Jeff Hanneman, guitarist and founding member of Slayer, was hospitalized late last month where he underwent emergency surgery on his right arm after contracting a serious infection, according to his band mates Kerry King, Tom Araya and Dave Lombardo.

While Hanneman's doctors were not able to definitively identify the infection's origin, they diagnosed necrotizing fasciitis (commonly known as flesh-eating disease), and indicated it likely was rooted in a spider bite. The guitarist is now recuperating at home, has already begun the process of subsequent medical procedures including skin grafts, and is expected to make a full recovery.

In light of this situation and Slayer's upcoming participation in the Australian Soundwave Festival tour that is set to kick off on February 26, the band has made the tough decision to play the dates without Hanneman, and will bring on a guest guitarist to fill in for him until such time as he has fully recovered and is ready to return to the line-up. The band will announce details about the guest guitarist shortly.

"Jeff is our brother, we've all been friends and together as a band for almost 30 years," said Araya, "so we just want him to completely recover as soon as possible."

"After everything that happened last year," King added, "we all agreed that we just can't disappoint our fans again", referring to Araya's severe back and neck pain that prompted his January 2010 surgery, unfortunately leading to the band's postponement or cancellation of numerous shows in 2009 and 2010. "Jeff is totally on board with this decision, so we will tour as planned. At this point, we can't pinpoint exactly what day he'll be back, but he'll be back as soon as he possibly can, and we can't wait for him to get his ass back out on the road."

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Source:	soundwavefestival.com
Band profile:	Slayer

Slayer and Megadeth will team up once again for their European Carnage Tour 2011 taking place in March and April. The list of confirmed tour dates looks as follows:

Mar. 13 - Kiev, Ukraine - Expo
Mar. 15 - Moscow, Russia - Olimpiski
Mar. 16 - St Petersburg, Russia - Jubileeny
Mar. 17 - Helsinki, Finland - Ice Hall
Mar. 19 - Stockholm, Sweden - Arenan
Mar. 20 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
Mar. 21 - Aarhus, Denmark - SCC
Mar. 23 - Brussels, Belgium - Forest
Mar. 24 - Bamberg, Germany - Stechert Arena
Mar. 26 - Paris, France - Zenith
Mar. 28 - Madrid, Spain - La Riviera
Mar. 29 - La Coruna, Spain - Coliseum
Mar. 30 - Lisbon, Portugal - Pavilhao Atlantico
Apr. 01 - Barcelona, Spain - St Jordi Club
Apr. 03 - Rome, Italy - Atlantico
Apr. 04 - Padova, Italy - Gran Teatro
Apr. 06 - Zagreb, Croatia - Arena
Apr. 07 - Vienna, Austria - Gasometer
Apr. 08 - Budapest, Hungary - Arena
Apr. 10 - Prague, Czech Republic - O2 Arena
Apr. 11 - Lodz, Poland - Sportshall
Apr. 13 - Basel, Switzerland - St Jakobshalle

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Source:	slayerized.com
Band profile:	Slayer
Event:	Slayer + Megadeth: European Carnage Tour

Official press release

For the first time in its near-30 year history, Slayer, the single most distinctive and radical thrash metal band ever, will see its ten American Recordings albums released as a limited-edition, high-end, box set - The Vinyl Conflict.

Ten albums on 11 discs, The Vinyl Conflict will feature the band's entire Def/American Recordings catalogue: Reign In Blood (1986), South of Heaven (1988), Seasons In The Abyss (1990), the double-record Live Decade of Aggression (1991), Divine Intervention (1994), Undisputed Attitude (1998), God Hates Us All (2001), Christ Illusion (2006), and World Painted Blood (2009). The Vinyl Conflict will be released on October 12, 2010.

"Most longtime Slayer fans may not have these records at this point," said American Recordings' Dino Paredes, "or their copies are completely beat-up, so to have the complete catalog in this first-class presentation is terrific. For the newer fans, this is their opportunity to really get into this band the way that they could have if they were born 20 years earlier."

American/Sony Legacy invested a great amount of care into making The Vinyl Conflict, treating the albums the way they would treat a great jazz, classical, Bob Dylan or Miles Davis record, something that isn't normally done for metal records. All ten albums have been re-mastered from the original analog flat master tapes and were pressed on the highest quality, 180-gram audiophile vinyl at RTI, the most-respected pressing plant in the U.S. and among the best in the world. Lacquers were cut and re-cut several times to ensure the highest sound quality. The individual vinyl discs will come in a standard, clear inner sleeve to preserve the vinyl, are then housed in high-quality litho-wrapped jackets, and then boxed in a hardcover slipcase. Additionally, reproductions of the original LP inner sleeve artwork were converted to 12X12 inserts.

