In a recent interview with Good Company, Phil Demmel, playing alongside Kerry King in the guitarist’s solo project, talked about the debut single from King’s upcoming solo album ‘From Hell I Rise.’ The first track of the album, titled ‘Idle Hands,’ was released in early February. During the interview, Demmel recalled Hammet calling the solo of ‘Idle Hands’ the solo of the year. He explained:
“It was the first song I heard, and it was the first song that I wrote a solo for. So the solo in that song was the first one that I wrote here in the studio. So it’s kind of cool to hear that being the first one released. And I’m gonna be name-dropping here a little bit, but I was going back and forth a little bit with Kirk Hammett today. ‘Cause he had told Mark Osegueda, ‘Hey, the solo is awesome. It’s the solo of the year,’ or whatever.”
He then revealed the voice message he got from the Metallica guitarist:
“So I thanked him. I said, ‘Hey, I heard that you dug the solo on the song.’ And he’s, like, ‘Oh my God. I thought that was Kerry. I didn’t know.’ He didn’t put it together. And I missed his call, but he left me this awesome fucking voicemail, dude, saying, like, ‘It’s the best solo of the year so far,’ and all these just glowing things that Kirk Hammett is telling me. [He’s] one of our heroes, and to hear him glow about the solo that’s…. It’s one of my least favorite solos on the record, actually, but to hear him say that it was really personal…”
King Kept The Slayer Reunion A Secret
Slayer bid farewell in November 2019, which came right before COVID and the pandemic hit the world in 2020. Before the band’s reunion was revealed, it was announced in February that King is set to release ‘From Hell I Rise’ through Reigning Phoenix Music. Collaborating with King on the album are drummer Paul Bostaph, bassist Kyle Sanders, lead guitarist Phil Demmel, and Mark Osegueda.
In an interview with Good Company, he was asked about the Slayer dates that came a really short time after the announcements of King’s solo project. As it appears, it came as a surprise to him since King kept it a secret. Demmel explained:
“Yeah, it caught me off guard. I didn’t know anything about it. To have a Slayer gig announced before we’ve even played a show [with Kerry King’s solo band] was really weird to me.”
The Details Of The Upcoming Album
‘From Hell I Rise’ marks the debut solo album of the Slayer guitarist, scheduled for release on May 17, 2024. The album will be King’s first release since the disbandment of Slayer in 2019.
In an interview, the musician clarified that the only distinction between the album and a Slayer release lies in the timing, asserting that it serves as an ‘extension’ of the Slayer sound. He also stated that if the band was still together, people would undoubtedly mistake it for a Slayer album.
You can watch the interview below.
