In a new interview with Neon Sunsets, Kerry King shared what his ‘personal hell’ would look like.
“I’ve kind of been there for the last four years, you know, not being able to work,” the guitarist mentioned his life after Slayer’s retirement. “I’m not getting any younger, so, getting this record out, being able to come out and play for all my friends all over the world is very important to me.”
He added that the pandemic took him by surprise: “So, personal hell would be… it would be the pandemic. You know, no one saw that coming. I certainly wasn’t ready for it. And now I’m finally bouncing back from it. So, from hell I rise.”
Right after Slayer’s farewell tour ended in November 2019, guitarist Kerry King was set to keep going with a new project. However, the pandemic pushed those plans back until he finally launched his self-titled band earlier this year. In June this year, the rocker was asked by Heavy Consequence if it was frustrating to wait a few years to finally be able to release the album.
“Of course it was frustrating, but the hardest part came once we actually finally recorded and then basically sat on it for another year,” the rocker responded. “I [initially] didn’t waste a lot of time. I think after Slayer’s last show, I probably chilled for like three months, but got right back on it. That was right before the pandemic. So I just anticipated business as usual. I thought by the end of [2020], I would have had music out, and I thought I’d be touring again, but obviously that didn’t happen.”
‘From Hell I Rise’ came out on May 17 this year. All material for the LP was written by King.
He kicked off his European tour on June 3 in Tilburg, The Netherlands. The tour included headline shows in the U.K., The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Spain, as well as appearances at major festivals like Rock Am Ring, Hellfest, Tuska, Download, Sweden Rock Festival, and more.
