Release year: 2024
Label: Reigning Phoenix Music

Around the time thrash metal icons Slayer called it quits in 2019, founding member and guitarist Kerry King made it known he would not have liked to end the band. As such, when the first singles of his solo project were released, absolutely no one was surprised it sounded exactly like Slayer.

But what did surprise at least yours truly was how solid they were. If I’m being honest, I was expecting something rather tepid, lukewarm and by the numbers. Nothing as fierce as what the teaser stuff promised.

Of course, chances were it was just the advance singles. Could Kerry King and the band he’d assembled under his own banner keep it up in album length?

Somewhat surprisingly: they could. King’s debut solo album From Hell I Rise is a thoroughly convincing effort.

So, with that said, let’s get one thing straight from the go: musically this is, essentially, Slayer. King hasn’t strayed from that blueprint one iota. In other words, furious and angry thrash metal is the name of the game, with strong emphasis on razor sharp riffs.

Even though this in itself isn’t surprising, I admit to being a bit surprised by just how Slayer this sounds, though. I mean, down to the vocals: Mark Oseguda of Death Angel shouts his lungs out in a very, very convincing Tom Araya imitation. It couldn’t be more obvious that this is the Slayer album Kerry King didn’t get to make.

And it’s actually better than some latter day Slayer albums were. So you won’t see me complaining for the lack of artistic ambition to evolve beyond the old band. No, this is album is all about sticking to your guns and doing what you know. Take first track proper Where I Reign: the speedy thrash gallop, the razor sharp riffing, the bloodthirsty shriek of the vocals, the brainless solos. It’s thoroughly familiar, but it’s also so goddamn hungry.

To reiterate, I was expecting something rather lukewarm – an album by the numbers without passion. Or, alternatively, a blues album; for some reason guitarists always want to do blues albums. I wasn’t expecting an album that sounds hungry, bloodthirsty and vicious.

It seems to me like Kerry King wants to prove he’s still got it.

And he proves it. Sure, there is the odd weaker track on the album; the groove metal of Two Fists feels kind of redundant, and the mid-tempo thrashing of Residue is a rung below the rest of the album. But overwhelmingly, From Hell I Rise is nothing less than impressive. The few weaker tracks are more than compensated for by tracks like the brilliant Idle Hands and Crucifixation, or the imposing mid-tempo of Toxic.

So yeah, this is obviously essentially a Slayer album. Every trick is lifted directly from the Slayer playbook; down to some of the riffs bearing indisputable similarities to some classic Slayer riffs. But when the album is as solid, as fierce and as convincing as this, who gives a fuck?

I mean, Slayer were the best thrash metal band of all time, period. If we’re getting more of the same, with more or less the same quality, from not one but two long serving members (Paul Bostaph is behind the drum kit) – what’s there to complain about?

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