By Nicholas Kobe, Staff Writer 

[Reigning Pheonix Music; 2024]

Rating: 7/10

On November 30th, 2019, as Slayer played their final show at The Kia Forum, it signaled the end of one of the most legendary careers in metal history. Since that time, it’s been mostly quiet in the Slayer camp, with the exception of Kerry King, who wasn’t ready to slip away into a cozy retirement. Those plans finally came to fruition in 2024. With a new solo band, tour dates with Lamb of God and Mastodon, and a new album From Hell I Rise set to release on May 17th, King has solidified his long-awaited return to metal with his new single “Idle Hands”.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. “Idle Hands” picks up exactly where Slayer left off literally. King admitted in an interview with Blabbermouth that this song, along with the unreleased “Hell” are holdovers from the writing of Slayer’s final studio album, 2015’s Repentless. “Idle Hands” has all of the hallmarks of classic Slayer. King’s guitar playing is built on mainly power chords and 16th notes on the lowest string, tuned down to Eb. It’s the same formula Slayer has used in classics such as “Raining Blood” and “South of Heaven”. 

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The best part of this song guitar-wise is the riff right before the solo, which is the type of evil but melodic playing I want to hear from a band like this. King’s solos showcase his chops in a way that’s, once again, very reminiscent of his past. This can be seen most in the fast section of the first solo, or how he abuses the whammy bar in the second solo. The solos are good, they’re just not unique enough to stand up to King’s legacy. King’s pre-existing style also bleeds into the lyrics. It’s just as blasphemous as you’d expect. Considering the lyrics also make allusions to returning to begin a revolution against God, it works well lyrically as a return single in a more literal sense. 

Aside from King, there’s so much more to love about this song. King recruited drummer Paul Botsaph (Slayer), bassist Kyle Sanders (HELLYEAH), guitarist Phil Demmel (Machine Head), and singer Mark Osegueda (Death Angel). The rest of the band very quickly proves on this track why they’re a force to be reckoned with. Even as the first single, the band is very tight in terms of their playing. I enjoy the way this song moves between verses and chorus with these dramatic pauses for the vocals to take us to the next section, which I credit a lot to the rhythm section. 

The drumming here is massive and commanding. My only complaint is that the bass is, as is painfully often in metal, buried in the mix. With Phil Demmel, it’s hard to tell where King’s influence ends and what he has control over writing-wise. I’m assuming it’s not much. Still, he does play very well. Mark Osegueda was the perfect vocalist for Kerry’s solo band, as Death Angel is one of the most underrated thrash bands. He will sound very familiar to fans used to Tom Araya of Slayer. He gives a fantastic performance, especially balancing the brutality of his screaming with making his words understandable. It’s exactly the type of performance I was hoping for. 

While it’s nothing original, it certainly brought a smile to my face to hear the Slayer template again, executed very well. Slayer have remained ubiquitous because their sound is influential, iconic, and above all, just damn good. King bringing that back is something I’m personally very happy to see. While I’m hoping the full LP contains some slightly better riffs and some full-throttle King solos, I’m still very happy with the song. 

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