Kerry King to Perform with Megadeth Tonight

Slayer axeman Kerry King is scheduled to perform alongside Megadeth on stage tonight (October 21) at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California. They will collectively perform the Megadeth classic, "Rattlehead." Tonight's performance marks the second time King has performed the song with Megadeth. The first performance was 26 years ago, in February 1984, during which time King played as the band's second guitarist.

Tonight's performance is part of the final show for the Jägermeister Music Tour, which features 1991's original Clash of the Titans lineup: Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax.

During an interview with Decibel magazine in 2006, both Slayer guitarists - King and Jeff Hanneman - discussed King's decision to play with Megadeth over 20 years ago:

Hanneman: "I thought [Kerry] was an ass for doing that. [laughs] I remember talking to Tom [Araya] about it, like, 'I guess we're gonna get a new guitar player.' I thought he was kissing Dave's [Mustaine] ass or something, and I thought it was kinda fucked up. I think he was gonna join. Kerry will probably tell you something different, but why do that if you're not thinking about joining? I'm a loyalist, you know, and I thought Slayer was the best thing going. Why go hang out with somebody else? If Dave would've asked me to do it, I would've told him to fuck off."

King: "I did it because I admired Mustaine — I'd seen him play with Metallica. He'd be up there drunk off his ass, just ripping, not even looking at his fingers. Me and Jeff didn't know how to do that yet. [laughs] When he got kicked out and was sniffing around for a guitarist, I figured I'd do it because I thought I would learn something. The other guys in Slayer were probably unhappy, but we weren't really known back then, and the way I looked at it was that if people saw me playing in Dave's band, it'd be more publicity for Slayer. Now you look back and you think 'supergroup,' but back then, absolutely not. I played their first five shows, and then I was like, 'Man, this is taking too much of my time.' I can't speak for Dave, but I don't think he would've been unhappy if I stuck around."

Below is a video featuring former Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson discussing King's time with Megadeth. Also below is footage from the 1984 performance of "Rattlehead." An image from Megadeth's official Twitter feed is included as well.

Testament Hopes to Begin Recording New Album by the End of 2010

San Francisco Bay Area metal veterans Testament recently wrapped up the American Carnage tour with Megadeth and Slayer. Now the band is eager to begin writing and recording for their next album - a follow-up to 2008's The Formation of Damnation.

In a recent interview, vocalist Chuck Billy commented:

"The American Carnage tour was great for us, but now is the time for us to hold off on performing and go full steam ahead on getting the record finished. We currently have studio time booked at the end of this year, and we're shooting for a mid-2011 release. The new album will most likely be a culmination of [1999's] The Gathering and The Formation of Damnation, but we're definitely not going to forget who we are or our roots. I think we've found a comfortable spot in our writing style."

Adding to the topic, guitarist Eric Peterson said:

"I think the tour went really well for us. It's the first time we had a stage set to our live performance, which was a lot of fun, and it brought the band to a whole new level in regards to performing. Playing with Megadeth and Slayer again was a lot of fun. We're going to be home during the fall and winter working on new material." (Read More)

HardcoreSounds.Net Interviews Kerry King

Prior to Slayer's August 7 performance at the Sonisphere festival in Turku, Finland, HardcoreSounds.Net had the chance to interview guitarist Kerry King. The chat is now available for streaming via Blabbermouth.net.

For the first time in nearly thirty years, Slayer will see its ten American Recordings albums released as part of a limited edition, high-end boxed set. The Vinyl Conflict will feature ten albums on eleven discs and will showcase the veteran thrashers' entire Def/American Recordings catalogue:

Reign in Blood (1986)
South of Heaven (1988)
Seasons in the Abyss (1990)
Live Decade of Aggression (1991)
Divine Intervention (1994)
Undisputed Attitude (1998)
God Hates Us All (2001)
Christ Illusion (2006)
World Painted Blood (2009)

The Vinyl Conflict will be released on October 12, 2010. (Read More)

Kerry King to Guest Star on Full Metal Jackie

Slayer axeman Kerry King is scheduled to make a guest appearance on this weekend's (August 6-8) edition of the natiionally syndicated radio show, Full Metal Jackie. Also on the show will be premieres of new music from the likes of Murderdolls and Return to Earth.

A full list of stations carrying the program (as well as airing times) can be found at FullMetalJackieRadio.com. (Read More)

The Haunted Forced to Cancel Last Three Shows on Slayer Tour

The Haunted have announced the cancellation of their last three shows on the current Slayer tour. The Swedish metallers issued the following update:

"We are sorry to announce that due to an illness that required immediate medical attention, we are forced to cancel our last three performances as support to Slayer. We are, of course, very sad for this, and would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."

