Kerry King - From Hell I Rise review
| Band: | Kerry King |
| Album: | From Hell I Rise |
| Style: | Thrash metal |
| Release date: | May 2024 |
01. Diablo
02. Where I Reign
03. Residue
04. Idle Hands
05. Trophies Of The Tyrant
06. Crucifixation
07. Tension
08. Everything I Hate About You
09. Toxic
10. Two Fists
11. Rage
12. Shrapnel
13. From Hell I Rise
Hell awaits.
Well, it's finally here: years of anticipation, expectation and drama have come to fruition with the release of Kerry King's solo debut. With all the talk of who was behind the steering wheel in Slayer since Hanneman's passing, now not only do we get answers, we also get an album from one of the most influential musicians in the thrash genre with no filter on his ideas. From Hell I Rise has some hefty expectations to meet.
To address the obvious first, yes, it's Slerry King; it is latter day Slayer in all but name (with two songs written by King during the Repentless sessions to boot*). Is that a bad thing? Well, that's up to you: for those who want more Slayer in their lives, then good news; if people wanted something different? Sorry to say, but King hasn't taken the opportunity to spread his wings. It is a shame that, for all the talk and drama, From Hell I Rise wouldn't merit much attention if you were to strip away the name attached to it; it sits in that middle ground that sees it pushed to the back of the record collection while other records, for better or worse, pre-occupy people's attention.
Still, this isn't to say From Hell I Rise has nothing going for it; "Where I Reign" kicks things off on a high note, with guitar work that is more than atonal soloing, while "Toxic" manages to be just as powerful without keeping the tempos at full speed. "Crucifixation" feels like a song that King has written before, even down to the title; however, thanks to some frantic work by Bostaph, it sticks out as one of the stronger moments on the album. As they don't do much to stand out given they are pretty much used to fill the Slayer mold, Demmel and Sanders may not catch much kudos either way, but they do a good job at providing a platform for King.
For all the drama surrounding Araya and King's partnership, it is clear Kerry King sees Araya as the vocalist for his music, as From Hell I Rise has a surrogate vocalist in Araya's place in the form of Mark Osegueda. While Osegueda has done rough and gritty vocals in Death Angel and does a good job of it here ("Two Fists"), it feels like wasted potential that the album doesn't, at least occasionally, take advantage of Osegueda's range and try something different (although, to Osegueda's merit, he puts effort and passion into his performance).
Like latter-day Slayer, From Hell I Rise sounds like what we've heard before, but without that lightning-in-a-bottle riff or moment to really invigorate a track. It is clear there is a passion and anger here (the lyrics are certainly an improvement, and delivered with venom by Osegueda), but it isn't channeled in a memorable way; "Residue" is bland, while "Everything I Hate About You" sees the band fall into autopilot, though is thankfully short.
As I imagine many had expected, From Hell I Rise is a Slayer album in all but name. Unfortunately it is latter-day, not early years, Slayer, unlike I imagine most would want; hell, I'd have been happy with a Christ Illusion.
* "Rage" and "From Hell I Rise"
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 7 |
| Songwriting: | 6 |
| Originality: | - |
| Production: | 8 |
 | Written on 24.05.2024 by Just because I don't care doesn't mean I'm not listening. |
Comments
Comments: 20
Visited by: 175 users
| JoHn Doe Posts: 4970  |
Well-written review and I agree with most things said here. 
---- I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989  |
Yeah this is basically a repeat of that Abbath solo album. Why in the hell do these musicians decide to fly solo and just totally drop the ball on carving out their own new, niche sound? Like damn, I understand the idea of "well, it's MY sound in the first place, so I'm not going to stop," but like...... why even release a solo album in the first place then? Why not just keep the sound in the band that's already there, if you aren't going to do anything different with it?
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Cynic Metalhead Paisa Vich Nasha Posts: 6958  |
I read Kerry had written many songs for the solo album, and he wasn't much inclined to write for Slayer initially. He wanted to keep the Slayer's sound in his solo band. I'll read the review once I come back from work.
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| Majesty1911 Posts: 184  |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 24.05.2024 at 12:06 Maybe because Kerry King just want to continue play the same music he likes but Slayer didn't exist anymore? Perfectly understandable decision for me.
---- Glory to the Nation!
