SLAYER OFFERS FREE DOWNLOAD, FORMS LABEL IMPRINT, AND SIGNS EXCLUSIVE WORLDWIDE DEAL WITH NUCLEAR BLAST
Guitarist Gary Holt (standing in for Jeff Hanneman), SLAYER’s Tom Araya, Kerry King, Paul Bostaph
Last night at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, SLAYER surprised the capacity crowd with an unannounced performance, kicking off the show with a three-song set that included the global premiere of “Implode,” the band’s first new studio recording in five years.
Recorded earlier this month at Henson Studios in Los Angeles and produced by Terry Date with co-producer Greg Fidelman, “Implode” is now available as a free download as a “thank you” to the band’s fans for their continued support. As SLAYER guitarist Kerry King put it, “You’ve done for us, now we want to do for you.” Registered members of SLAYER’s fan club were the first to receive an e-mail to hear the song before it was made public. “Implode” can now be downloaded by all fans at www.SLAYER.net.
Later this year, the two-time Grammy-winning SLAYER will begin recording a new studio album, tentatively set for an early 2015 release. The album will make SLAYER history as it will be released on Nuclear Blast Records through the band’s own label imprint, closing out a 28-year relationship with Rick Rubin and American Recordings. No name for the imprint has been decided on yet.
“Rick has played a huge role in our career, we’ve made some great albums with him,” said SLAYER’s Tom Araya. “But today is a new day, record companies don’t play the kind of role they once did, and we really like the idea of going out on our own, connecting directly with our fans, and Nuclear Blast is fired up about taking on that challenge with us.”
All future recordings on the band’s label imprint will be released worldwide exclusively through Nuclear Blast.
“I was a teenage rebel when Show No Mercy came out,” says Markus Staiger, owner of Nuclear Blast, “and I identified with that record. It was the most extreme, aggressive thing at the time. They were then and still are the most brutal metal band on the planet! I really cannot express how proud I am that we are able to work with SLAYER to join the Nuclear Blast family. We are ready for that next record and I’m sure it will go into metal history!”
Nuclear Blast’s North American Label Manager Gerardo Martínez adds: “The prospect of helping SLAYER take a leading role in the creative process surrounding their releases, projects, and other cross-promotional opportunities is the ultimate honor for me, a metalhead who grew up in Los Angeles listening to SLAYER. Nowhere in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that Nuclear Blast would be making history alongside one of the best bands in metal.”
SLAYER – comprised of Tom Araya on vocals & bass, Kerry King on guitar, drummer Paul Bostaph, and guitarist Gary Holt who continues to stand in for the band’s founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman who passed nearly a year ago – will spend the next few months on the road touring major North American and European festivals as well as playing headlining dates, sharing the stages with Metallica, Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Mastodon, and more (see below). They are expected back in the studio in the fall to record the rest of their new album.
Stay connected to www.SLAYER.net for all the updates.
U.S. Tour Dates for MAY:
05/09/14 The Great Salt Air – Magna, UT
05/10/14 Fillmore Auditorium – Denver, CO
05/11/14 Shrine Auditorium – Billings, MT
05/13/14 Uptown Theater – Kansas City, MO
05/15/14 The Pageant – St. Louis, MO
05/16/14 Eagles Ballroom – Milwaukee, WI
05/17/14 Rock On The Range – Columbus, OH
EUROPEAN Tour Dates for MAY:
05/28/14 Sonisphere Festival @ Hietaniemi Beach – Helsinki, Finland
05/30/14 STHLM Fields @ Gardet Royal Park – Stockholm, Sweden
05/31/14 FortaRock Festival Goffertpark – Nijmegen, Netherlands
EUROPEAN Tour Dates for JUNE:
06/01/14 Sonisphere Festival @ Valle Hoven – Oslo, Norway
06/03/14 Horsens Gaol – Horsens, Denmark
06/04/14 Sonisphere Festival @ Imtech Arena – Hamburg, Germany
06/05/14 Den Atelier – Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
06/07/14 Rock AM Ring – Nurburgring, Germany
06/08/14 Rock Im Ring – Nurnberg, Germany
06/09/14 Z7 Konzertfabrik – Prattein, Switzerland
06/13/14 Nova Rock @Pannonia Fields – Nicklesdorf, Austria
06/15/14 Live Club – Milan, Italy
06/16/14 Estragon – Bologna, Italy
06/20/14 Hellfest @ Rue de Champ Louet – Clisson, France
06/21/14 Tons of Rock Restival – Halden, Norway
06/24/14 Stadion Miejeski – Poznan, Poland
06/26/14 La Laiterie – Strasbourg, France
06/27/14 Graspop – Dessel, Belgium
06/30/14 Limelight – Belfast, Ireland
EUROPEAN Tour Dates for JULY:
07/01/14 Academy – Dublin, Ireland
07/04/14 Paris Le Zenith – Paris, France
07/05/14 Sonisphere Festival @ Knebworth – Knebworth Park, England
EUROPEAN Tour Dates for AUGUST:
08/03/14 Milo Club – Nizny Novgorad, Russia
08/04/14 Arena Moscow Club – Moscow, Russia
08/05/14 A2 Club – St. Petersburg, Russia
08/08/14 Brutal Assault Festival @ Old Army Fortress Josefov – Jaromer, Czech Republic
CANADIAN Tour Dates for AUGUST:
08/10/14 Heavy Montreal Festival @ Parc Jean Drapeau – Montreal, Quebec, Canada
