According to drummer Dave Lombardo, Slayer have begun work on writing their next album. Ever the band of few words, Lombardo posted the following short-but-sweet message to his Twitter account: "SLAYER is writing a new record and PHILM is about to start mixing their debut record. Looking forward to touring again with new music."
Presumably, this means that guitarist Jeff Hanneman has reached a healthy point in his recovery, as the band have said in numerous interviews that they would not begin writing the new Slayer album without him. Hanneman contracted necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease, while the band were on tour in Australia earlier this year.
Slayer's last studio album was 2009's World Painted Blood.