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SPECIAL LIMITED
EDITION OF SLAYER'S "CHRIST ILLUSION"
TO BE RE-RELEASED WORLD WIDE JULY 24
New Songs, Bonus DVD Will Coincide with
Slayer/Manson Summer Co-Headline North American
Tour
"Final Six is here, the Cycle ends."
Los Angeles, CA - June 21, 2007 -- A special
limited edition of Slayer's 2006 album, "Christ
Illusion," will have a July 24 simultaneous
global release (American Recordings), and will
feature new songs, a bonus DVD and stunning new
cover art - a lenticular image of a hand
bleeding from a crucifixion wound. The special
limited edition "Christ Illusion" is being
released in tandem with the band's co-headline
summer trek with Marilyn Manson, kicking off
July 25 in West Palm Beach, FL (tour dates
below).
The "Christ Illusion" limited edition will be a
two-disc package featuring an alternate version
of the track "Black Serenade" and a brand new
song, "The Final six," a chilling look at the
end of the world, that was written by Slayer
bassist/vocalist Tom Araya and guitarist Jeff
Hanneman, and produced by Josh Abraham.
The bonus DD features the captivating video for
the track "Eyes of the Insane," which was
directed by Iranian filmmaker Tony Petrossian
and won Slayer their first-ever Grammy award as
"Best Metal Performance." The video is a
first-person narrative about the horrors leading
up to the final moments of a soldier at war. The
entire video is a single, long and tight
close-up of a soldier's eye with images clearly
reflected within his pupil and iris, perfectly
choreographed with the rhythm of the music. In
addition, a live performance of the 1988 Slayer
classic "South of Heaven," filmed in Vancouver
on last year's "Unholy Alliance Tour," and
"Slayer on Tour 07," a five-minute
live-and-behind-the-scenes, all-hand-held
documentary-style montage of footage shot when
the band was on tour earlier this year in the
U.S. and Australia, are included on the DVD.
"Christ Illusion" was originally released on
August 8, 2006 and became Slayer's highest-ever
Billboard chart debut, entering at#5 on the
trade magazine's Top 200 Albums Charts. In
addition, it was a Top 10 album around the world
in its first week of release. "Christ Illusion"
was produced by Josh Abraham and executive
produced by Rick Rubin, and marked the
long-awaited return to the studio of Slayer's
legendary original line-up - Araya, Hanneman,
guitarist Kerry King and the once-and-future
drummer, Dave Lombardo.
On "Christ Illusion" - both the original and
special limited edition - the unabashedly
controversial Slayer takes on Government and
God, looking at the World Trade Center disaster
from the terrorists' point of view, and
repeatedly committing lyrical blasphemy, which
caused the Washington Post to note "...Slayer
consistently beats Christianity with an ugly
stick." One major daily reviewer hypothesized,
"If Thomas Jefferson were alive today, he
undoubtedly would be listening to
Slayer...beneath this aggressive veneer is a
social, political and interpersonal message that
would put proud smiles on our nation's founders.
The New York Times wrote simply that "[Christ
Illusion] is the most concentrated, focused
Slayer record in 20 years."
REIGN IN THE SUN:
SLAYER TO CO-HEADLINE NORTH AMERICAN SUMMER TOUR
WITH MARILYN MANSON
"Marilyn Manson puts on a great show and his
fans are very loyal as our fans are. Like
Slayer, Manson has had his share of controversy,
and like Slayer, he's never backed down from
that. And also like Slayer, Manson is outspoken
and has taken a lot of grief for being that way.
While there are similarities between us, there
are differences too, and we think that the
combination of those factors will make for a
very interesting, possibly surprising, but
definitely very entertaining show for both
Manson fans and Slayer fans." -- Tom Araya,
Slayer
Los Angeles, CA - June 5, 2007 -- Since rock 'n'
roll's inception in the 1950's, it's always been
blamed for the ills of society-and no one knows
that better than Slayer or Marilyn Manson. From
suicides to school shootings, both acts have
continually been unfairly categorized as
scapegoats by media pundits and politicians
simply because they can't understand these
artists-or, maybe better yet, because they're
afraid of them. Well, if people were scared
before, now they have reason to be petrified.
This summer, Slayer and Marilyn Manson will
co-headline a 25-city North American tour, which
will feature both acts with elaborate stage
set-ups playing full sets. "Usually we just come
out and play, but this time around we're really
going to give the fans a show," explains
Slayer's bassist/vocalist, Tom Araya. "Our set
is going to span our entire career, but we're
definitely going to squeeze in some new songs
that we haven't performed live yet."
Fresh off winning their first-ever Grammy for
their tenth full-length studio album, "Christ
Illusion, Slayer couldn't have more momentum
going into the tour. "The other guys will tell
you it didn't mean anything to them, but it did
to me," Araya explains about the band's award
for Best Metal Performance for the track "Eyes
Of The Insane." "We're fans of the music we
create and if we don't like it, we know the kids
aren't going to like it either," Araya continues
when asked what has kept Slayer relevant while
so many of their peers have disbanded, or worse
yet, become parodies of themselves.
"I think people like what they know," adds
guitarist Kerry King. "The perfect comparison
for Slayer's role in metal is what AC/DC did
with rock; they made the same record for 30
years, but just changed the flavor." While
musical trends have come and gone, for the past
26 years Slayer have continued to stay true to
their thrash roots and loudly defied the music
industry's standards. In fact at, at this point
Slayer-which also features guitarist Jeff
Hanneman and drummer Dave Lombardo-aren't just a
band, they're an institution.
When bands like Green Day and the Offspring
suddenly became ubiquitous in the late-'90s the
band released Undisputed Attitude, a collection
of hardcore punk covers from acts like Minor
Threat and Black Flag-and now that inoffensive
pop music rules the charts, in typical
Slayer-fashion the band countered with Christ
Illusion, a blistering critique of the current
administration set to the tune of impossibly
heavy riffs, frantic drums and guitar solos that
pummel the listener in carefully constructed
blasts of noise. In other words, it's just
business as usual for Slayer.
"I remember when I was a kid and one of the
biggest metal bands at the time came out with a
new album - I remember this because I was
genuinely offended that they would put that
album out," King explains when asked what he
thinks has kept Slayer not only relevant but
revelatory for the past twenty years. "That band
got sidetracked by commercial music and tried to
cash in on it," he continues. "Look at me, even
now I'm still marred by it," he adds with a
laugh. "I don't want to do that to our fans
ever."
It's not just lip service, it's the mantra that
has helped make Slayer the most popular
thrash/metal band of all time. Face it: in a
world as seemingly screwed-up and uncertain as
the one we currently live in, we need a band
like Slayer more than ever. If you're a
closed-minded critic you can take solace in the
band's unrelenting consistency-and if you're a
fan, be prepared to see one of Slayer's most
impressive performances of their storied career
when they join forces with Marilyn Manson this
summer.
Tour dates for the Slayer/Marilyn Manson
co-headline tour are as follows:
JULY
25 Sound Advice Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach,
FL
27 Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa, FL
28 Hi Fi Buys Amphitheatre, Atlanta, GA
30 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
31 TWCA Tower City, Cleveland, OH
AUGUST
2 Tweeter Center, Philadelphia, PA
4 DCU Center, Worcester, MA
5 PNC, Holmdel, NJ
7 Centre de Foire, Quebec, QC CANADA
8 Bell Centre, Montreal, QC CANADA
10 Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ON CANADA
11 DTE Music Theatre, Detroit, MI
13 Allstate, Chicago, IL
14 Xcel, Minneapolis, MN
16 TBA
18 Coors Amphitheatre, Denver, CO
21 Sleep Train Amphitheatre, Sacramento, CA
23 Sleep Train Pavilion, Concord, CA
24 Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre @ Irvine, Los
Angeles, CA
25 San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, CA
27 Cricket Pavilion, Phoenix, AZ
28 Journal Pavilion, Albuquerque, NM
30 Nokia Theatre, Dallas, TX
31 Reliant Arena
SEPTEMBER
1 Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, San Antonio, TX
UK REPORT STATES
THAT SLAYER IS A MUSICAL CHOICE OF CHILD
PRODIGIES
In a 1992 Slayer profile, Esquire magazine
wrote, "Five out of five kids who kill love
Slayer."
