YouSuck: MetalSucks Readers Sound Off on the First Two Kerry King Singles

One of the most intriguing things to come out of the metal scene in recent months was the announcement of Slayer guitarist Kerry King‘s solo effort. Revealed a couple weeks before Slayer’s return surfaced, the long-awaited project has since dropped its first two singles, “Idle Hands” and “Residue”.

Having been described by King himself as a sort of continuation from Slayer’s Repentless sessions, it seems like the band comprised of himself, Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph, Death Angel vocalist Mark Osegueda, ex-Hellyeah bassist Kyle Sanders, and former Vio-lence guitarist Phil Demmel are carrying that same thrash metal style. It will be interesting to hear what From Hell I Rise will sound like when it’s released on May 17. (Remember, you can pre-order your copy today…)

With roughly a month left before the album’s release, we asked you guys — the MetalSucks readers — to let us know what you thought about the two tracks. This isn’t a scientific poll by any means, so rather than getting granular with the data we asked if you though the song “kicks ass,” if it was just “alright,” or if you thought it “sucks.”

Thanks to everyone that voted and participated in the discussion. Following that special weekend poll, we collected your responses, checked out your comments, and here’s what you guys had to say.

Do You Like Kerry King’s “Idle Hands”?

Released two months ago, “Idle Hands” was the world’s introduction to Kerry King’s solo band. At the time, it came along with a spicy Rolling Stone interview where King said how former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo was dead to him and how he played bass on the latter Slayer records, among other things.

The song itself definitely feels like more Slayer, so to that end it matched exactly what King suggested his solo effort would be. For many of the 721 people who voted that they liked the track, the familiarity was a selling point. Commenter KNEELOASD said they liked it because: “For once, Slayer has superb audio production, and I’m not going to deny myself the pleasure. The line-up is good, and the singer has far more stamina than the late-career Tom.” Similarly, Instagram user @mcgilicuddy25 said they hadn’t listened to the latest track, but commented that “I like Idle Hands A LOT!”

The next most prominent group of respondents was the “Eh, it’s alright” cohort. In that group, people were expectedly in the “take it or leave it” mindset, with many thinking that this wasn’t really necessary. Aptly named user BallsInurMouth (man, we gotta work on our comment moderation…) simply said “yawn.” So if that’s not telling you what some felt, I don’t know what would.

As for those 202 people that were firmly in the “This sucks” camp, some of you were pretty straight forward with your dislike. Instagram user @mathieu_laugery simply said he “feels nothing” about either track, really. Meanwhile, site commenter Metalstorm said: “Jeff was definitely the heart and soul of Slayer. KK’S slayer is just a cheap imitation.” Ouch.

Do You Like Kerry King’s “Residue”?

Personally, I think this is the better of the two singles, but my opinion doesn’t matter here. You guys also mostly enjoyed the band’s second single, with 450 voting that the song “kicks ass,” 354 saying it’s “alright,” and 161 saying it “sucks.”

Among those that enjoyed the second track, some of you likened it to past Slayer successes, including some iconic releases from the late 80s and early 90s. Commenter Big Sean Cotten seems like they really like the second single: “I’ve read the comments and have to give credit to peoples responses. BUT!!!! You’re telling me that when you heard the first riffs from residue your heart didn’t jump out of your chest pounding like a war drum. Me, I felt like a kid and hearing Slayer for the fist time when I was a kid in the 80s. Respect to everyone’s opinions but come on open your ears and hearts this is good!!!!”

For those sitting in the middle, there were too many similar comments to really highlight any. Most people said “meh” or “too generic,” though commenter A. Gorilla said: “Its alright I guess. Nothing extraordinary but I like their other bands enough to find it interesting. My ears keep going ‘What’s wrong with Tom???’ though”.

Finally, those that really didn’t like the song had some harsh fuckin’ takes, which is their prerogative. I’m not out here to censor any valid criticisms, after all. Commenter Wrongpickles (with some sparkle emojis) said, “Generic, predictable, stale, uninspired self-parody.” Meanwhile, IG user @rocknrollsurvived funnily referenced a long-running internet meme with the comment: “We have Slayer at home.”