Kerry King on his new band: ” It’s an extension of Slayer”

In a recent interview with Metal Hammer magazine, Slayer‘s guitarist Kerry King said his solo project’s upcoming debut album has been ready since June 2023. 

King said:

If I was ever to try anything different, I guess that would be the time. But no, I really have no desire to do anything different. If I wasn’t in Slayer, I would be a Slayer fan. So yes, I think it’s an extension of Slayer, and I think a lot of people will think it might have been the next record. I guess maybe 80% of it would have been, maybe it would have been exactly what I’m putting on this one. In my eyes, I think it’s a definite extension, a follow-up to ‘Repentless’ for sure.

There’s definitely some fast stuff on it. It’s not the fastest thing I’ve ever done, but I’ve done some pretty fast stuff. There’s definitely some Herculean speeds getting achieved on this, but there’s heavy stuff. There’s punky stuff. There’s doomy stuff. Pretty much any aspect of any kind of music we’ve done in our history, I think you’ll find on this record.

King then spoke of a couple of the tracks on his new album:

For me, the slowest [track] is similar in vibe to ‘When The Stillness Comes‘. That one came out really cool and spooky. And then there was one where my entire intention was to write something like the Scorpions‘ ‘Animal Magnetism‘ crossed with the ‘chug’ of ‘Hell Awaits‘. That one came together pretty early. I like that song a lot. I mean, I like all of them a lot, but that one, that one’s got a different vibe for sure.

As for the musicians featured on the record, King revealed:

[It’s] my intention that everybody that’s on the record is going to be in the band, hopefully for its entirety.

You can catch Kerry King live on one of the announced U.S. dates so far:

May 09, 2024 Welcome To Rockville festival at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida

May 16, 2024 Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival at the Historic Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio