Slayer’s Kerry King wants to record his second solo album this year: “I’ve got everything in place to make that happen now”

Slayer guitarist Kerry King has revealed that he wants to record his second solo album this year.

The 59-year-old, who’ll release his solo debut From Hell I Rise this Friday (May 17), has told The Aquarian that he wants to return to the recording studio the moment he finishes touring with his solo band in 2024.

“I said to Paul [Bostaph, drummer for Slayer and King’s solo band], ‘I want to go immediately into the studio and bang out record two afterward,’” King explained.

“When you’re fresh off the tour and sharp, you can do a super quick performance because we’ll all be rehearsed on it. That’s the plan.

The guitarist continued: “I’ve got everything in place to make that happen now. We’re going to be on tour and I can work on lyrics for pieces that aren’t finished yet. Hopefully everything will be done by the time the tour’s done.”

King has also spoken about plans for a followup in an exclusive conversation with Metal Hammer, where he revealed, “A lot of songs for the next record are already in demo phases.”

He continued: “At this point in my career and in my life, I wanna get the record out, do the first tour for however long that takes us, but once that’s done Paul and I want to get back into the studio and get record two out of the way.

“I’m-old school, which is why we did an album. But I’ve gotta tell ya, there’s nothing that says albums are the path of the future. Maybe we put out four songs, go on tour. Then another four songs, another tour. I’m not sure. I’m planning on doing a second record and we’ll see what the public demands when that happens.”

King officially unveiled his solo project in February, following years of rumours and speculation.

The band was revealed as being rounded out by Bostaph, vocalist Mark Osegueda (Death Angel), co-guitarist Phil Demmel (ex-Machine Head) and bassist Kyle Sanders (ex-Hellyeah).

King’s band made their live debut on May 7 and have announced an extensive tour spanning Europe and North America, which wraps up at the end of August.

Get tickets via the guitarist’s website.

The announcement of King’s long-anticipated solo band was confounded by the return of Slayer in late February.

The thrash metal heavies, who disbanded in 2019 following a worldwide farewell tour, unexpectedly announced their reunion for a short string of US festivals later this year.

In the new issue of Metal Hammer, where he’s the cover star, King stated that the timing of the Slayer announcement was out of his hands.

“Yes, it was not my favourite timing,” the guitarist said.

“In Kerry King world, would I have wished that that announcement had taken place a few months later? Absolutely. But that was out of my hands.

“The announcement came, and people got all excited or all pained about it, but hopefully when I release another song, the attention will switch back to my record.”

Read the full interview with King by ordering the new issue of Metal Hammer and getting it delivered straight to your doorstep.