"The vinyl box is a real treat for fans, especially with today's renewed and increased interest in vinyl," added Sony Legacy's Adam Farber. "It's been years and years since the Slayer vinyl has been in print - only the two most recent albums are currently available on vinyl, the rest have been out of print for years and very hard to find. These albums sounds spectacular - they sound like you've never heard them before."

"Everything about The Vinyl Conflict - the look of it, the feel of it - is very strong, very powerful, very Slayer," added Parades, "from the music to the dripping, bloody pentagram on the front of the box. It's perfect.

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Source:	slayer.net
Band profile:	Slayer

Slayer's gig tonight (August 2nd) in Tilburg, The Netherlands, was cancelled shortly before Slayer was to take the stage. Apparently guitarist Kerry King was taken to hospital.

No further details are known, as of yet. We'll keep you posted on whether or not tomorrow's gig will still be on and what eactly happened to Kerry King.

UPDATE:

According to the venue site, Kerry King has been taken to the hospital due to dehydration caused by food poisoning earlier this week. The other Tilburg gig on Tuesday August 3rd will, for now, go on as planned.

UPDATE:

Kerry King has recovered enough for tonight's (August 3rd) gig to be on. Tickets to yesterday's cancelled gig will remain valid for a replacement gig in the near future, of which the date will still have to confirmed.

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Source:	013.nl
Band profile:	Slayer
Event:	Slayer: European Tour 2010

&eventsSlayer, Megadeth and Anthrax will be joining forces on the second leg of American Carnage Tour (as was rumored). Right after the first leg of their American Carnage tour (with Testament), Slayer and Megadeth will continue to tour with yet another Big Four act, Anthrax.

This trek kicks off September 24 at Verizon Wireless Theatre in Dallas, Texas and will play 20 dates, including New York's Nassau Coliseum, concluding at Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles on October 21. A special pre-sale will launch this Wednesday, July 14.

On leg two, both main bands are still playing the Seasons in the Abyss and Rust In Peace albums from front to back to celebrate the 20th anniversary of said landmark releases.

Sep. 24 - Verizon Wireless Theatre, Dallas, TX
Sep. 25 - AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
Sep. 26 - Verizon Wireless Theatre, Houston, TX
Sep. 28 - Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, LA
Sep. 30 - Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN
Oct. 01 - The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Atlanta, GA
Oct. 02 - Hard Rock Live, Orlando, FL
Oct. 03 - Bayfront Park Amphitheatre, Miami, FL
Oct. 05 - Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA
Oct. 06 - 1st Mariner Arena, Baltimore, MD
Oct. 08 - Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, Long Island, NY
Oct. 09 - Toyota Pavilion @ Montage Mountain, Scranton, PA
Oct. 10 - LC Pavilion, Columbus, OH
Oct. 12 - Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY
Oct. 14 - War Memorial Coliseum, Ft.Wayne, IN
Oct. 15 - DeltaPlex, Grand Rapids, MI
Oct. 16 - Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI
Oct. 19 - E Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Oct. 20 - The Pearl, Las Vegas, NV
Oct. 21 - Gibson Amphitheatre, Hollywood, CA

All American Carnage tour dates are available here.

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Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Slayer
Event:	American Carnage Tour II

Getting all riled up for the Big Four/Carnage shows? Well, thanks to Noisecreep, here's a small appetizer for Slayer's set, as the band recently filmed a World Painted Blood AOL Session in Los Angeles.

High-quality video footage of Slayer performing "World Painted Blood", "Chemical Warfare/Raining Blood", "Hate Worldwide", and "Mandatory Suicide" has now been made available online. Check out the performance at this location.

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Source:	noisecreep.com
Band profile:	Slayer

Due to Tom Araya's back surgery, Slayer have been forced to cancel all of their immediate tour plans through April. This includes the American and Canadian Carnage tour dates that were set to kick off on January 18, as well as the band's European headline tour scheduled for March and April. The Slayer camp is working hard to reschedule dates for later this year.

