Album Review: Kerry King – From Hell I Rise

This is a tough review to write as I just know I’m going to constantly compare it to a Slayer release, but isn’t this justified? Kerry King wasn’t/isn’t (damn those live gigs they recently announced) just a major part of Slayer’s sound, writing many of the songs as well as playing guitar and, if rumour is true, even recording a fair amount of the bass) he was/is a major part of the band’s image. Asked to pick out a Slayer visual, and King’s imposing stance and dress usually come to the fore, even ahead of frontman Araya. It’s not often the singer of a band gets put in the shade, but King manages to do it.

The lineup is quality, too. Bostaph will already be known to Slayer fans having recorded on five albums, including a personal favourite God Hates Us All. Phil Demmel, too, is familiar within Slayer lore as he covered for Gary Holt on a few dates during their final European tour while Holt returned home for family reasons. Kyle Sanders is probably best known for playing bass in Hellyeah who currently seem to still be on hiatus. Frontman Mark Osegueda also sings for Death Angel, and it looks like he’ll be sharing the position with them as that band still seem to be very much on the go after resurrecting themselves in 2001.

So – how do this lot sound when you whack them in a studio together? Err… actually kind of Slayer-ish. King’s guitar tone is the same one that’s embedded in my brain from countless play-throughs of the Best Of The Big Four’s catalogue. And it’s fair to say that he’s still the creative force behind the song writing, based on the… well, just the feel of everything. Osegueda growls and spits the vocals out in a style that’s not dissimilar to Araya on a good day, too. Is this a bad thing? Not when it results in an album as good as From Hell I Rise, no.

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Opening with a 2-minute instrumental (“Diablo”), Hell is unleashed with no hold barred when “As I Reign” kicks in with traditional thrash metal fury. By the 13-second mark, this is already a classic. Even when the riffs turn into solid, doomy chords the drumming from Bostaph absolutely runs rampant and keeps your head begging to be flung back and forth. This is some angry, pit-inducing shit and I love it.

“Rage” does what it say on the tin, “Two Fists” is an anthem of anger, “Shrapnel” flings in that slower intro that you sometimes need just to catch your breath… some of the licks and riffs are simplicity itself, but wrapped around the power of Bostaph and Sander’s low-end rhythm section, they continue to punish.

The lyrics throughout the album are pissed off, negative and venomous. Slayer always cited their punk influences (indeed they recorded an album of covers, Undisputed Attitude), and I think that’s the major difference here. That influence is more obvious than ever, and a lot of it is due to Osegueda’s sandpaper vocal style. It’s just that bit harsher than Araya, and he’s being fed some wonderfully anti-establishment lyrics to sing. “Residue”, “Crucifixation” and “Toxic” are probably the best examples of this.

Too many people spend too much time,

Forcing their opinion on other people’s lives,

Toxic rhetoric,

Toxic government,

Toxic politics,

Toxic hypocrites!

– Toxic

The shared guitar solos, the tradeoffs, the thumping rhythms… OK, we’re not going to get another actual Slayer album again (probably), but this is a damn fine “what came next”. It’s definitely not watered down and I am so jealous of those of you who’ll get to hear some of this stuff live in the coming months. Shit’s gonna get violent.

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Header image: Jim Louvau

From Hell I Rise is released on 17th May

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