Live report KERRY KING & DUST BOLT, Grosse Freiheit 36, Hamburg – June 11th, 2024

After the release of a thrilling solo album called “From Hell I Rise”, Kerry King is back on tour with his bandmates. Coming straight from the Rock am Ring / Rock im Park festivals, King also has a few headlining shows on the tour schedule, one of which takes place today at Hamburg’s Grosse Freiheit 36, which is actually the first one in Germany.

Tonight’s opening act is a band that has just released a new album too. German metal outfit Dust Bolt kick off this night of thrash metal and they do it in great fashion. It is a pure 25-minute thrash metal feast what the Bavarians offer. Different than on the latest album the band follows their roots and deliver a full blast. The crowd values this approach and there is a great spirit in the room rather quickly.

Dust Bolt is a young band that lives the spirit of thrash metal which is very obvious when frontman Lenny jumps into the crowd during the last song of tonight‘s set. These guys really impressed.

Everyone is looking forward to see Kerry King live tonight and there is more than just one Slayer shirt in the room.

The show starts with the “Diabolo” intro while the band enters the stage. Now, Kerry King has surrounded himself with bandmates with well sounding names when it comes to metal. Paul Bostaph, Kyle Sanders, Phil Demmel and Mark Osegueda are veterans in metal and together they are a real force. They immediately demonstrate this when starting into their set with “Where I Reign”. Who reigns tonight is quite obvious. Looking at the audience, which is on fire, it is Kerry King and band who reign tonight.

After the first few songs the question is answered if such a show can be without some Slayer classics? No, and the first Slayer song is one of the best ones from the later era of the band. “Repentless” is the first of seven Slayer songs the band plays tonight but the focus is on the solo album, which is played in its entirety. There is no doubt that the Slayer songs are the highlights, but it is amazing how well they go together with the solo material.

Everyone is really having a good time tonight. Not only the fans are enthralled by both, music and show. The band is obviously having fun too, as the guys are all over the stage. King, of course, is more focused on his guitar on the right side of the stage, but the start of “Raining Blood” and the smile on his face shows a veteran enjoying the self-created soundtrack of his youth.

We are getting closer to the grand finale of this thrash metal spectacle and there is no doubt that fans are activating the last drops they have in their tank. “Raining Blood”, the furious “Black Magic” and the album’s title track “From Hell I Rise” are some of the best songs King has written and everyone goes wild until the last riff fades away.

Kerry King delivered a great show and it is the atmosphere of a venue the size of Grosse Freiheit 36 that makes the thrash metal vibe much stronger than what you get at festivals or bigger halls. This night was all about beer, sweat and decibels, and it was all very present during these three hours.