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| musclassia Staff Posts: 7188  |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 24.05.2024 at 12:06 The person above me who responded to you mentioned that in this case Kerry King couldn't keep writing for Slayer while Slayer had disbanded, and the same I guess is true for Abbath after leaving Immortal, but at the same time I agree with you that it does seem like a missed opportunity to try and explore some other (even slightly) different musical inspirations as part of a different project. Maybe Abbath and Kerry King only enjoy listening to and playing their own very specific musical niches, but you'd really imagine that there would be something else out there that inspired them; I can't imagine having such limited musical interests that you spend decades writing one narrow niche of music as part of a band, and then when said band ends, you can't think of anything else you'd fancy trying your hand at, even as just a minor addition to the existing sound you're so familiar with
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| 24emd Theory Snob Posts: 956  |
I agree with the originality score.
---- "I am too stupid to be human, and I lack common sense." - Proverbs 30:2 "Music? Well, it's just entertainment, folks!" - Devin Townsend Best 2024 Albums
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| skurk Posts: 11 |
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by skurk on 24.05.2024 at 14:54 Oh, absolutely. Devin Townsend too, I mean SYL did get a little more proggy on the later albums, but it was still more Industrial / Thrash than anything.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| skurk Posts: 11 |
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| Starvynth i c deaf people Staff Posts: 3045  |
Written by skurk on 24.05.2024 at 16:16 Not sure what you're trying to say, but last time I checked, Overkill was a band from the east coast of the US. I'm aware that some people refer to them as the 'Motörhead of thrash metal' due to the NWOBHM and punk influence, yet I'd say they have a very typical US sound, and that's abundantly clear once you've recognized their influence on early groove thrash. It doesn't get more "typically American" than that, if you ask me. But what do you think?
---- signatures = SPAM
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| sbgmetal Posts: 829  |
My fav things were the punk song, and Marks vocals but overall it was just okay
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by skurk on 24.05.2024 at 16:16 It kind of is  Also what is "the typical American sound," exactly? You just named some big thrash and death metal bands, but there's certainly far more to American metal than just that
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| 24emd Theory Snob Posts: 956 |
Written by skurk on 24.05.2024 at 16:16 "Typical American sound" is the last thing I'd classify Devin as. He's Canadian.
---- "I am too stupid to be human, and I lack common sense." - Proverbs 30:2 "Music? Well, it's just entertainment, folks!" - Devin Townsend Best 2024 Albums
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| Zap Guest Posts: 3542  |
Written by musclassia on 24.05.2024 at 13:28 I think, and I might be wrong (please, prove me wrong, I don't know everything about Kerry King), that it is because Kerry King is not actually that good a musician, same as Abbath. They're both good at playing their own riffs, but I feel like they're not capable of much beyond that.
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| Blackcrowe Posts: 425  |
A good record… What you expect? This record sound exactly like it has to sound, I like it
---- Maybe as his eyes are wide.
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| Metren Dreadrealm Posts: 1353  |
Written by Zap on 25.05.2024 at 11:33 The guitarist who excels at crafting and performing their own riffs is, in my view, the finest type of guitarist. I don’t mean to say it’s exactly Kerry King or Abbath right now, but that’s my general viewpoint.
---- My one-man project's Bandcamp with free downloads: https://dreadrealm.bandcamp.com/
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| F3ynman Nocturnal Bro Contributor Posts: 2767  |
Written by Metren on 29.05.2024 at 15:04 As opposed to a guitarist who plays someone else's riffs? Or what are you comparing?
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| Metren Dreadrealm Posts: 1353 |
Written by F3ynman on 29.05.2024 at 15:11 As opposed to basically everything else.  If I had to choose, I’d pick a guitarist who can both write and perform amazing riffs, even if they lack skills in solo-shredding, improvisation, or learning existing riffs and solos.
---- My one-man project's Bandcamp with free downloads: https://dreadrealm.bandcamp.com/
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| Zap Guest Posts: 3542 |
Written by Metren on 29.05.2024 at 15:04 I don't think that what makes "the finest type of guitarist[/musician]" can be boiled down to a simple sentence like that since there are loads of musicians that are great for various reasons. But I don't disagree entirely. Perhaps I should have said "I don't think Kerry King is a very well-rounded musician".
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 61303  |
Arraya seem had financial situation that he don't need so anything. It's best what can happen since Seasons In The Abyss was last album, until song Ditohead counts, rest was bring. Arraya wins here,King well let he play music if he wants, even this is not bad either.
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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