Times change.
According to a report just last month in the
UK's national daily newspaper The Independent, a
study reveals that "death metal and thrash bands
such as Slayer and Slipknot produce the music of
choice for today's brightest youngsters."
The report is based on an online survey
conducted with students at Great Britain's
National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth,
representing the top five percent of the
country's students.
The report further states that "this
intellectual elite often [finds] themselves
facing situations and issues not encountered by
less able students." Researchers associated with
the study admitted their surprise that
"intelligent" genres traditionally associated
with the precociously bright, such as classical
and jazz, were the least populaar.
For all the honor students in Australia and here
in North America, Slayer kicks off their first
Australian concert tour in five years on April
21, and will co-headline a North American summer
tour with Marilyn Manson beginning July 25.
MARILYN MANSON
AND SLAYER TO CO-HEADLINE NORTH AMERICAN SUMMER
TOUR
It's going to happen only once, so you don't
want to miss it.
Slayer and Marilyn Manson announce that they
will co-headline a North American major-market
summer tour set to kick off July 25 on the east
coast. Plans are for the tour to play some
twenty-five cities and wrap up early September
on the west coast. A full, confirmed schedule
will be announced shortly.
Manson and Slayer will each play full sets, and
two support bands, yet to be determined, will
open all shows.
Just prior to the American trek, both Manson and
Slayer will be on tour throughout Europe,
sharing the stage at three European festivals -
the UK's Download Festival at Donington (June
9), Greenfield Festival in Sweden (June 15), and
Stockholm's Metaltown Festival (June 30).
Marilyn Manson just wrapped up work on his
upcoming June release to be titled, "EAT ME,
DRINK ME," which Rolling Stone magazine
anticipates as "epic." Voted "Best Band in the
World" by Kerrang! magazine, the army of noise
behind Manson's bitterness is at once raw and
massive when witnessing him live - "rousing the
crowd with focuses ardor," states the New York
Times.
Celebrating their 26th year together, the
always-uncompromising Slayer was just named
"Best Live Band" in SPIN's 2006 Readers Poll,
and picked up their first Grammy Award last
month for "Best Metal Performance." Their latest
album, "Christ Illusion" - debuting at #5 on
Billboard's Albums Chart - takes on the U.S.
Government about the War in Iraq, prompting one
newspaper to speculate, "If Thomas Jefferson
were alive today, he undoubtedly would be
listening to Slayer."
THE FANS HAVE SPOKEN - SLAYER COMES OUT ON
TOP IN READERS POLLS
Los Angeles, CA - Having won their first-ever
Grammy Award last month - "Best Metal
Performance" for the track "Eyes of the Insane"
- thrash/punk icons SLAYER have just picked up a
handful of even more awards, and these are from
the fans.
Revolver's 2007 "Readers Poll" singled out
Slayer's Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman as "Best
Guitarist/Guitar Team," and also named Dave
Lombardo as "Best Drummer." Slayer also placed
Top 5 in the categories "Best Band Ever," "Best
Live Band," "Album of the Year" (for "Christ
Illusion"), and Band of the Year."
In its brand new issue, SPIN's 2006 Readers Poll
named Slayer the "Best Live Band," coming in
ahead of Panic! At The Disco and The Killers.