Here's the statement from Slayer's manager Rick Sales: "Tom gave various medical treatments more than a fair shot, but they just haven't handled the problem, so he's biting the bullet and is scheduled for back surgery at the end of this month."

This difficult decision made by the band's bassist/vocalist Tom Araya means the cancellation of Slayer's immediate tour plans that include the American and Canadian Carnage Tour dates that were set to kick off on January 18, as well as the band's UK/European headline tour scheduled for March and April. Booking agents for both Slayer and Megadeth are already hard at work rescheduling the tour dates; tickets already purchased for these shows will be honored at the rescheduled dates.

The headbanging Araya, known for aggressively swinging his long mane of hair while performing, began experiencing back problems while on the band's Australian/New Zealand/Japanese tour last October. In spite of his rapidly increasing pain and discomfort, he carried on with the tour, but immediately upon returning home saw an orthopedic specialist who diagnosed a cervical radiculopathy. The rocker initially did not want to take the major surgery route, so the specialist recommended a series of minimally-invasive procedures. While those procedures have resulted in some improvement, Araya continues to deal with intermittent bouts of severe pain, numbness and muscle spasms. The surgical procedure that Araya will undergo, called an anterior cervical discectomy with fusion, is a relatively routine practice and the recovery rate is excellent.

Sales added, "As unfortunate as this is for so many people - the Megadeth and Testament camps, the concerts' promoters, and, of course, the fans - Tom's health is the number one priority, and this has to happen."

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Source:	slayer.net
Band profile:	Slayer

Six Feet Under are streaming their new cover of Slayer's "At Dawn They Sleep" at their MySpace page. Graveyard Classics 3 will see a release on 19 January 2010.

Commented Chris Barnes: "We chose the track "At Dawn They Sleep" to be the first single off Graveyard Classics 3. We've wanted to do a Slayer song for a while and lots of our fans have been requesting that we do a Slayer song as well; "At Dawn They Sleep" really seemed like it would lend itself to our style. And, to be honest, I've always preferred the early Slayer stuff, Hell Awaits and prior. I think the production and song structure of their early recordings are raw and in your face, in a very dynamic way, and that's the type of band SFU is, so it seemed to fit on a bunch of different levels.

Graveyard Classics 3 cover art] tracklist:

01. A Dangerous Meeting Mercyful Fate cover]
02. Metal On Metal Anvil cover]
03. The Frayed Ends Of Sanity Metallica cover]
04. At Dawn They Sleep Slayer cover]
05. Not Fragile
06. On Fire Van Halen cover]
07. Pounding Metal Exciter cover]
08. Destroyer Twisted Sister cover]
09. Psychotherapy
10. Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck Prong cover]

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Six Feet Under

Slayer. Megadeth. Two names synonymous with fierce, crunching power. Two bands whose histories are inevitably intertwined in defining the thrash/metal genre. Individually, their respective prowess and accomplishments are impressive; but together, they're brutal and unstoppable. Megadeth and Slayer will join forces to co-headline "American Carnage," the most blistering, the most explosive, and the most eagerly anticipated mega-tour of the winter - and you do not want to miss it.

"American Carnage" will kick off on January 18 in Seattle, WA for a 26-date trek across North America that will include the six Canadian dates postponed earlier this month. Tickets for most shows go on sale this Friday, November 20. Ticketmaster is offering a special presale for most shows from Wednesday November 18 at 10am until Thursday November 19 at 10pm.

"American Carnage" is the first time that Slayer and Megadeth will have toured the U.S. together since 1991's epic "Clash of the Titans" tour. To celebrate that and in recognition of the tough economic times that many of their fans are having, Megadeth and Slayer have decided to roll back the price of a chunk of tickets at every U.S. show to the "1991 price" of $10.00. These specially-priced tickets will be limited and when they're gone, they're gone. Megadeth has also teamed with iloveallaccess.com to provide an Ultimate Fan Package including premium seats, meet and greets, pre-show parties and more.

In addition, Testament - who was also on the "Clash of the Titans" bill, will be Special Guests on the entire tour, marking the first time that all three bands have shared a stage together in more than 18 years, and making this a "must see" metal event.

Both Megadeth and Slayer will hit the road supporting new albums: Megadeth's 2009 album, Endgame, while Slayer's World Painted Blood, the band's 10th studio venture, hit stores November 3. Testament's The Formation of Damnation: Special Tour Edition, will be released on February 23, 2010, with special unreleased bonus tracks.

