Kerry King – "From Hell I Rise"
Here's a fun little drinking game
RULES: I'm gonna be mentioning this one little band a buncha times throughout this review, name of Slayer. Each time I do that, everyone drinks. Listening to the album in question is optional, but will get you credits. Probably.
So apparently, quite a few people have felt disappointed that this first solo album from Kerry King sounded too much like his old band (wait for it). Or, should I say, current band, since they reunited for a coupla shows and all?
Whatever the case, this claim is, in and by itself, absolutely true. Album intro "Diablo", based around a lone, dirty half-note guitar figure is, at the same time, as evil, simple, and unimaginative as Slayer (there ya go!) ever were. Same thing goes for actual opener "Where I Reign", thrashing by every rule of the trade, the riffing sounding like a gigantic, angry wasp. Shit, this just as well might have been Slayer (cheers).
Indeed, to get it outta the way up front, this pretty much goes for the entire album. And, seeing as how Kerry King's been one of the primary creative forces in Slayer for +40 years, this raises just ONE little question...
What the fuck was anyone expecting??
Also, what's wrong with an album sounding like Slayer? Slayer kicks ass, duh. And ad hoc, the King himself has gathered what amounts to a veritable supergroup here. We're talking former Hellyeah and Skrew bassist Kyle Sanders, former Machine Head and Vio-Lence guitarist Phil Demmel, Death Angel vocalist Mark Osegueda, and, not the least of all, Paul Bostaph, former drummer of Forbidden and Testament; current as well as long-time drummer of this little band called Slayer, excelling with some sick fucking fills, as he does.
Apart from the strong line-up, "From Hell I Rise", while thrashing across the plains around half the time, still does have its fair share of variation. The slow, dragging 1-and-3 feeling of "Residue", for example, featuring an ominous lead guitar theme like in this little ditty called "South of Heaven". And the more bouncy, chord-based "Two Fists", featuring some vocal lines that are actually memorable. The latter also goes for the midtempo "Trophies of the Tyrant", even hinting at a bit of melody during the verse. Also "Tension" is more chord-based, and features probably the album's most dynamic vocal delivery.
This may as well have been a Slayer LP. And there is nothing wrong with that, and that is what anyone in their right mind could rightly expect. Nothing more, but nothing less, either.
Then there's the 1m20s "Everything I Hate About You" (yeah, Ugly Kid Joe called about that title) which thrashes like much of the rest, but only a bit faster. The coolest riffs are in "Toxic" (yeah, Britney called about that title), sounding like the mid-section in this little ditty called "Angel of Death". (By Slayer. Chug-a-lug).
The reason I was just focusing so much on the vocals is that they're part of what makes this monotonous. Much like with Slayer, the Eb tonality is pretty much constant, and the vocals are pretty much a constant, hoarse shouting. It's cool because it's aggressive, sure. But what makes Slayer – and, by extension, this band – interesting isn't their relentless DU-GA! DUGGU-GA! DU-GA! DUGGU-GA! drive, but when they do something that stands out from said drive and gets stuck in your head. Some breaks, some catchy lead themes, some memorable gimmicks, some goddamn hooks. And that's not happening a lot here.
What is happening a lot, though, is asses being kicked. Because as somewhat uninspired and unambitious as this album is, it does not fail to deliver exactly what one might expect – especially seeing as how the King, wanting to make more Slayer records, was so pissed about Tom Araya breaking up the band.
To reiterate: This may as well have been a Slayer LP. And there is nothing wrong with that, and that is what anyone in their right mind could rightly expect. Nothing more, but nothing less, either. So as I grant this a rating of 4.5 out of 6, I might be a bit generous, seeing as how there is absolutely nothing interesting or revolutionizing going on here from a purely creative viewpoint. But there doesn't always have to be. And shit, maybe the mopers brought my expectations so far down that I'm just pleasantly surprised. Because even though "From Hell I Rise" isn't as solid as the last three Slayer albums, it would've still been a solid one.
(A solid album by Slayer, that is. SLAYER SLAYER SLAYER. Yeah, bottoms up, boys and girls.)
Rating: 4.5 out of 6
Genre: Thrash metal
Release date: 17/5/2024
Label: Reigning Phoenix Music
Producer: Josh Wilbur