Since 2020, we've known that one-time Slayer bandmates Kerry King and Paul Bostaph were making new music together, and the former has shared an update on the material to open 2024.
After admitting in 2022 that the pandemic had resulted in him "dragging his feet" on getting post-Slayer happenings in gear, guitarist King has now divulged to Metal Hammer that the debut full-length from the yet-to-be-revealed group has been completed, and will surely capture fans of his old band's later material.
Asked if the forthcoming effort picks up where Slayer left off, King answered, "I really have no desire to do anything different. If I wasn't in Slayer, I would be a Slayer fan. So yes, I think it's an extension of Slayer, and I think a lot of people will think it might have been the next record. I guess maybe 80 percent of it would have been, maybe it would have been exactly what I'm putting on this one. In my eyes, I think it's a definite extension, a follow-up to [Slayer's 2015 final album] Repentless for sure."
So the music will be heavy as hell, for certain. But will it thrash? Asked how "fast and extreme" the new material gets, King shared, "It's not the fastest thing I've ever done, but I've done some pretty fast stuff. There's definitely some Herculean speeds getting achieved on this, but there's heavy stuff. There's punky stuff. There's doomy stuff. Pretty much any aspect of any kind of music we've done in our history, I think you'll find on this record."
King, however, went on to specifically highlight the record's slowest song, likening it to Repentless inclusion "When the Stillness Comes." He revealed, "That one came out really cool and spooky. And then there was one where my entire intention was to write something like the Scorpions' Animal Magnetism crossed with the 'chug' of Hell Awaits. That one came together pretty early. I like that song a lot. I mean, I like all of them a lot, but that one, that one's got a different vibe for sure."
Though he mentioned the album features no special guests, King still has yet to share who will be rounding out the band's lineup alongside Bostaph and himself. It was previously rumoured that their Slayer bandmate Gary Holt and former Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo would be involved.
However, King told Metal Hammer, "[It's] my intention that everybody that's on the record is going to be in the band, hopefully for its entirety."
After admitting in 2022 that the pandemic had resulted in him "dragging his feet" on getting post-Slayer happenings in gear, guitarist King has now divulged to Metal Hammer that the debut full-length from the yet-to-be-revealed group has been completed, and will surely capture fans of his old band's later material.
Asked if the forthcoming effort picks up where Slayer left off, King answered, "I really have no desire to do anything different. If I wasn't in Slayer, I would be a Slayer fan. So yes, I think it's an extension of Slayer, and I think a lot of people will think it might have been the next record. I guess maybe 80 percent of it would have been, maybe it would have been exactly what I'm putting on this one. In my eyes, I think it's a definite extension, a follow-up to [Slayer's 2015 final album] Repentless for sure."
So the music will be heavy as hell, for certain. But will it thrash? Asked how "fast and extreme" the new material gets, King shared, "It's not the fastest thing I've ever done, but I've done some pretty fast stuff. There's definitely some Herculean speeds getting achieved on this, but there's heavy stuff. There's punky stuff. There's doomy stuff. Pretty much any aspect of any kind of music we've done in our history, I think you'll find on this record."
King, however, went on to specifically highlight the record's slowest song, likening it to Repentless inclusion "When the Stillness Comes." He revealed, "That one came out really cool and spooky. And then there was one where my entire intention was to write something like the Scorpions' Animal Magnetism crossed with the 'chug' of Hell Awaits. That one came together pretty early. I like that song a lot. I mean, I like all of them a lot, but that one, that one's got a different vibe for sure."
Though he mentioned the album features no special guests, King still has yet to share who will be rounding out the band's lineup alongside Bostaph and himself. It was previously rumoured that their Slayer bandmate Gary Holt and former Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo would be involved.
However, King told Metal Hammer, "[It's] my intention that everybody that's on the record is going to be in the band, hopefully for its entirety."