Slayer and Megadeth have already massacred territories together outside of the U.S. - first with four explosive dates in June, 2009 across Western Canada - "Canadian Carnage" - marking the first time the bands had shared a stage anywhere in 18 years; and then six co-headlining "Carnage" dates in Australia followed in October.

According to various Canadian press outlets last summer: "It was a night of thrash impossible to trash..." "Tales about war, death, destruction, Satan, aliens and serial killers have never been so much fun..." "The two heavy metal heavyweights ...went head-to-head on a level playing field. Both bands brought their 'A' game. And the results were anything but pretty - unless you include pretty freakin' loud and pretty freakin' awesome."

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Source:	slayer.net
Band profile:	Slayer
Event:	American Carnage Tour [CANCELLED]

It is with immense disappointment that Slayer must postpone its UK and European tour that had been set to kick off on November 18 in the UK, and take the band on 19 dates through Europe, ending on December 17 in Germany. The tour will be rescheduled to kick off on March 7 in Manchester, England (complete itinerary is below).

Vocalist/bassist Tom Araya has been under the care of a specialist for a back injury, and while he has already made substantial improvement, he is continuing on with doctor-prescribed treatment.

"Right now," said Slayer's manager, Rick Sales, "our main concern must be the full and permanent recovery of Tom, so we have decided to clear the calendar and give him the extra time he needs to concentrate solely on good health."

Last week, Slayer announced the postponement of its east coast "Canadian Carnage" co-headline tour with Megadeth; those dates will be rescheduled in February 2010.

The new UK/European schedule is:

Mar. 07 - Manchester, UK - Academy
Mar. 08 - London, UK - Forum
Mar. 09 - London, UK - Forum
Mar. 11 - Paris, France - Bataclan
Mar. 13 - Bochum, Germany - Ruhrcongress
Mar. 15 - Tilburg, The Netherlands - 013
Mar. 16 - Tilburg, The Netherlands - 013
Mar. 17 - Brussels, Belgium - AB
Mar. 18 - Herford, Germany - X
Mar. 20 - Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
Mar. 21 - Hamburg, Germany - Docks
Mar. 22 - Cologne, Germany - Live Music Hall
Mar. 24 - Dresden, Germany - Alter Schlachtof
Mar. 25 - Vienna, Austria - Gasometer Early Show
Mar. 26 - Munich, Germany - Zenith (transferred from Tonhalle)
Mar. 28 - Milan, Italy - Alcatraz
Mar. 29 - Milan, Italy - Alcatraz
Mar. 30 - Zurich, Switzerland - Volkshaus Late Show
Mar. 31 - Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof
Apr. 02 - Nottingham, UK - Rock City
Apr. 03 - Glasgow, UK - Barrowland
Apr. 04 - Leeds, UK - Academy
Apr. 05 - Birmingham, UK - Academy

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Source:	slayer.net
Band profile:	Slayer
Event:

It is with great regret that Slayer announces the postponement of its "Canadian Carnage" tour with Megadeth (and also featuring Machine Head and Suicide Silence) which was due to begin on November 8. In addition, the band announces the postponement of its appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," which had been set for this Wednesday, November 4. More information will be released shortly regarding the rescheduling of the Canadian dates, as well as the "Kimmel" appearance.

Slayer's Tom Araya is currently under the care of a specialist for a back injury, thought to be related to his on-stage activity, and the physician has ordered an immediate surgical procedure to take place in Texas tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.

"What is foremost in our minds right now is that Tom does whatever he needs to to get this taken care of," said Slayer's Kerry King. "While all four of us are disappointed that we won't be able to see through all of our commitments set for the next few weeks, the most important thing is Tom's health. We thank the fans in Canada and here in L.A., the Megadeth camp, and everyone associated with "Jimmy Kimmel Live" for their understanding. We look forward to seeing you all soon."

Slayer's Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman and Dave Lombardo are looking forward to meeting their fans at a previously announced in-store appearance this Wednesday, November 4 at 3:30PM at the Hot Topic store located at the Hollywood and Highland complex.

Slayer's World Painted Blood will be released tomorrow, November 3.

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Source:	slayer.net
Band profile:	Slayer
Event:	Canadian Carnage East Tour [POSTPONED]

Original news, posted on 30.07.2009

US metallers Slayer have posted online a new song, "Hate Worldwide", on their MySpace page.