Slayer headlined last summer's North
American/European SRO "Unholy Alliance Tour," as
well as their just-concluded winter 2007 North
American tour. They kick off their first
Australian tour in five years on April 12, and
will play some of the major European festivals
in early summer. More North American tour plans
for later this year will be announced shortly
SLAYER HEADS
"DOWN UNDER" FOR FIRST CONCERT TOUR THERE IN
FIVE YEARS
Los Angeles, CA - February 27, 2007 -- Coming
off a 24-date, SRO North American headlining
tour and their first-ever Grammy win,
thrash/punk icons SLAYER will head off to
Australia for their first tour there in five
years. The six dates will begin on April 12 in
Perth, and will take the band to the country's
major markets - Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney,
Brisbane, with the April 21 closing date in
Auckland, New Zealand. The critically-acclaimed,
Grammy-nominated band Mastodon will be special
guests on all dates.
As New York's Newsday recently cited, "After 24
years of striking fear into the hearts of
parents, Slayer not only continues to reign as
one of the world's best-known metal groups, it's
starting to earn respect within the music
industry as well." Earlier this month, Slayer
was awarded the Grammy for the track "Eyes of
the Insane" in the category of Best Metal
Performance. "Eyes of the Insane" is on the
band's most recent album, "Christ Illusion,"
which was released on August 8, 2006 and became
the band's highest-ever chart debut, coming in
at#5 on Billboard's Top 200 in the U.S. "Christ
Illusion" was also a top 10 album
internationally in its first week.
Even after more than two decades together,
Slayer still rules the concert stage. "All
Slayer needs to put on a riveting show is its
relentless music," wrote the Washington Post of
the band's recent DC performance. At a show
earlier this month, the New York Times music,
"mellowing is not on the band's docket."
After the Australian dates, Slayer will play the
major European festivals over the summer. That
itinerary will be announced shortly.
Slayer's Australian tour dates are as follows:
APRIL
12 Metro City , Perth, Australia
14 Thebarton Theatre , Adelaide, Australia
15 Vodafone Arena , Melbourne, Australia
17 Hordern Pavilion , Sydney, Australia
19 Riverstage , Brisbane, Australia
21 St. James Theatre , Auckland, NZ
SLAYER TO MAKE
NETWORK TV DEBUT
Band Will Be Musical Guests on "Jimmy Kimmel
Live" Friday, January 19
Los Angeles, CA - January 9, 2007 -- Slayer will
make its network television debut on FRIDAY,
JANUARY 19 with an appearance on ABC-TV's "Jimmy
Kimmel Live." While one song will be broadcast
on-air, the band will perform a free, five-song
mini-concert on Kimmel's Outdoor Stage located
right in the heart of Hollywood, CA. Slayer's
Grammy-nominated track, "Eyes of the Insane,"
from the band's most recent CD, "Christ
Illusion" will be one of the songs the band will
perform. "Jimmy Kimmel Live" airs at 12:05AM ET
and PT/11:05PM CT.
The TV appearance will precede Slayer's 2007
Winter North American Tour which will kick off
on January 24 in Tucson, AZ and wind up in Ft.
Lauderdale, FL on February 24.
NEW SLAYER ALBUM BANNED IN INDIA BY CHRISTIAN
GROUP
By Nyay Bhushan, New Delhi
Mumbai-based EMI Virgin India Ltd said Friday
(Oct. 6) it will recall all copies of the new
Slayer album "Christ Illusion" following
protests by a Christian group, Mumbai-based
Catholic Secular Forum (CSF).
Early this week, Joseph Dias, general secretary
of CSF, issued a statement taking "strong
exception" to the album's cover artwork, which
he said depicts "Christ with a missing eye and
amputated arms." He added, "we also condemn the
track, 'Skeleton Christ' as the lyrics are an
insult to Christianity." The CSF also sent a
memorandum to Mumbai's police commissioner,
adding that the album "will affect the
sensibilities of the Muslims on the track
'Jihad' and secular Indians who have respect for
all faiths."
