Kerry King - Bristol Review

When it comes to gigs, the summer is generally a quiet time. My July was surprisingly busy, where I took in extreme metal, prog, and classic rock all within the space of a fortnight, but August has been pretty barren. The Doobie Brothers in Birmingham back in July was starting to feel like a distant memory, but yesterday I took a mid-week trip up to Bristol for some thrash - as Slayer's Kerry King brought his solo band to the Electric Bristol as part of a festival-centric run of European shows. When Slayer came to an end in 2019, King started suggesting that he would carry on on his own. I think that Slayer would still be a significant going concern if he had his way, so I am sure he has been enjoying the band's recent slightly low-key reunion which has seen them play a handful of notable shows, and he was clearly not ready to retire after the band's last big-scale world tour came to an end. The pandemic likely forced him to have something of a break - but, last year, following plenty of teasing, King released his first solo album From Hell I Rise (which I reviewed here). It was King's first batch of new songs in nine years, and it nicely carried on the Slayer legacy. I think that some were a bit disappointed that the album was so much like everything Slayer ever put out - but I am not really sure what those people were expecting. From Hell I Rise is exactly the album I expected King to make as a solo artist - and it was an album I listened to a lot last year and enjoyed. Since the album dropped, too, King has been pretty busy taking it on the road. There have been breaks in the schedule which have allowed Slayer to play some big shows, including two mini festival-type shows here in the UK which looked like they were a lot of fun, but with Slayer's reunion likely to be a bit-part affair I think that it is only right that King pours most of his energy into his solo project. He played a London show last year, which tied in with his appearance at Download Festival, but until this week they were his only UK shows as a solo artist. Clearly looking to add to his UK appearances this year, then, King added two shows to the schedule of his wider European run - which seems to consist of a handful of headline shows booked in between a number of appearances as some of the continent's biggest metal festivals. When he announced the two UK shows I assumed that he would also be playing at Bloodstock Open Air, and the shows were tagged on as a result, but that booking never materialised - which made the two shows in Manchester and Bristol seem a little random given the number of shows and their locations. I was certainly not going to complain, though, as a Bristol show is always welcome - particularly mid-week. They mean that I can work in the morning and get an early afternoon train - meaning that I save on annual leave. The number and the quality of venues in Bristol, too, means that there are rooms for most tastes and sizes - and the Electric Bristol (a recent re-brand for what was SWX) is one of the city's many mid-sized venues. It is not my favourite venue in the city, but it is certainly not bad - and I have seen a few shows there over the years. King, unsurprisingly, attracted a large crowd - so the room was full and hot throughout the night.

Perhaps adding to the overall appeal of the show for many, the American industrial/groove/post-thrash pioneers Fear Factory were later added as special guests for both of King's UK dates - which the four-piece did tag onto an appearance at Bloodstock. I have never been the biggest fan of Fear Factory - largely as I am just not really into that 1990s metal scene from which they came. I generally consider the 1990s to be a nadir for metal of all kinds - but over time I have found more of an appreciation for bands like Pantera and Machine Head, and in the run-up to this show I did give Fear Factory a bit more of a listen. I have owned a copy of their seminal release Demanufacture for years, but beyond that I knew very little. Luckily, though, 2025 is Demanufacture's 30th anniversary - so Fear Factory have been touring throughout the summer supporting this milestone. Only Dino Cazares (guitar/vocals) remains in the band from 1995, though, and there has been quite a lot of line-up churn in recent years - but the number of Fear Factory shirts I saw in the queue and the wider crowd suggested that most did not mind. The band were afforded an hour, which meant that the whole Demanufacture album could be played - and I generally thought that the band put on a pretty strong set. I saw a few moments of their set at one of the Bloodstocks a few years ago and did not think much of them - but the sound last night was pretty clear and there was a decent amount of energy in the room despite many seemingly saving themselves for what was to follow. The album's mechanical title track kicked off the 12-song set, with drummer Pete Webber impressing from the off with his tight double kick work and ability to pull off the band's trademark industrial beats without sounding too much like a computer. Cazares' riffing was solid throughout, but Fear Factory have never been a guitar hero band, whilst frontman Milo Silvestro, who came on board in 2021, did the songs justice - with a good mix of harsh and clean vocals. He made the chorus of Self Bias Resistor soar, whilst the old single Replica felt like a true anthem. Cazares, as the only original member left, did much of the between-song talking, but he did not have much of note to say - and it would have been nice to have heard a bit more context around the album's 30th birthday with some stories from the time. Perhaps the clock was against them, though, as generally the music was left to do the talking, with the grungy Dog Day Sunrise later acting as a bit of a mid-set change of pace - whilst perhaps the most crushing moment of the night was a powerful rendition of H-K (Hunter-Killer) which saw quite a bit of singing from the crowd. Despite the number of Fear Factory shirts I saw, I did think that the crowd was a little quiet at times - but the bill was a little odd so it was likely that some of King's fans were not really into what Fear Factory were doing. Songs like the ambient A Therapy for Pain, which was the set's penultimate number, likely added to any existing confusion that some had - but the raging Linchpin, the only non-Demanufacture song played, acted as a powerful closing number - bringing some back on-side. The band's set ended up largely being a strong one, then, and I am glad to have seen Fear Factory live - even if they will never really be my thing. The setlist was:

