Kerry King, Municiple Waste, Alien Weaponry – The Rave – 1/28/25
POSTED:: January 29, 2025
FILED UNDER:: Concert Review, Concerts
“We’re taking out this aggression.” That’s Death Angel’s Mark Osegueda, the vocalist for Kerry King’s band, describing their excellent show Tuesday night (January 28) at The Rave. Touring behind King’s debut solo LP, 2024’s From Hell I Rise, the quintet—rounded out by ex-Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel, Hellyeah and Bloodsimple bassist Kyle Sanders, and Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph—ripped through 19 songs in 85 minutes with ruthless efficiency and minimal stage banter. Despite being King’s first headlining solo tour, this group—the same one that made the album—was already road-hardened from opening for Mastodon and Lamb of God last summer.
The no-bullshit performance was matched by simple production: a pair of inverted crosses that lit up complimented by the house spotlights, the colors of both shifting throughout, including blue, white, and purple. There was even a gold cross/green spotlight combo (go Packers?) during “Everything I Hate About You.” Of course, the go-to color was red (natch), used most effectively during the handful of Slayer songs during the show’s back half.
The metalhead audience—whose age ranged from those getting their learner’s permit to those getting their social security checks—were fully invested and throwing up fists and heavy metal gestures throughout. Given that From Hell answers the question, “What if Kerry King wrote a Slayer record by himself?,” the album’s songs were well-received. Even the trash can that became part of the mosh pit, and then went crowd-surfing, during the title track would agree. The show’s highlight, though, was “Raining Blood.” Bathed in red, the feeling in the room was electric when the downpour from Reign In Blood that opens the Slayer classic started. It all made for a much-needed communal catharsis.
Which brings us back to Osegueda’s comment up top. He introduced “Toxic,” the eighth song of the show, with “We have this as a vessel.” The song’s chorus—“Toxic rhetoric / Toxic government / Toxic politics / Toxic hypocrites”—is a succinct, if a bit trite, statement of modern (American) discourse. That may initially scan as off-topic, considering From Hell’s throughline is King’s longtime disdain for organized religion—best summed up by the chorus of “Idle Hands”: “Where do I get in line / To question all divine? / So many rules to bend / ’Til the end, idle hands / Do the devil’s work”—but it isn’t. Instead, it’s an eerie-relevant commentary on a cultural shift in the US. So while headbanging to a buncha anti-religious screeds probably doesn’t do much in the way of fighting creeping theocratic authoritarianism, the cathartic venting still felt pretty damn good.
– review by Steve Lampris