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.
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
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
