KERRY KING Says His Second Solo Album Might Arrive In 2026: “We Don’t Want Five-Year Gaps”

In a new interview with Sylvia Alvarado of Las Vegas radio station KOMP 92.3, Kerry King shared an update on the follow-up to his debut solo album, From Hell I Rise, which dropped last May via Reigning Phoenix Music.

“Me and Paul Bostaph have got 10, 12 songs demoed already. I’ve just gotta get off my butt and write lyrics for ’em,” King revealed.

He made it clear that there’s no desire for long breaks between releases. “None of us are young. We wanna keep going,” he explained. “We want the machine to roll. We don’t want five-year gaps.”

Looking ahead, King outlined his plan to keep things moving: “As soon as album one cycle is done, which looks like it’s gonna be — I don’t know — September maybe, we wanna jump into rehearsal or jump right into the studio and take the momentum of the tour, so we can have another two-week recording cycle. And then get that to the record company, and when that comes out, start record cycle two. You’ll see us again.”

When asked whether fans could expect his second solo album in early 2026, King responded, “That’s a realistic goal, and I wanna achieve that, for sure.”

And if you’re wondering about Slayer and their potential future plans, fear not! Nothing is really happening. Slayer‘s reunion appearances are continuing into this year, but King doesn’t see their return getting any bigger than that. In a recent interview with Metal Roos, King made it clear that Slayer will never tour and never put out another record again.

“We’re never gonna tour again. We’re never gonna make a record again. Mark my word: we’re never gonna make a record again, we’re never gonna tour again. Because that was the last thing. We said [back in 2018], ‘This is our final tour.’ It took five years for us to come and say, ‘Hey, here’s a couple of shows, five-year anniversary.'”

On the few Slayer shows that happened in 2024, King added: “I think it’s really cool. A lot of fans are into it. There’s gonna be haters who say, ‘Oh, they retired.’ Yeah. Whatever. This is all about celebration. Say a kid was 10 years old when we retired. Now he’s 15, 16. [It’s his] first opportunity to see us. I think that’s important.”