SLAYER Putting Finishing Touches On New Album; Late Summer Release Expected

Despite widespread rumors to the contrary, SLAYER's as-yet-untitled new album does not yet have an official release date. According to the band's publicist, the Los Angeles thrashers are in the studio putting the finishing touches on the CD recordings and are hoping to get the album out before the end of the summer. However, an exact release date will not be set until the record has been completed. "Tom's [Araya] finishing up vocals, Kerry [King] and Jeff [Hanneman] are doing final guitar overdubs, and, unless some unforeseen wrench is thrown in, all recording will be finished before the end of next week," the publicist told BLABBERMOUTH.NET.

"Psychopathy Red", the first new track from SLAYER since 2006's thrashterpiece "Christ Illusion", was made available as a seven-inch vinyl disc beginning Saturday, April 18, 2009 as part of the third annual Record Store Day. Only 5,000 of these limited edition discs were manufactured worldwide, and are available exclusively at participating independent record stores. Log on to www.recordstoreday.com for the list of participating stores.

The blood-red vinyl "Psychopathy Red" seven-inch collectors item are packaged in a special Russian crime scene "evidence envelope", as the song was inspired by the heinous Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, a.k.a. the Rostov Ripper, who confessed to brutally murdering 56 children. The song was recorded by the band in a Los Angeles recording studio last October.

SLAYER and MEGADETH — two of the bands that defined the thrash/metal genre — will perform together for the first time in more than 15 years when they co-headline four shows in Canada in late June. The tour, dubbed "Canadian Carnage", will also feature MACHINE HEAD and SUICIDE SILENCE, and will see MEGADETH and SLAYER each closing two of the four shows.

The dates are as follows:

June 24 - GM Place, Vancouver, BC
June 26 - Rexall, Edmonton, AB
June 27 - Saddledome, Calgary, AB
June 29 - MTS Centre, Winnipeg, MB

SLAYER will co-headline with MARILYN MANSON on the five-week Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival, set to kick off July 10 in Sacramento, California.

Revolver TV has uploaded a short interview with Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman conducted by Full Metal Jackie at the first annual Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods Awards, which was held on April 7 at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles. Watch the one-minute chat below.