Kerry King‘s long-awaited solo album is finally here, and the legendary Slayer guitarist has just hit the road with his new band, featuring Death Angel vocalist Mark Osegueda, ex-Vio-lence guitarist Phil Demmel, former Hellyeah bassist Kyle Sanders and former Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph.
King and the boys have dusted off some Slayer classics like “Raining Blood” and “Black Magic” for their inaugural tour, but King has made it clear that tracks penned solely by Jeff Hanneman are off-limits. So which Slayer tracks should King‘s band play moving forward? These 10 cuts!
“Show No Mercy” is Slayer‘s version of “Whiplash” — a ripping track that sped up the band’s NWOBHM influences and helped form thrash’s identity. Written entirely by King, the title track to Slayer‘s debut album is one we’d love to see get dusted off. King solo band already paid tribute to early Slayer with “Black Magic” and “Chemical Warfare,” but they could rotate one of those around with “Show No Mercy” and few would complain.
Plenty of metal historians point to Reign in Blood as the first extreme metal album. They’re not wrong, but Hell Awaits was pretty fucking extreme too. King wrote the music to “Praise of Death” — possibly the most Reign-like track from Slayer‘s second album. It’s also got some of the most awesome and tasteful solos from Slayer‘s entire catalogue. Why not bring this one back?
“Angel of Death” was the perfect opening to Reign in Blood, but “Piece by Piece” was the sign that shit wasn’t slowing down. At just two minutes in length, it’d be easy to fit into King‘s setlist. It’s a motherfucking pit starter too. Rather than playing “Repentless” or “Hate Worldwide” in the first half of the set, unleash “Piece by Piece” and get that place moving.
In the Hanneman-heavy South of Heaven, it’s obvious from note one that King had a heavy hand in writing “Ghosts of War.” It’s also King‘s solo lyrical credit from Slayer‘s more mid-tempo album, so why not celebrate South of Heaven with this ripper? Just make sure Paul Bostaph is willing to murder his snare drum each show.
This is low-key Slayer‘s best song, right? Maybe that’s an argument for a different list… but c’mon Kerry, just whip out this masterpiece on tour. “Born of Fire” is one of those tracks that makes you want to turn your living room into dust. Imagine “Born of Fire” live in a small club… hot damn. I just wanna get punched in the liver.
That’s right, we’re adding more Seasons in the Abyss! Incredible riffage by Mr. King on this track… there’s not many Slayer tracks that make you bang your head quite like this one. Mark Osegueda could really commit his pipes to “Expendable Youth” — singing this one from his gut with some killer shrieks thrown in.
Did y’all forget about the best thrash cut of 1994? When all the other thrash bands were hitting their Pantera / Korn groove stages, Slayer casually put out their fastest song ever. This shit is almost in power-violence territory. Just an unbelievably great two-and-a-half minutes of bloodthirsty thrash written by King himself.
In a post-9/11, Bush-era American landscape, Slayer made a record that addressed Christianity and Islam with equal contempt. Christ Illusion is mostly a King product, with “Cult” containing some of the most straight-forward blasphemy you’ll ever hear. The riffs are great, the solos are great, Tom Araya‘s vocal performance is great. Bring it to the stage!
“Take a deep breath, ‘cause it all starts now when you pull the fucking pin.” Killer opening line to an ultra-violent Slayer track condemning war and the media spectacle it creates. “Flesh Storm” just rules. With Christ Illusion being the most King-centric record of the Hanneman era, why isn’t Kerry playing any of these songs live? Give us just one!
Slayer fans went apeshit for “Psychopathy Red” when World Painted Blood came out, but “Snuff” rips just as hard. That opening alone is everything great about Slayer — absolutely maniacal. The solos are some of King‘s best too. C’mon Kerry, give us a little torture, misery, endless suffering.
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