Live at Nova Rock

Kerry King: The Slayer legend is now thrashing solo

This is what it looks like when grown men open the gates of hell: Ex-Slayer guitarist Kerry King makes his solo debut with Könner.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Reigning Phoenix Music, Jim Louvau)

Almost five years after the final demise of thrash metal heroes Slayer, their guitarist Kerry King is finally releasing his long-awaited solo album "From Hell I Rise". Unfortunately, not all that glitters is gold. King celebrates his Austrian live premiere in a few weeks at Nova Rock.

A good friend of mine likes to say in conversation that the world has been going downhill ever since Slayer ceased to exist. So let's stick to the sober facts: The very last Slayer show took place on November 30, 2019 in their native California. A few months later, a pandemic triggered in Wuhan, China, brought the entire planet to a standstill, the Russians attacked Ukraine, inflation in Austria is galloping away in a European comparison and is threateningly shaking the middle class, Hamas terrorists caused a bloodbath and provoked the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and now tornadoes are even sweeping across Austria (recently seen in Graz-Eggenberg). So a causal connection between the events cannot be completely ruled out, which is why we can hope for better things soon. Slayer are playing a handful of shows in the USA this summer - perhaps the last hope for humanity?

Not a piece of paper
But maybe it just needs the guitarist. In any case, Kerry King, the most famous bald man in thrash metal history, has finally recorded his long-awaited solo debut after a surprisingly long wait and, as expected, follows in the footsteps of his former employer of almost 40 years like a shadow. Neither in sound, nor in conception or arranged realization does a sheet of paper fit between the great Slayer and the not yet so great cult musician Slayers. The fact that he uses the riffs for the 13-song package from the leftover creative package from back then is entirely credible and realistic. While one popular genre cliché platitude after another is unleashed on the fans ("Diablo", "Where I Reign", "Crucifixation" or "Rage"), the bearded grandmaster mostly riffs and strums his way through the individual numbers at a rapid pace, but unfortunately also rather uneventfully.

For the all-star get-together, King has dug into the Champions League pool of the genre and gathered the "who's who" of the scene around him. The drums are played by his former Slayer colleague Paul Bostaph, Hellyeah's Kyle Sanders handles the bass, which is pushed into the background, ex-Machine Head and Vio Lence guitarist Phil Demmel seems underchallenged on the material on this album and Death Angel's Mark Osegueda has the incredibly thankless task of having to take to the microphone on "From Hell I Rise". He has to, because King's solo work will always be equated with the work of Slayer. Their shouter Tom Araya, whose persistent and sometimes irreparable back problems forced the band into early live retirement, had such a distinctive organ that transcended genre boundaries that the mere attempt to replace him was doomed to failure.

No shipwreck
Osegueda, undoubtedly a great in his profession, also makes the mistake in some songs of moving away from his natural singing voice and (perhaps unconsciously) trying to dock onto Araya, but naturally comes off second best. King originally even wanted to bring long-time Slayer live guitarist Gary Holt on board, but decided against it because he would have felt too close to his former band. King knew from the outset that his work would have to stand up to the big comparisons. To his credit, however, it has to be said that he doesn't exclusively suffer shipwreck in the direct confrontation. Even if the songs on "From Hell I Rise" lack any moments of surprise, the material is certainly more exciting and entertaining than the last two Slayer albums, which were accordingly not given much attention in the live context.

Again and again, the sleek riff canonades tempt you to headbang, Bostaph's drumming is furious, fast and, above all, precise, while Demmel can never demonstrate his extraordinary abilities because King gives him far too little room to exploit his full potential. In a negative way, however, it has serious consequences that something striking doesn't happen at all in the 47 minutes: Variety. As with the last few Slayer albums, the tracks roll over you like a roller, but King leaves far too little room for accentuated rapture or a few short breaks in the coarse bludgeoning. "From Hell I Rise" is a rock-solid, perfectly crafted US thrash album in the wake of Death and the Devil, but it lacks soul and lifeblood - which is reflected not least in the lovelessly designed AI cover artwork. Despite all the love for the legend Kerry King - there can and must be more. Otherwise, saving the world won't happen.

Austrian premiere at Nova Rock
Kerry King will be making his live debut in Austria with his new band at this year's Nova Rock Festival on June 13, the opening day. Visit www.novarock.at for all the details and tickets for this festival highlight.