Last night, April 23, at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards at LA's Nokia Theatre, Slayer surprised the capacity crowd with an unannounced performance, kicking off the show with a three-song set that included "Implode," the band's first new studio recording in five years.
You can hear the studio version of "Implode" — below.
Recorded earlier this month at Henson Studios in LA and produced by Terry Date and co-produced by Greg Fidelman, "Implode" is available as a free download as a way if thanking fans for their ongoing support.
Or, as guitarist Kerry King put it, "You have been waiting for us, now we are delivering for you." Members of Slayer's fan club were sent an email around midnight giving them the link to the song.
"Implode" can now be downloaded at slayer.net.
Later this year, Slayer will begin recording a new album, tentatively set for an early 2015 release. It 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.
"Rick has played a huge role in our career, we've made some great albums with him," Tom Araya said. "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."
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Slayer (Tom Araya/vocals, bass, Kerry King/guitar, drummer Paul Bostaph and Gary Holt) will spend the next few months on the road touring North American and European festivals and headlining dates, sharing stages with Metallica, Iron Maiden and more (See all the current dates below). They're expected to be back in the studio in the fall to record the rest of the new album.
- MAY
- 9 The Great Salt Air, Salt Lake City, UT
- 10 Fillmore, Denver, CO
- 11 Shrine, Billings, MT
- 13 Uptown Theatre, Kansas City, MO
- 15 The Pageant, St Louis, MO
- 16 Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI
- 17 Rock on the Range, Columbus, OH
EUROPEAN TOUR
MAY
28 Sonisphere Festival @ Hietaniemi Beach, Helsinki, Finland
30 STHLM Fields @ Gardet Royal Park, Stockholm, Sweden
31 FortaRock Festival Goffertpark, Nijmegen, Netherlands
JUNE
1 Sonisphere Festival @ Valle Hoven, Oslo, Norway
3 Horsens Gaol, Horsens, Denmark
4 Sonisphere Festival @ Imtech Arena, Hamburg, Germany
5 Den Atelier, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
7 Rock AM Ring, Nurburgring, Germany
8 Rock Im Ring, Nurnberg, Germany
9 Z7 Konzertfabrik, Prattein, Switzerland
13 Nova Rock @Pannonia Fields, Nicklesdorf, Austria
15 Live Club, Milan, Italy
16 Estragon, Bologna, Italy
18 Paloma, Niems, France
20 Hellfest @Rue de Champ Louet, Clisson, France
21 Tons of Rock Restival, Halden, Norway
24 Stadion Miejeski, Poznan, Poland
26 La Laiterie, Strasbourg, France
27 Graspop, Dessel, Belgium
30 Limelight, Belfast, Ireland
JULY
1 Academy, Dublin, Ireland
4 Paris Le Zenith, Paris, France
5 Sonisphere Festival @ Knebworth, Knebworth Park, England
AUGUST
3 Milo Club, Nizny Novgorad, Russia
4 Arena Moscow Club, Moscow, Russia
5 A2 Club, St. Petersburg, Russia
8 Brutal Assault Festival, Old Army Fortress Josefov, Jaromer, Czech Republic
10 Heavy Montreal Festival @ Parc Jean Drapeau, Montreal, Quebec
Photo: From left, guitarist Gary Holt (standing in for the late Jeff Hanneman), Tom Araya, Kerry King and Paul Bostaph