Kerry King is preparing to unveil his eponymous new solo project, with an album completed and initial live shows booked. The former Slayer guitarist has been laying the foundations for that band since the 2019 dissolution of the aforementioned thrash metal greats.
He recently spoke at length about the project with Metal Hammer, revealing that his debut album from the project wrapped up this past June. Thus far, ex-Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph has been confirmed as a member of the group.
When asked by the aforementioned publication if the project veers off from Slayer or picks up from where that revered outfit left of, King responded:
“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 [Slayer’s 2015 final album] ‘Repentless‘ for sure.”
When asked about how fast and extreme it gets, he replied:
“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.”
As for how it fares on ‘the other end of the spectrum’, he stated:
“For me, the slowest one is similar in vibe to [‘Repentless‘ track] ‘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.”
King remained tight-lipped on who else is joining him in the group and confirmed there will be no guest appearances on the record. Thus far his band has been booked to perform at the May 09th opening date of this year’s ‘Welcome To Rockville‘ festival in Daytona Beach, FL. He’ll also be playing the May 16th opening date of this year’s ‘Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival‘ in Columbus, OH.