"Hate Worldwide" comes off the band's forthcoming album, entitled "World Painted Blood", due later in the year via American Recordings.

The band adds: "This limited edition track is also available for purchase as a CD-Single exclusively at Hot Topic stores. Check here for the store nearest you."

UPDATE (thanks to 34595)

"World Painted Blood", the title track of the upcoming Slayer album is available for streaming on the band's MySpace. "World Painted Blood" will be released on November 3.

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Slayer

Slayer's new album, "World Painted Blood", won't be out until October, but some folks have already heard it. Former Metal Edge editor-in-chief Phil Freeman is one of them. According to his track-by-track rundown, tracklisting of "World Painted Blood" will look like this:

01. World Painted Blood
02. Unit 731
03. Snuff
04. Beauty Through Order
05. Hate Worldwide Listen]
06. Public Display Of Dismemberment
07. Human Strain
08. Americon
09. Psychopathy Red Listen]
10. Playing With Dolls
11. Not Of This God

Freeman's final verdict reads as follows: "A lot of people say Slayer hasn't really been great since "Seasons in the Abyss". Those people are wrong. The Paul Bostaph years had a lot to recommend them ("Diabolus in Musica" is a seriously underrated album), and "Christ Illusion" showed that Slayer could experiment with dissonance and melody, and kick their own playing and songwriting up a notch when they wanted to. The band members have given a lot of interviews talking about how a lot of this album was written in the studio. Listening to it, you can't tell. That's really impressive. Much the way Metallica's "Death Magnetic" combined the thrash of their early years with the hard-rock grooves of their 1990s work, "World Painted Blood" builds on the success of every Slayer album before it. It's not a legacy-polishing effort; it's the next step in a still-ongoing journey. Highly recommended."

The complete song-by-song article of Slayer's tenth full-length album can be read here.

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Source:	music.msn.com
Band profile:	Slayer

Thrashers Megadeth have announced an upcoming "down under" tour in October. They will tour Australia and New Zealand and will be joined by fellow Thrash juggernauts in Slayer. This will be the first time the two band have toured this area of the world together. Both bands will be touring in support of their respective upcoming new albums (Endgame for Megadeth and World Painted Blood for Slayer). Support acts will be announced soon and tickets go on sale at 9:00am on 10/08/09.

See below for the list of tour dates:

05/10 - Logan Campbell Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
07/10 - Riverstage, Brisbane, Australia
08/10 - Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia
09/10 - Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
11/10 - Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, Australia
13/10 - Challenge Stadium, Perth, Australia

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Source:	megadeth.com
Band profile:	Megadeth
Event:	Megadeth & Slayer - Australia/New Zealand Tour 2009

Press release from the Wacken staff reads as follows:

For the three day Open Air Festivals "Wacken Rocks Seaside" and "Wacken Rocks Southside" two major highlights of the metal-scene have been added to the Line-Up: SLAYER & VOLBEAT

SLAYER will come to Germany exclusively for the Wacken Rocks shows!

The Thrash-Metal Band SLAYER from California is considered to be one of the most influential metal bands in the world. SLAYER will only perform two Open-Air shows in Germany: one show in Rieden/Kreuth, Southern Germany, and one show in Aurich, East Frisia.

SLAYER, the name says it all. Hardly any other band, no matter how commercially successful they might be, has had such a big influence on the metal-circuit as the foursome from California. In the early Eighties they started to spread out merciless noise from the Sunshine-State to all points of the compass.

With SLAYER the audiences at the ?Wacken Rocks Festivals" will experience a Thrash-thunderstorm, that is without equal. The metal legends around shouter and bassist Tom Araya will bring their brand new studio album ?World Painted Blood", destined to ensure a perfect festival atmosphere.

With the danish cult band VOLBEAT the second headlining slot for the Wacken Rocks Festivals has been taken. VOLBEAT is another exceptional band, rounding up the Line-Up of the Wacken Rocks Festivals. Ever since their last album "Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood" they have outgrown their status as an insiders tip and now are unstoppable marching to the top.

We're proud that we once again managed to lure VOLBEAT to Germany.

The 2009 ?Wacken Rocks Festivals" within their three day festival spectacles present almost 50 bands. Enough campsites are now available in Aurich. The campsite bordering the festival site has been expanded.

Further details on the festivals can be found at the Wacken homepage www.wacken.com and at www.wackenrocks.com

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Source:	wacken.com
Event:	Wacken Rocks Seaside