Kaveri Khullar, marketing manager, EMI India
said in an interview, "We met with the CSF and
were apologetic while assuring them that all
copies of the album would be pulled out. We have
no plans of re-issuing it in any way."
The "Christ Illusion" album had been on the
shelves for only a week. Khullar did not confirm
the number of units released only stating,
"There weren't too many that we launched
anyway."
The CSF had earlier protested against the Indian
release of "The Da Vinci Code" which led the
Censor Board to instruct the India distributor,
Mumbai-based Sony Pictures Releasing India, to
include a notice to accompany the film to
explain that it was a work of fiction.
SLAYER'S
WAR-CRITICAL "EYES OF THE INSANE" GETS GRAMMY
NOM
"If Thomas Jefferson were alive today, he
undoubtedly would be listening to Slayer..."
-- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Los Angeles, CA - (December 8, 2006) - Slayer's
been saying it all along - the war in Iraq is
irresponsible lunacy - and while NARAS members
may or may not agree with that particular
opinion, enough of them agree that the band's
"Eyes of the Insane," from their most recent
album "Christ Illusion," made enough of a
statement to single it out with a Grammy
nomination in the category of Best Metal
Performance.
This is Slayer's second Grammy nomination, the
first being in 2002 for the track "Disciple"
(from "God Hates Us All"), also in the Best
Metal Performance category.
"Eyes of Insane" - music by Slayer's guitarist
Jeff Hanneman, lyrics by vocalist/bassist Tom
Araya - examines the madness, horrors and cruel
realities of war. Araya's lyrics were inspired
by a magazine article entitled "Casualty of
War," that told the story of a highly-decorated
U.S. soldier in Iraq who, a mere four days away
from coming home, had a mental breakdown that
eventually led him to taking his own life. The
powerful and disturbing video for "Eyes of the
Insane," directed by Iranian filmmaker Tony
Petrossian, can be seen on the band's website,
http://slayer.net (click on "video").
Slayer - the acknowledged kings of extreme
speed/thrash/punk-metal - has always been
outspoken. Much of "Christ Illusion" deals with
the brutality of war and religious fanaticism,
and scrutinizes America's role in Iraq and
Afghanistan. According to one media outlet, the
album is "this year's most political album since
Neil Young's 'Living With War.'" A sizeable
chunk of Slayer's core audience is made up of
enlisted men and women, and Slayer recently paid
their first-ever visit to a military base in
Germany to meet and chat with the soldiers.
"Christ Illusion" (American Recordings/WBR) -
executive produced by Rick Rubin and produced by
Josh Abraham - was released on August 8, debuted
at #5 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums Chart, and
was a Top 10 debut internationally. The New York
Times called the album, "simply the most
concentrated, focused Slayer record in 20
years." The Slayer-headlined "Unholy Alliance
Tour" that stormed the U.S. Over the summer, was
just named the "Best Metal Package Tour" by the
radio tip-sheet F.M.Q.B.
Slayer will hit the road beginning January 24 on
a five-week headline tour of North America.
Dates are below.
JANUARY
24 Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, AZ
25 House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV
26 SOMA, San Diego, CA
28 Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, CA
30 Great Salt Air, Salt Lake City, UT
31 Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, CO
FEBRUARY
2 Bricktown Events Center, Oklahoma City, OK
3 Memorial Hall, Kansas City, KS
5 Egyptian Room, Indianapolis, IN
7 Labatt Center, London, Ontario CANADA
8 Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario CANADA
9 Scotiabank Place, Ottawa, Ontario CANADA
10 Mid-Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
12 Lifestyles Pavilion, Columbus, OH
13 Convocation Center, Youngstown, OH
15 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY
16 Lupo's at the Strand Theatre, Providence,
Rhode Island
17 House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ
19 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.
22 House of Blues, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
23 House of Blues, Orlando, FL
24 Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale, FL