The following dates are affected:

August 2: 013 - Tilburg, Holland
August 3: 013 - Tilburg, Holland
August 5: Volkshaus - Zurich, Switzerland (Read More)

New Slayer Concert DVDs to Be Released

For some time now, Slayer fans everywhere have had to endure a void in their DVD collections - one caused by the disappointing fact that all Slayer DVDs have been out of print. That won't be the case for much longer, however. On August 17, 2003's War at the Warfield and 2004's Still Reigning will be reissued. Not only that, but 1995's Live Intrusion will be issued in remastered, digital form for the first time ever. The DVDs will be sold separately at retail and online and a limited edition package - the "Slayer Live DVD 3-Pak" - will be made available for exclusive sale on Slayer's official website. (Read More)

Big Four Sonisphere Festival Tour Opens in Poland

The historic Big Four tour has finally come together, but the process has been a slow one. However, despite a number of setbacks, the tour has finally kick-started and on June 16 100,000 fans at Bemowo Airport in Warsaw, Poland witnessed history in the making as Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax took to the same stage. (Read More)

Slayer on AOL Sessions

Despite vocalist/bassist Tom Araya's recent string of health problems, Slayer is still on top of its game. The band proved it was back in business with a performance on AOL Sessions. The set can be viewed via Noisecreep. (Read More)

Interview with Kerry King

Just in time for International Slayer Day, Metal Hammer has published an interview with Kerry King. In it, the guitarist goes into detail about his "life story." (Read More)

Judas Priest Win Grammy for Best Metal Performance

Judas Priest have been honoured with a Grammy in the Best Metal Performance category. The award was bestowed upon the band during the pre-telecast ceremony at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards which are currently underway at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Judas Priest was nominated for “Dissident Aggressor,” a track from the band’s 2009 live album A Touch of Evil: Live. Lead vocalist Rob Halford and drummer Scott Travis accepted the award.

“The fifth time is the charm,” said Halford during his acceptance speech. He went on to mention that Judas Priest has been making metal for twenty-five years and still love what they do. He also thanked the radio stations and press that supported the band and then dedicated the award to heavy metal fans everywhere.

The nominees in this year’s Metal category were as follows:

Judas Priest – “Dissident Aggressor” (from A Touch of Evil: Live)
Lamb of God – “Set to Fail” (from Wrath)
Megadeth – “Head Crusher” (from Endgame)
Ministry - "Señor Peligro" (from Adios...)
Slayer – “Hate Worldwide” (from World Painted Blood)

The only albums considered for this year’s Grammys were those released from October 1, 2008 through August 31, 2009. The nominees are determined by 12,000 music industry professionals, all of which belong to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).

A complete list of Grammy nominees can be found here.

Slayer's Halloween Hijacking

Thanks to Slayer, this Halloween weekend will be a scary one (at least at MySpace Music).

When the clock strikes midnight tonight, Slayer will officially hijack the site's Music homepage as well as the new Music Video homepage. The band will dominate for the entirety of the Halloween weekend.

Visitors to MySpace Music will be treated to the exclusive premiere of Slayer's new album, World Painted Blood. Samples from the album, which is scheduled to hit stores on November 3, have already been made public (including "Hate Worldwide," "Psychopathy Red," and the title track), but this weekend the band will let fans hear "Public Display of Dismemberment," "Not of This God," "Snuff," and "Beauty Through Order."

Slayer's total seizure of MySpace Music will be achieved by filling every slot of the Music Video homepage with Slayer videos, behind the scenes clips, shout-outs, and other tidbits.

Fans can get even more creepy goodies by checking out the video graphic novel Playing with Dolls, which will be available for viewing only through MySpace Music and only through the weekend. It will be released on November 3 as part of the World Painted Blood deluxe edition.

Playing with Dolls was created and directed by Mark Brooks (Metalocalypse) and isn't simply a twenty-minute music video. Presented in twelve parts, Playing with Dolls is a stark nightmare that breathes life into Slayer's cryptic creations: serial killers, stalkers, and psychopaths. It merges all of these psyches into that of a single, merciless malcontent. The film follows the nameless protagonist as his methodical, lethal frenzy brings outbursts that can only be described as gruesome. Rather than being an indiscriminate murderer, the nameless man is portrayed as an artist with a sense of purpose. For him, murder is the only way forward. He chooses his victims carefully and his methods of murder are as varied and grisly as they are poetic.

Future Tour for the Big Four?

Metallica's official website has released footage from the band's September 17 concert at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. (See below for clip.)

The following tunes made up the set list for the event:

01. That Was Just Your Life
02. The End of the Line
03. Ride the Lightning
04. Wherever I May Roam
05. One
06. Broken, Beat & Scarred
07. Cyanide
08. Sad but True
09. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
10. All Nightmare Long
11. The Day that Never Comes
12. Master of Puppets
13. Damage, Inc.
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman

Encore:
16. Last Caress
17. Motorbreath
18. Seek & Destroy

The band recently kicked off a new North American tour, which started on September 14 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Drummer Lars Ulrich has not yet confirmed reports of a future tour featuring the "Big Four" of the 80s thrash metal scene - Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax. During a radio interview in Dayton, Ohio with 103.9 The X, Ulrich was quoted as saying:

"I think it would be a super-fun thing to do. It's something that I would definitely support. It's something that I would love to encourage. It's something I love to be very proactive in putting together. But right now . . . it's not something that's like hush-hush being worked on behind the scenes or anything like that. I read some of those Internet sites myself once in a while, and it's not something that's going down, but it's something that I would be totally for at some point if it could happen. And we would love to be a part of that at any level possible."

According to Ulrich, the idea for a Big Four tour started in March 2009. "...a bunch of us were sitting around way later than we should have been sitting around [having] a bunch of very heavily red wine-induced conversations . . . And the idea of doing that at some point came up in that conversation."

However, the chatty drummer's comments have been noted as contradicting those of Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo who, despite admitting that a tour was indeed in the works, offered a discretionary note in a Metromix interview saying, "It's not a sealed deal. We're working on it."