Kerry King Slays the Regency

Kerry King
The Regency Ballroom
January 15, 2025

Photos by Raymond Ahner

On a Wednesday night at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, Kerry King’s solo band played their first-ever show in the city, intent on carrying on the mantle of his former band, Slayer.

On Wednesday night at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, Kerry King’s solo band played their first-ever show in the city, intent on carrying on the mantle of his former band, Slayer.

After Slayer retired from touring, the guitarist decided he still had more to say, putting together an all-star lineup of famous metal musicians. The five-piece kicked off their North American tour at the Regency, playing a mix of new material from King’s solo debut, From Hell I Rise, and plenty of Slayer classics.

Starting with the ferocious “Where I Reign,” the band seemed intent on showing they could thrash just as hard as Slayer. Singer Mark Osegueda (Death Angel) was the surprise of the evening, with his full-throated roar providing the perfect complement to the raging guitars.

A few songs later, the band settled into the pummeling groove of “Residue,” anchored by a punishing drum performance by Paul Bostaph (Forbidden, Slayer). Throw in some mind-bending solos from Phil Demmel (Vio-lence, Machine Head), and you have all the makings for a killer metal song. Osegueda was on the mic between most songs, expressing his gratitude for the fans coming out and supporting the band on their first show in the city.

After finishing up a particularly heavy version of the Slayer song “Disciple,” Osegueda dedicated the next song to the recently deceased Paul Di’Anno of Iron Maiden. Surprisingly, the band tore through a spirited cover of a lesser-known Iron Maiden song, “Purgatory,” which featured plenty of twin-guitar harmonies, a very unexpected sound at such a show.

They followed that with a ripping version of the Iron Maiden song “Killers.” Anchored by a grooving bassline from Kyle Sanders (Hellyeah) the song was a bit hit among fans, who were screaming along to every word.

After smashing through back-to-back Slayer classics in “Raining Blood” and “Black Magic,” the band closed the night with the crushing title track From Hell I Rise, and that was that.

King and his band were firing on all cylinders, and if Wednesday night was any indication, this group will be one of the top live acts in the metal world for quite some time.

Beginning with the thrashing intro of “Garbage Stomp,” Municipal Waste ripped through a lightning-fast set of high-speed thrash in just about under 50 minutes, letting up for only a few moments between each song to talk with the crowd.

Once their first proper song, “Sadistic Magician,” began, all bets were off, and the mosh pit opened up at full speed. Anchored by guitarist Ryan Waste’s furious rhythm playing, the song tore through the speaker system and directly into the ears of eager fans.

Here’s a slideshow with more photos by Raymond Ahner of both bands: