Kerry King’s New Band Apparently an “Extension of Slayer,” Its Debut Album is Already Done
There’s not much that ex-Slayer guitarist Kerry King really need to do these days to cement himself into heavy metal immortality. I mean, the dude played in Slayer. But that’s apparently not enough, as the dude’s got a new band on the horizon and he’s feeling pretty damn good about it.
During a recent interview with Metal Hammer, the tattooed axeman said this new project of his has already crossed some major milestones, including the completion of its debut album. And he’s directly telling Slayer fans they’ll like it — if they liked the band’s newer stuff.
“If I was ever to try anything different [from Slayer], 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.”
As we reported back in November, King’s solo project is slated to make its big debut this year, so his comments to Metal Hammer line up. And what better time to release a debut album than before or during the summer festival season? After all, the band‘s going to play Welcome to Rockville next year.
Speaking of the debut album, King described what fans should hear on it and honestly, it shouldn’t shock anyone.
“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.
“For me, the slowest [song] 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.”
As of right now, the only other band member we know being involved in the project is drummer Paul Bostaph. King said he hopes that the people involved in the recording of the debut album will remain in the band indefinitely, though it’s unclear if that will end up being the case.
“[It’s] my intention that everybody that’s on the record is going to be in the band, hopefully for its entirety.”
