thrown onto a festival stage on our first show . So , we got that under our belts , and two days later , we went and did Welcome To Rockville .”
As the headliner , King was allotted ample time to play almost the full new album . King filled me in on which of the new tracks he and his cohorts have been enjoying playing the most live . “ Phil really admires and enjoys “ Trophies of the Tyrant ,” and I do too ,” King confesses . “ I like the ( proper ) opener “ Where I Reign .” I like the closer and the title track , “ From Hell I Rise .” It ' s hard for me to pick one
THE REVOLUTION BEGINS
King ’ s band is gearing up for the upcoming European festival circuit in early June . Plus , three Slayer one-off “ reunion ” shows in the States at Aftershock , Riot Fest , and Louder Than Life festivals in September and October are also on the docket . Following the festivals , King ’ s band hooks up with the Lamb of God and Mastodon North American Ashes Of Leviathan co-headline tour from mid-July to the beginning of September . In addition to the upcoming live shows , King informed me that
photo by Edward Spinelli Kerry King @ Reggies , Chicago , May 7 , 2024
I don ' t like . I ’ m just trying to figure out what to play and what to balance out for these first three shows .”
Although King is only currently focusing on playing the Slayer tracks that he wrote or co-wrote (“ Repentless ,” “ Hate Worldwide ,” “ Disciple ”), he ’ s not opposed to playing some of the classic Hanneman / Araya-written Slayer songs in the future . “ I ’ m totally open to playing “ Angel of Death ” because people expect it ,” he says . “ I ’ m totally open to playing “ War Ensemble ” and “ South of Heaven ” because people expect it . But I ' m not going to do any of that this year because I ' m not giving any haters any extra ammunition . I ' m doing stuff that I wrote or co-wrote from Slayer . That ' s how it ' s going to be , at least through this year .” album number two is already in the works . “ I know we have over 10 songs demoed from the last however many months and years ; we ’ ve just got to go back and revisit them ,” he says . “ I ’ ve been spending so much time making sure I have a good live state of mind … playing guitar , standing up , hitting the pedals , hitting the leads , getting back into the rhythms . All this stuff is new to me because I haven ' t done it in almost five years . I ' m trying to keep the machine going . We ’ re not kids anymore and I want to make the most of the time that we have to entertain people .” june 2024 illinoisentertainer . com 23