I saw Slayer once. It was the first time I really felt sonically pummeled at a rock concert; my notes for the show included the phrase, "Fuck earplugs, I need body armour." And by far, the member who was most compelling to watch was guitarist Kerry King, a tightly-coiled, intensely energetic performer, with the charisma of a warrior, passionately committed to delivering the goods. By contrast, Tom Araya mostly just stood there, having been told by his doctors, because of back/ neck issues, not to headbang; I mean, I was glad to see him do what he does, and he did it well from a musical point of view, but he was not the most exciting guy to watch, especially with Kerry pacing like a trapped tiger next to him.
Now, Slayer is not entirely my cup of tea, understand. Musically, I've always been able to get into the band's sound; I like things tight and fast and proficient and hooky, and they deliver on all those fronts. I just don't necessarily care for their lyrical content, which seems equally divided between antitheism -- not just rejection of religion, but hatred of it -- and misanthropy. For instance, the riffing on a song like "Disciple," AKA "God Hates Us All," is awesome, the solo a fascinatingly twisted, deliciously evil thing that feels like it's being played backwards and upside-down, but lyrically, as punchy a phrase as "God hates us all" is, it seems the philosophical equivalent of a dick pic: "See how tough I am? I have no God and I hate you all and I'm going to scream about it until the world falls into line!" It's not that I'm offended or anything -- it's just that I don't personally need that much catharsis (and don't really agree that "hate heals"). Even people like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens fail to impress me when they get into religion-bashing -- it's ultimately just another variant on the same in-group/ out-group tribalism that informs most religious behaviour, "my God is better than your God" stuff, except now it's "having no God is better than having any God." I mean, sure; but it's a conclusion I reached when I was 12, and don't still need pummeled into me now that I'm 56.
Plus there's Araya in that Sam Dunn film telling us all he's a Christian and doesn't really mean any of it, so, like, what are we doing here, guys? (The lyrics are actually Kerry's, mind you...).
The thing that caught me off guard about Kerry King's new solo album is, to my surprise and delight, there are moments I can connect with topically, which change the whole landscape. There's still plenty of hate and rage and self-assertion via anti-religious outpouring -- songs like "Crucifixation" are still more-or-less on-brand -- but the main thing that was missing for me in Slayer (lyrical content I could connect with) is now present, in a few songs, in a way that actually pushes the album close to hardcore punk. Try the song "Toxic," here (lyrics here). It's still not exactly "Fucked Up Donald" -- he's careful enough in his phrasing to not alienate potential buyers, I guess (or, how does he put it, "to make it vague enough so that anyone in any country can relate to it" -- though it's not clear what song he's referring to exactly, there). Perhaps a Trump supporter could still have use for the song, imagining it to be about "the other tribe." But King has explicitly connected the song in interviews with the overturning of Roe vs. Wade:
"Toxic" was written right after the Roe vs Wade decision went down in America [the controversial ruling to overturn US abortion laws]. Every Supreme Court justice Trump appointed lied to get the job. I can’t understand how that happened. I can’t understand how the American people are okay with that. Trump divided the country, and it’s still divided. I don’t know what needs to happen to make that change.
Or as expressed in song:
To your face they lie, unleash and overthrow
Legal rights denied and fall like dominoes
Hide behind the cloak to change your way of life
Liberty revoked, a target for all time
Too many people spend too much time
Forcing their opinion
On other people's lives
Toxic rhetoric
Toxic government
Toxic politics
Toxic hypocrites
Now these are lyrics I can get behind. Like, take a minute on that, Kerry King of Slayer has written what is essential a protest song about a feminist issue, about the rolling back of women's reproductive freedoms. Whoa! (And it still sounds like a Slayer song -- I've even seen some people online complaining that the singer, Death Angel's Mark Osegueda, sounds too much like Tom Araya, but I do not mind that at all; Araya -- and Osegueda -- have mastered the trick of raging in a tough, growly way without going full Cookie Monster, so you can still make out most of the lyrics. In a world of metal vocals that are too clean, at one extreme, or incomprehensible gurgles on the other, they find the happy medium). "Toxic" was the fulcrum on which my appreciation of the album changed. With an impending concert later this month, the truth is, I was more excited, initially, in one of the opening acts, Alien Weaponry, who are from New Zealand and sing anti-colonial metal from a Maori point of view, with lyrics in Maori. I like them a lot, and am keen to see them, but actually checked out King's album sort of out of politeness, since he's the headliner. I wasn't expecting to care -- I'd go see him one way or the other, I figured; it was the Maori who were the draw. And the first couple tracks, which are mostly standard ragey anti-Christian stuff, I wasn't caring, tbh: "more of the same." It was hearing "Toxic," noticing those lyrics, and realizing that King was actually writing about stuff that matters that got me intrigued in the rest of the album, and while it's still that song that is the strongest political gesture, it's MORE than enough to make me a fan of the record.
And jeez, there is a lot of fun metal riffing all over this record. Check out "Trophies of the Tyrant," in this regard; there's a bit of a groovy swagger to these songs that will work real well on the Commodore dance floor. The leads are mostly Phil Demmel of Machine Head, but some of them are King's, as well; mostly it's the writing and riffing he's behind. But it's good writing and great riffing, and...
...truth is, I'm enjoying it more than I ever enjoyed Slayer. (I'm also enjoying having learned that Kerry in his spare time is a snake breeder. What a fun, exquisitely metal dayjob!). Never had Slayer on "repeat" before -- they're always one of those bands I dip into for a few songs once or maybe twice a year. In contrast, I've listened to Kerry King's debut solo album over a dozen times in the week since I acquired it, twice of them full spins of the vinyl just this afternoon (and I may put it on one more time yet, today).
So count me as mildly surprised, here. I'm still a bit more excited about the Maori metal openers, because I care about Indigenous issues, love the idea of overt tribal elements in metal -- I wonder if Max Cavalera is aware of them? -- and have learned in my readings of late that the Maori were at one point in fact, in their distant past, headhunting cannibals, which, whatever else you might want to say about it, is truly metal as fuck and kind of delightful to contemplate as a cultural norm. I mean, I don't think Alien Weaponry SING about that ("I will kill you and eat you and make you into feces!") -- they're more a thrash metal band with a bit of a groove to their music, reminding me a bit of Sepultura or Soulfly, than they are a grindcore or death metal band (the most cannibalism-friendly metal genres), so I'm guessing NOT, in fact, but the logic of cannibalism as a way of doing your enemy the maximum indigity is way more appealing to me than any of the brutalities offered by Cannibal Corpse at their most intense. Mind you, I haven't delved deeply into Alien Weaponry's lyrics yet (translations are available for the songs not in English), and I realize that that's all probably an aspect of their culture they're happy enough to put behind them -- if they intend to be Indigenous Ambassadors, that's probably not something you want to put on your CV -- but that thought process, of exacting punishment on your enemies so extreme that they are reduced to poop, just, uh, tickles my fancy endlessly. Sorry to harp on it: I do mean this in a positive way!
I'm curious about crossover revivalists Municipal Waste as well -- haven't spent much time on them yet, realize they have a stellar rep but just haven't fit them in at length. Still, I'm really enjoying From Hell I Rise. Mostly my listening these days otherwise has involved King Crimson, Rush, the Police, and the Andrew Jackson Jihad -- I wasn't expecting to make room for metal, again -- but what do you know, I love this record.
I hope the tickets don't sell out before payday!
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