Kerry King recently announced his new solo album and debut solo album From Hell I Rise. Despite the long-standing rumors that Phil Anselmo would be the band's vocalist, it turns out that Death Angel frontman Mark Osegueda is bringing the heat behind the mic. And if you heard the first single "Idle Hands", you'll know that "heat" is the right word.
So how did King and Osegueda get together? In an interview with El Planeta Del Rock, Osegueda said it was a long process despite he and King being friends.
"It wasn't an overnight thing. It was a long process," said Osegueda. "Me and Kerry are friends, for sure, but that's not the reason I got the gig. By no means did I get the gig because we're friends; it was definitely a lot of hard work.
"He's an institution unto himself as his, as is Slayer, and when Slayer announced that they weren't gonna go any longer, he made it known to everyone that he was far from done. And when that was announced, it was quite a few years ago.
"It was probably during the pandemic that I just gave him a cold call out of the blue, or a cold text rather, just saying, 'Just so you know, I heard you're doing this, and I'm just throwing my name into the hat, into the ring, or throwing my throat into the ring rather.' And he was, like, 'Hmm.' He's a very to-the-point guy, and he said, 'Okay.' And I know he's very serious about everything he does musically."
Osegueda said he demoed quite a bit of material with King, and notes that other musicians were in the running to join the band. Ultimately King's band became drummer Paul Bostaph (Slayer), bassist Kyle Sanders (Hellyeah), and guitarist Phil Demmel (ex-Vio-Lence, ex-Machine Head), but who knows who else was being considered!
"It was a lot of hard work, I'll tell you that — a lot of going back and forth. I did quite a bit of demoing with him, and nothing was a sure thing ever. I know he had other people in mind for every for every position in the band. I think Paul was the shoo-in right off the bat, and then after that… Kerry knew his vision. He knew what he wanted. He knew what he heard in his head, and he wanted a lineup that could deliver it.
"And after a lot of hard work, one day me and him were out together — and it was plain simple as that. But quite some time had gone by and a lot of work was put into it, and he just said, 'If you want the gig, it's yours.' And I, of course, I just looked at him, like, 'Ah.' Pretty much, 'Fuck yeah.' And I gave him a huge hug, and from then on it was just even more hard work.
"As hard as I worked to get the gig, once I got the gig, it was even more hard work just concentrating on the songs and getting what I was gonna do to deliver in the studio. Once we got in the studio, we went in with Josh Wilbur, who produced it, at Henson Studios in Hollywood, and we didn't mess around. We got in — I think loaded in, two weeks later loaded out. It was work every day, but one of the most amazing studio experiences I've had and very fulfilling."
