Slayer, one of the “Big Four” bands of the thrash metal community, has been in the news quite a bit this year. This following the announcement early this year that the band planned to reunite for a pair of festivals – the annual Riot Fest and Louder Than Life festivals – and further announcement of the band’s addition to the 2024 Aftershock Festival. Those concert announcements spurred rumors across the metal community that maybe the band, which announced its end in 2018, was permanently coming back together. But since then, guitarist and founding member Kerry King has refuted the claims as recently as last month, clarifying that the upcoming performances are one-off shows for the band and there are no further plans past the upcoming concerts. Time will ultimately tell if that is in fact the case. In the meantime, audiences can enjoy quite the Slayer-esque record in King’s brand-new debut solo record, From Hell I Rise. Released late last month through the independent record label, Reigning Phoenix Music, the 13-song record is a solid first solo outing for King and his current fellow musicians, Mark Osegueda (Death Angel), Paul Bostaph (ex-Slayer), Phil Demmel (Vio-Lence, ex-Machine Head), and Kyle Sanders (ex-Hellyeah). The record’s success comes in no small part through the noted musical arrangements exhibited throughout its body. The lyrical themes that accompany that musical content make for their own share of engagement and entertainment and deserve their own attention. The record’s production rounds out its most important elements, bringing together the whole intense presentation. Each item noted is important in its own way to the whole of the record. All things noted they make the album one more of this year’s elite hard rock and metal albums.
From Hell I Rise, the brand-new solo debut from Slayer guitarist Kerry King, is a solid first offering from the famed guitarist and his fellow musicians that is certain to appeal to any Slayer and thrash metal fan alike. The record’s appeal comes in part through its featured musical arrangements, which thanks to King, are quite reminiscent of his years of work as a member of Slayer. Right from the album’s nearly 2-minute instrumental opener, ‘Diablo,’ which is a steady, driving old school thrash composition, to the all-out Slayer thrash of its immediate follow-up, ‘Where I Reign’ to the equally driving, steady bass and guitar work in ‘Trophies of the Tyrant’ and beyond, the overall arrangements (complete with vocals) throw back so much to King’s work with Slayer. At the same time, audiences can also make comparisons throughout the album, to works from fellow legendary thrash outfit Metallica and even to works from Testament at various points. Keeping this in mind, the overall musical picture of King’s new album is more than reason enough for audiences to take in this presentation.
The lyrical themes that accompany the musical arrangements add to the album’s appeal because of their own intensity. Case in point is the sociopolitical commentary that is delivered in ‘Toxic,’ which comes late in the album’s run. The theme is, as noted, a familiar indictment of the powers that be and society itself that has been presented in various fashions across the hard rock and metal communities. Osegueda delivers the familiar but still powerful commentary, stating, “Sanity implies/That there’s intelligence/All I ever find/Is pure incompetence/Laws are washed away/Society will bleed/Scorned and left to die/And now the mutants feed/Too many people/Spend too much time/Forcing their opinions/on other people’s lives/Toxic rhetoric/Toxic government/Toxic politics/Toxic hypocrites/To your face they lie/Unleash and overthrow/Legal rights denied/And fall like dominoes/Hide behind the cloak/To change your way of life/Liberty revoked/A target for all time.” What he is saying here is he is sick and tired of not only people’s own unintelligent and irresponsible behavior but that of those elected to the houses of power worldwide. The fire in the delivery of this familiar topic pairs with the song’s equally raging musical arrangement to give those words even more impact and in turn resonance and accessibility.
Another example of the important role that the album’s lyrics play in its presentation comes a little earlier in its run in the form of ‘Crucifixation.’ In the case of this song, the theme seems its own indictment, this time that of the role of religion in the world’s global conflicts. This is inferred in the song’s lead verse and chorus, in which Osegueda screams, “I know why God has never won/Because I’m the f***** smoking gun/It’s time to break out of the cage/In a rage/Like a vice/I’ve taken hold/And I’m never gonna let go/Let’s get together/Coincide/Unified/Centuries of gore/Genocide and war/Born to criticize/Hatred and lies/Violence is the way/Chaos on display/Souls forever sold/Uncontrolled.” That mention in the song’s chorus of the centuries of gore and the genocide and war is the strongest argument for the theme centering on the misled reasons for so many global conflicts. The apparent theme is inferred even more in the song’s second verse, which states, “Ignore the world’s complacency/It’s a bottleneck of idiocy/Unto religion/Bring the war/Evermore/Instead of unity/Divide/Destroy the enemy from inside/Inject the venom in the vein/Feel the pain.” That so many nations have gone to war and committed so many atrocities in the name of religion is, in fact, idiocy. To that end, the seeming messages gathers even more strength here. For the song’s subject to call himself the smoking fun points to said person being the one with proof. Proof that those hateful conflicts are in vain due to their reasoning. If in fact what is inferred here is the case, then it is a hard hitting message that further exhibits the power of the album’s lyrical themes.
