Denver Kerry King Show Continues Slayer Guitarist's Thrash Reign

Kerry King is still reigning.

Even after Slayer’s official farewell tour wrapped up in 2019, the guitarist wasted no time in working on a solo project that would keep him writing and performing new music, especially since the longstanding legendary thrash band, which he helped create back in 1981, decided to dial back public appearances to a handful of select festivals in the ensuing years.

“It was super focused for me, because the pandemic kicked everybody in the face. I wasn’t going to be touring anytime soon. I wasn’t going to be recording anytime soon. I wasn’t going to be rehearsing anytime soon,” says the sixty-year-old King, explaining his newfound vigor. “It took a long time for me to get together with anybody, but I was writing on my own, which jumpstarted being able to record.”

King’s eponymous group released its first single, “Idle Hands,” a year ago, while its debut record From Hell I Rise hit shelves a few months later in May. And if anyone thought it would be a Slayer cover band or an album full of his leftover B-sides, they were sorely mistaken. Instead, King put together a thrash supergroup with longtime Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph (formerly of Exodus and Testament); former HELLYEAH bassist Kyle Sanders; guitarist Phil Demmel, best known for his work with Machine Head and Vio-lence, and Death Angel vocalist Mark Osegueda.

Aside from “Idle Hands,” which has amassed more than 2.1 million streams to date, such songs as “Residue” and “Where I Reign” showcase King’s signature guitar work placed among the current all-star cast. As always, Osegueda’s vocals are classic thrash and pissed as ever. Then there’s Demmel, who briefly filled Gary Holt’s spot during Slayer’s 2018 European tour, holding it down on rhythm, though he flashes his thrash chops through solos, too.

For King, it’s exciting to be in this position after being part of such a huge act for so long.
“I was talking to Paul recently, and I’m really happy with the guys and having so much fun. Yeah, I came from a big band, of course, but I’m really enjoying what’s happening with these guys here, and everybody really enjoys being here,” he says.

“It’s got the feeling of when you’re a teenager and stuff starts clicking and you get to take off and tour the world with your new bros, even though I’ve been with Paul off and on for decades. The vibe of this band is pretty intense,” he continues. “I’m not going to pretend like I’m seventeen anymore, but it’s a fun feeling, it’s a fun vibe.”

After touring Europe and opening for Mastodon and Lamb of God stateside, King and his bandmates are currently embarking on their first North American headlining tour. The Denver date is set for Monday, February 17, at the Ogden Theatre. Virginia party thrashers Municipal Waste and New Zealand’s groove-metal Martians Alien Weaponry are also on the bill.

Kerry King, like Slayer, is best experienced live. During the band’s appearance at Red Rocks back in August, as part of the Mastodon/Lamb of God show, local audiences were formally introduced to King’s latest sonic-war ensemble and undoubtedly won over any naysayers with a blow-your-eardrums-out set.

“Not bad for a bunch of old dudes, right?” King quips.

Naturally, the set is already faster now than the first night of the tour. King credits that to finally feeling like he’s “owning” the music from the stage. “When the tour started out, we were playing an hour and thirty, now we’re playing an hour and 25, because we got it so tight. It’s just evolved into what it needed to be and now it’s firing on all cylinders,” he says. “Now it’s just a machine.”

I mean, it’s Kerry Fuckin’ King, who wrote or co-wrote all of Slayer’s material, including what many consider the quintessential thrash album — 1986’s Reign in Blood — mainly alongside the band's late guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who passed away in 2013. King also penned the only post-Hanneman, and final, Slayer release, the 2015 record Repentless, on which Hanneman still received a songwriting credit for the track “Piano Wire.”

While he wrote all of From Hell I Rise, from lyrics to time signatures, King is open to more collaboration heading into the second album. “We have tons of stuff already for record two. None of us our spring chickens, so to speak, but we all want to keep going, pedal to the metal,” he shares. “When this tour cycle’s over we want to go right back in and get record two pounded out, and whenever the record company wants to put it out, it’ll be sitting there waiting.”

After forty years at the forefront of thrash, King sounds as hungry as ever and shares the surprising secret behind what keeps him going at this point: “As odd and corny as it sounds, [I'm] in search of the perfect riff, because in case it hasn’t been written yet, I want to write it."

It’s hard to believe, coming from the man responsible for such classics as “Raining Blood,” “Epidemic,” “Spirit in Black” and “Disciple,” amongst many others (for the record, this writer’s deep-cut favorite is “At Dawn They Sleep.”)

“Now I didn’t say there aren’t good ones,” King concludes. “But until you hear the one, who knows.”

Kerry King, with Municipal Waste and Alien Weaponry, 7 p.m. Monday, February 17, Ogden Theatre, 935 East Colfax Avenue. Tickets are $45.