Kerry King is wasting no time. The Slayer guitarist will enter the studio in April to begin recording the follow-up to his solo debut From Hell I Rise, with a supporting tour expected to launch in early 2027. The news comes alongside confirmation that talent agency Independent Artist Group has signed both Slayer and King‘s solo band for representation outside the U.S. and Canada.
The material is already in hand. In a 2025 interview with Reigning Phoenix Music‘s Reigning TV, King made clear the pipeline was moving (via Blabbermouth): “We have enough material for the next one already. I just started writing lyrics on it. I sent ’em to [singer Mark Osegueda]. He got the first song the other day. So, as long as I can get off my ass and get some lyrics happening, I would love to record before New Year’s and then just give it to the record company and say, ‘Whenever you want, there it is.'”
Osegueda — who fronts Death Angel in addition to his role in King‘s band — didn’t take long to weigh in on what landed in his inbox. “The lyrics to the new song are vicious,” he said.
As for the musical direction, King isn’t looking to reinvent the wheel. Asked by Rolling Stone Brasil in April 2025 whether he might push into different territory on album two, he was straightforward: “I think, overall, my thought would be just make an extension from what ‘From Hell I Rise’ is, just keep doing [things the same way], see what the next 10 or 12 [songs] sound like.” He acknowledged punk could surface again — it showed up on From Hell I Rise in tracks like “Everything I Hate About You” and “Two Fists” — but stopped short of committing to any specific direction.
The band behind him remains the same: Mark Osegueda (Death Angel) on vocals, Phil Demmel (Machine Head, Vio-Lence) on guitar, Kyle Sanders (Hellyeah) on bass, and Paul Bostaph (Slayer) on drums.
King is also hoping producer Josh Wilbur — who helmed From Hell I Rise — returns for round two. He spoke at length about what made the collaboration work: “A lot of musicians say he’s like the extra person in the band; he was like member number six. And he really was. His skill at the Pro Tools rig — he’s so fast. He would get on his computer, and I’m just sitting there with my guitar, trying to figure out how to play something better. And he’s just doing [something on] his computer, and he’s, like, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. ‘How’s this?’ I’m, like, ‘I don’t even know where you are.'”
King was equally candid about Wilbur‘s willingness to push back, and his own willingness to occasionally listen. “He came in with suggestions before the last week of rehearsals, and [I] shot most of them down, but we kept one or two. It’s, like, I’m open to ideas — usually I’ve thought of ’em, but he had a couple that I didn’t. I’m, like, ‘I like that. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.'”
Whether Osegueda takes a co-writing credit this time around remains open. King authored all the lyrics on From Hell I Rise largely by circumstance: the album was written before Osegueda had even been offered the gig. “That’s not to say he will or won’t write on record two,” King noted.
From Hell I Rise was released in May 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music and recorded at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles. The solo project’s live campaign took King through European festivals including Rock Am Ring, Hellfest, Download, and Sweden Rock Festival, before a North American stint supporting Lamb Of God and Mastodon, and a headline run that wrapped in February 2025.