One more example of the importance of the album’s lyrical themes comes even later in the album’s run in ‘Rag.’ The 11th of the album’s 13 tracks, this song seems to address the role of perhaps false leaders (or maybe even one false leader) in what has happened to America and how easily people have fallen for that false leader’s lies. This is inferred as Osegueda states in the song’s lead verse and chorus, “It starts now/Anticipate the violence/It’s going down/Obliterate the silence/Attacking the crowd/Initiates the assault/Baton to the face/Shattered and broken you fall/Alternative facts for an alternative God/Serenity is heresy/To this false God.” One must assume here – considering the note of alternative facts – that the false God is one particular infamous political figure and now convicted felon. The commentary continues in the song’s second verse, “Self-destruction/Manipulate the masses/Isolation/Is everybody’s madness/So f***** loud/And in your face/Incite the crowd/Tear up this place/Ignite the fire/Can’t disengage in crossfire/Can’t stop this rage.” The bridge further adds to that seeming inference as Osegueda states, “I’m the one/The one that instigates/Feel the power as it intoxicates/Rise above/Above divinity/Social war and its brutality/Let’s start again/Get ready for the violence/Until the end/Obliterate the silence.” Knowing that one Donald Trump is the one who has incited so much social unrest in America and has elevated himself above even the violence that he has caused, thinking himself not responsible for it all, this theme certainly increasingly seems to point at him and his cult members. That is all purely this critic’s own interpretation. If in fact it is anywhere close to the reality, then it is a powerful, hard hitting way in which said seeming message is delivered. Keeping this in mind, it becomes yet another hugely notable example of what makes the lyrical themes presented across From Hell I Rise so important to the album’s presentation. When it and the other themes examined here are considered along with the rest of the album’s lyrical themes, the whole therein works with the album’s musical arrangements to further immerse audiences in the album.
As much as the overall content featured in Kerry King’s new album does to make the album worth hearing, it is only part of what makes the record stand out among the year’s current crop of new hard rock and metal albums. The production that went into the album rounds out its most important elements. That is because of the fact that it brings everything together and does so quite well in the process. Considering the intensity of each arrangement, both in regard to each works’ instrumentation and vocals, certainly plenty of attention had to be paid to the balance of each. That is exactly what was done, too. Between Osegueda’s fiery vocals (no pun intended…for those who get it) and the overall instrumentation in each work, the balance from beginning to end was expert. The result is a purely positive aesthetic that is just as certain to keep listeners engaged as the album’s overall content. When the positive impact thereof is considered along with the positive impact of the album’s overall content, the whole makes From Hell I Rise, one more of the year’s top new hard rock and metal albums.
From Hell I Rise, the brand-new solo debut album from Slayer guitarist Kerry King, is a powerful first outing from the veteran musician. It succeeds in part through its musical arrangements, which blend elements of Slayer, Testament, and Metallica for 13 songs that alone are sure to engage and entertain audiences. The commentary delivered through each of the album’s songs adds to that appeal because of its biting nature, even considering its familiarity. The record’s production puts the finishing touch to its presentation, balancing the vocals and instrumentation in each song expertly, resulting in a powerhouse presentation from one song to the next. Each element examined here is important in its own way to the whole of the album’s presentation. All things considered they make From Hell I Rise arguably one of 2024’s top new hard rock and metal albums.
From Hell I Rise is available now. More information on the album is available along with all of Kerry King’s latest news at:
Website: https://reigningphoenixmusic.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReigningPhoenixMusicOfficial
To keep up with the latest entertainment news and reviews, go online to https://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.
philspicks 