KERRY KING Fires Back At 'Haters' Who Say He Should Have Done Something Different With His Solo Project: 'No One Gives A S*** About Their Opinion'

In a new interview with Bruno Sutter of the "Bem Que Se Kiss" program on Brazil's Rádio Kiss FM 92.5, Kerry King was asked what the difference is between being a member of a band like SLAYER and being "the total leader" of his eponymously named solo act. Kerry responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I still think of myself as a bandmember. Believe it or not, I never wanted to call [my new band] my name. I wanted to have a band name, but let me tell you something — you try to get a band name, see how far you get. I worked on it for years — years I had — and I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it. And then it became time to announce some of our first shows, and we had to call it something. So, everybody knew my name, the logo's pretty cool, so we went with it.

"I still wish I could come up with a band name and maybe do like a RITCHIE BLACKMORE'S RAINBOW, because it's really awkward for me when five of us are on stage and they're just shouting for me… It's weird. It's weird," he continued. "I'm not that kind of guy. I'm not that dude that needs my ego filled. I don't need that at all. I want everybody else to get recognition too."

Asked what he thinks when some people describe "From Hell I Rise", his debut solo album, as "SLAYER on steroids", Kerry responded: "I appreciate that. I didn't go out of my way to outdo SLAYER. To me, it was honestly the next 12 or 13 songs, the ones we finished, the ones we felt good about. I do think that record's got teeth. It's fierce; it just rips out of the speakers. I never set out to do anything better than SLAYER. I just wanted my next thing to be good."

As for people who say that he should have done something different with his solo project and not pursued exactly the same musical direction as that of SLAYER, Kerry said: "The only thing I have to say to something like that, and it makes perfect sense — I want AC/DC to be AC/DC. I want JUDAS PRIEST to be JUDAS PRIEST. People want Kerry King to be Kerry King, I think. To me, it's people that are just haters on the Internet. They have an opinion about everything, and no one gives a shit about their opinion."

Joining Kerry in his new band are singer Mark Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL),guitarist Phil Demmel (MACHINE HEAD, VIO-LENCE),Kyle Sanders (bass; HELLYEAH) and drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER).

All material for "From Hell I Rise" was written by the 60-year-old SLAYER guitarist. Helming the sessions at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles in 2023 was producer Josh Wilbur, who has previously worked with KORN, LAMB OF GOD, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and BAD RELIGION, among others.

King authored all the lyrics, mainly for logistical reasons. "I finished everything before Mark knew he had the gig," he explained. "But that's not to say he will or won't write on record two." Circumstances dictated that King sing on all "From Hell I Rise" demos. "I did scratch vocals on everything," King said, adding, "I'm not a singer. I'm a guitar player. I've got conviction when I sing, but I have no range, and I need some distortion to help me out a little bit. There was always, 'I got this if whatever we're looking for doesn't work.' Luckily, we didn't have to go that route."

Last year, Kerry said that he knew people would compare "From Hell I Rise" to SLAYER. "I'm not afraid of that because I think it stands up to anything we've done in our history, musically, performance-wise," he said. But he was quick to add: "There will be people complaining, 'Why does it sound like SLAYER?' And 'why doesn't it sound more like SLAYER? That's just what people do."

This past February, Kerry told Sylvia Alvarado of the Las Vegas radio station KOMP 92.3 about his plans for a follow-up to "From Hell I Rise": "Me and Paul have got 10, 12 songs demoed already. I've just gotta get off my butt and write lyrics for 'em.

"None of us are young. We wanna keep going," he explained. "We want the machine to roll. We don't want five-year gaps.

"As soon as album one cycle is done, which looks like it's gonna be — I don't know — September maybe, we wanna jump into rehearsal or jump right into the studio and take the momentum of the tour, so we can have another two-week recording cycle. And then get that to the record company, and when that comes out, start record cycle two. You'll see us again."

Asked if fans can expect the second Kerry King solo album in early 2026, Kerry said: "That's a realistic goal, and I wanna achieve that, for sure."

King kicked off his first-ever headlining tour on January 15 at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, California.

With MUNICIPAL WASTE as special guest and ALIEN WEAPONRY supporting, the tour wrapped at House of Blues in Las Vegas on February 22.

In early May 2024, the KERRY KING band performed its first live show at Reggies in Chicago. In the days following, the band went from playing an intimate venue to performing at the huge U.S. festivals Welcome To Rockville (Florida) and Sonic Temple (Ohio).

KERRY KING launched a European tour on June 3, 2024 — King's 60th birthday – in Tilburg, The Netherlands. The trek combined headline shows in the U.K., The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain but also festival appearances such as Rock Am Ring, Hellfest, Tuska, Download, Sweden Rock Festival and many more.

The SLAYER guitarist's solo band played its first concert as the support act for LAMB OF GOD and MASTODON on July 19, 2024 at the Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie, Texas. The six-week "Ashes Of Leviathan" tour wrapped on August 31, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska.