Kerry King

The Slayer guitarist on his old band, his new band, his new solo album, bumanity's failure, and the pressure of going solo. 

- Dave Everley

Kerry King wasted no time in getting back on the horse after his band, thrash metal juggernauts Slayer, called it a day in 2019. “I had a few months off, and that was enough for me,” says the guitarist. “I’ve had a long career, and I’m a lot closer to the tail end of it, so any time wasted is lost time.” The fruit of his recent labours is his vicious debut solo album From

Hell I Rise, a record that won’t disappoint Slayer fans. That band’s unexpected reunion is off-limits today – a publicist sits in on our conversation to make sure – but King still has plenty to say about religion, politics and his late bandmate Jeff Hanneman.

Was there any grand plan behind the solo album, or is this just what comes out every time you pick up a guitar?

Every time you go in with an agenda, nine times out of ten you’re not going to achieve it. For me it’s just sitting down with a guitar and a phone to record it on.

It’s instantly recognisable as an album by the guitarist from Slayer. Was it tempting to step out of that comfort zone and make, say, a prog-metal record or pull a Load/Reload-style left turn?

No. I’m a fan of metal, and luckily I get to write my own. And it just so happens that I’m good at this. If there was ever a point in time to try that, this would have been it, but I don’t have that desire.

Did you get people you hadn’t heard from in years saying: “Hey, I hear there’s a vacancy in your band…”