Kerry King: 'From Hell I Rise"

Photo by: Jim Louvau

It's been a little over four years since Slayer called it quits, but we all knew those guys wouldn't be gone for too long. Kerry King recently announced his solo project, which is really more of a supergroup, in my opinion. They're poised to release their debut album, 'From Hell I Rise' this Friday, May 17th.

The short version of this review is that the album absolutely rips. It "sounds" like a Slayer album, but with the ferocious intensity of Mark Oseguda on vocals, Phil Demmel on guitar and Slayer's Paul Bostaph on drums; the album matches the sonic bombast of Slayer, but with a slightly different flavor. To be honest, my first thoughts were more along the lines of "Cool, Kerry's putting out some new music," but I never really expected much from it. After a few listens, this one will likely make its way into my vinyl collection (which I'm fairly restrictive about) and it's getting some heavy rotation at the moment, despite stiff competition.

If you've heard anything yet, it's likely been the lead single, "Idle Hands," which is an absolute ripper. There are a ton of other great tunes to on here including (but certainly not limited to) "Where I Reign," "Trophies of the Tyrant" and "Crucifixation."

Kerry King Band at Sonic Temple Festival - Photo by: Steve Carr

Kerry King's band put on an insane set at Sonic Temple on Thursday, performing a huge selection of tunes from the new album, along with a blistering rendition of Slayer's "Raining Blood" and "Black Magic." The crowd was insane for the entirety of the performance! From where I was standing, we had a giant circle pit directly in front of us for the duration of the show.

In the meantime, check out the video for "Idle Hands" below: