come, but it works well ending with belting the title of the track.
“Tension” and “Everything I Hate about You” are short bursts of goodness on the album. “Tension” is a climactic song which has a big build-up into a slightly different styled solo that we are used to in this album, a little more melodic and deliberate. “Everything I Hate about You” clocks in at 1 minute 21 seconds of pure fast-paced aggression and chaos. These complement each other well and juxtapose each end of the spectrum in this album, without going outside of King’s scope. Placing these in the middle of the album, in this order, gives us a nice moment to recharge with the former, and then in comes a heavy right hook with the latter, re-spiking our adrenaline for the second half of the album.
“Toxic” starts with a riff that reeks of the Slayer “Reign in Blood” era, which makes it a personal highlight. This song does lose a bit of interest as it gets to the chorus “Toxic rhetoric, toxic government, toxic politics, toxic hypocrites.” The simplicity almost feels like the chorus was made to be only good enough for this song without much thought put into it. The anti-government sentiments make it one of your typical “f*ck them” songs. Nonetheless a solid song all-in-all and one of the best riffs on the album.
“Two Fists” is a slight change from the norm of this album with a more punk feel to it. Not backing off the aggression, it’s not some of King’s best, but it does work as some of Bostaph’s solid work carry it. The dynamics of the drums keep this song interesting, innovative, and fresh. Mostly standard on the lyrical front, which by this stage we begin to accept as the only theme for this album.
“Rage” brings back the thrash with a machine gun-sounding rhythm section from Bostaph. The guitars driving the rhythm and Sanders bass guitar, although doing nothing special, brings plenty of impact here. One of the better songs on the second half of the album, with plenty of tasty changes and no let up on the frantic harmony.
“Shrapnel” gives plenty of “Season in the Abyss” vibes as it opens with a demonic riff and the rest of the band progressively enter the song. This is the first time we hear Osegueda move away from the vocal tonality that he has used for the album so far, as he enters with a low-end, almost spoken section, however, it is short-lived. It is used to good effect as he then kicks back into his usual sound with venom as he rattles off lines in quick succession. This song does fade in the chorus as it opens up, but it does lack a punch. Despite this it maintains its dark feel which make it plausible and one that has started to grow on me.
“From Hell I Rise” closes the album with a heavy detuned guitar riff which is another one of King and Demmel’s handywork. Breaking back into the thrash rhythm, this song maintains the energy that the album started with.
As a debut for this new supergroup, it’s a very solid album from start to finish. All the things you expect from the Slayer co-founder are condensed into this album. There is enough harmonic and rhythmic variety without straining too far from the golden (Slayer) recipe, with some awesome riffage spilled around the album. Aggressive, fast, dark, anti-establishment and all the notions you love about heavy metal can be found here. Although at times it does get repetitive and can be one dimensional, I’m not sure you would have it any other way. An album worth buying and one that I will keep on rotation for a while and come back to regularly.
Kerry King: Facebook
Release Year: 2024
Label: Reigning Phoenix Music
Category: Album
Country: USA
Reviewed by Tom Christides (Tommy Gun)