Demanufacture

Self Bias Resistor

Zero Signal

Replica

New Breed

Dog Day Sunrise [Head of David cover]

Body Hammer

Flashpoint

H-K (Hunter-Killer)

Pisschrist

A Therapy for Pain

Linchpin

Following 30 minutes or so, during which I had to get a drink as it was very hot in the room, the lights went down and the instrumental Diablo filled the speakers as King and his band took to the stage. The band is very much a supergroup of notable thrash players - with Death Angel's frontman Mark Osegueda and former Vio-lence and Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel perhaps the two most notable inclusions. Despite this being King's band, though, he did not attempt to steal the show at all. I would say that Demmel likely soloed more than King himself - but King still did solo regularly, and the two guitarists worked well together, with the opening duo of the fast-paced Where I Reign and the groovier Rage immediately showcasing the power of the five musicians on stage. Osegueda did all of the between-song talking, too, and owned the stage as he tends to with Death Angel. He is one of the best singers in thrash and sounded powerful throughout - even owning the handful of Slayer songs performed. In terms of setlist, it was very much focused on the now. Every song from From Hell I Rise was played, but six Slayer songs, from a variety of eras, were also performed - as were two covers. The band's 90 minute set flew by, then, and there was plenty of energy from the crowd throughout - with a permanent hole left in the centre of the crowd for use by the moshers. The first third of the set was all solo material, with the slower-paced Residue and the neck-snapping Idle Hands perhaps being the stand-outs. The band sounded great, too, with Osegueda's voice soaring above the band and the screaming guitar leads also cutting through. It was a powerful display of thrash, then, and King still rocked out as hard as he did when I last saw him with Slayer back in 2016. Repentless was the first Slayer song played, but the Slayer material was not afforded any additional reverence - with the band treating the new material as equals. Whilst some of the classics did get a slightly louder crowd reaction, I was under the impression that most were familiar with King's album - and it did not feel like one of those shows were people were just waiting for the next one they knew. The punky Toxic showcased this, as it received a strong reception, but the cheer which greeted the sing-a-long Disciple did show that there was still plenty of love for the old favourites. The first of the two covers played was Iron Maiden's Purgatory, in memory of Paul Di'Anno. King and Demmel joined forces for some great harmony leads during it - and the crowd helped Osegueda out on the choruses. Slayer classics Chemical Warfare and At Dawn They Sleep were later also well-received - but perhaps it was the mash-up of Black Sabbath's Wicked World, in memory of Ozzy Osbourne, and King's own Shrapnel which went down the best. The bluesy riffing and leads of the former bled nicely into the thrash of the latter - with the Sabbath track returned to again as the latter came to a close. By now there was not much time left, but an atmospheric drum intro from Paul Bostaph signalled that it was time for Raining Blood, which perhaps saw the biggest mosh put of the night, with the evergreen classic then morphing into the older Black Magic for a great one-two punch of old-school Slayer for the die-hards. With no encore shenanigans, it was left to the title track of King's album to close out the night - and there was plenty more moshing and energy in the room as the 90 minutes came to a powerful close. The setlist was:

Diablo

Where I Reign

Rage

Trophies of the Tyrant

Residue

Two Fists

Idle Hands

Repentless [Slayer material]

Toxic

Tension

Everything I Hate About You

Disciple [Slayer material]

Purgatory [Iron Maiden cover]

Chemical Warfare [Slayer material]

Crucifixation

At Dawn They Sleep [Slayer material]

Wicked World [Black Sabbath cover]/Shrapnel

Raining Blood [Slayer material]

Black Magic [Slayer material]

From Hell I Rise

Despite seeing Cradle of Filth last month, which was something outside of my general comfort zone, last night in Bristol felt like the first proper all-out metal show I had been to for a while. Thanks to Fear Factory's mechanical grooves and King's fast-paced thrash, there was very little respite from the riffs - and live thrash is often a great experience. A clear sound mix and an energetic crowd helped the night at the Electric Bristol to shine, despite the heat in the room, and King seems to have picked up exactly where he left off with Slayer - so I hope there is more to come from this group of musicians.