SLAYER, the most badass thrash/metal band on the planet, will see issue #1 of its three-comic book series “Repentless” released on January 25 through Dark Horse Comics.
The comic book series is based on SLAYER‘s brutal ‘Repentless‘ music videos, written and directed by B.J. McDonnell (Hatchet III) and scripted by director/producer Jon Schnepp (Metalocalypse, The Venture Bros., The Death of Superman Lives). “Twilight Zone” artist Guiu Vilanova created the inside artwork, while Eisner Award-winning British comics artist Glenn Fabry drew Issue #1’s cover, and Eric Powell (The Goon, Hillbilly) created the variant cover.
Said SLAYER‘s Tom Araya about ‘Repentless‘, “We’re telling the story that we’ve always told about society and how humans treat each other.”
For more than three decades, SLAYER‘s onslaught has proven the band to be the supreme thrash-metal band on the planet, the band that other heavy acts are measured against and aspire to. Their membership in “The Big Four” – METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX – the four bands that defined the thrash/metal genre – secures their place in music history. The two-time Grammy-winners have also accumulated an abundance of certified Gold Albums along with “Best…” awards from media outlets all over the world, including Kerrang!, SPIN, Metal Hammer, Revolver, and Esquire. Throughout SLAYER‘s history, the band has never faltered in unleashing its extreme and focused sonic assault, and, unlike many of its contemporaries who “commercialized” their sound, SLAYER has remained crushing and brutal, steadfastly refusing to cater to the mainstream. SLAYER‘s founding member, guitarist Jeff Hanneman passed in 2013, and EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt has been filling in for him since. Paul Bostaph, who was SLAYER‘s drummer from ’94 – ’01, has rejoined bassist/vocalist Tom Araya and guitarist Kerry King, and is back behind the kit.
In September 2015, SLAYER released »Repentless«, the band’s 12th studio album, the first without Hanneman and first with producer Terry Date, to widespread rave reviews and the highest chart debut of the band’s career. The band also teamed up with director BJ McDonnell for three high-concept and brutal music videos for the album’s ‘Repentless‘, then for ‘You Against You,’ and the most recent, ‘Pride in Prejudice‘.
With the premiere of ‘Pride In Prejudice’, SLAYER complete the “Repentless” music video trilogy.
A convicted prisoner on death row… a cookie-cutter, white-bread family unit putting up the Christmas decorations… two worlds, lightness and darkness colliding… white supremacists… ruthless murders… SLAYER’s ‘Pride In Prejudice’ music video, watch it below.
Directed by BJ McDonnell
Produced by Felissa Rose
Edited by Ed Marx and Andrea Porter
Director of Photography – Eric Leach
Jason Trost (»Hatchet III«) – Wyatt
Danny Trejo (»Machete,« »From Dusk Til Dawn«)
Bill Moseley – the Dad (»House Of 1000 Corpses,« »The Devil’s Rejects«)
Caroline Williams – the Mom (»Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens,« »Hatchett III«)
Richard Speight, Jr. – returning as the ultimate Bad Guy (»CSI,« »Jericho,«»Supernatural«)
Filmed during the winter of 2016 in the mountains of Wrightwood, CA
“I’m particularly excited about this third video,” said McDonnell, “because we played with stylistic differences with the trilogy. Where one video plays like an action film, this third one is more of a dramatic piece. The final story takes us into a world that is especially sinister in tone, with the dark and the light colliding. The conclusion is visually cinematic and harsh, with SLAYER conducting us through it all with ‘Pride In Prejudice.'”
“It was a pleasure working with BJ on this project,” said SLAYER’s Kerry King. “SLAYER are notorious for letting the artist be the artist, the producer be the producer, and the director be the director, etc. By doing this we get a completely unique perspective that never really strays far from our own. Get ready for video three. It’s my favourite!”
SLAYER and the »Repentless« video trilogy
With the premiere of ‘Pride In Prejudice,’ SLAYER complete the »Repentless« music video trilogy.
The first video, ‘Repentless,’ was released 9/11/15 and has accumulated nearly 9.8 million views to date. It introduced us to Wyatt, the eyepatched rebel inmate (Jason Trost (»Hatchet III«)), and a host of nefarious prisoners played by some of today’s most iconic horror film actors includingDanny Trejo (»Machete,« »From Dusk Till Dawn«), Tony Moran (»Halloween«’s Michael Myers, »American Poltergeist«), Derek Mears (»Predators,« »Friday the 13th«), Tyler Mane (»Halloween«), Sean Whalen (»Men In Black,« »Halloween II«), and Vernon Wells (»Mad Max 2,« »Commando,« »Weird Science«). ‘Repentless’ was shot at the Sybil Brand Institute in East Los Angeles and has SLAYER performing the song in the prison yard while a riot breaks out, blood flowing in abundance, inmates and prison guards brutally slaughtered.
From the very first frame, ‘You Against You,’ the gore, the violence, the carnage begins and just never ends. While the second video in the trilogy, it is the prequel to ‘Repentless,’ telling the story of the circumstances that led to Wyatt’s erroneous arrest and imprisonment. SLAYER’s performance for ‘You Against You’ was shot at a graveyard of jets, airliners and helicopters inCalifornia’s Mojave Desert. ‘You Against You’ premiered 3/16/16 and has accumulated more than 4.6 million YouTube views.
The »Repentless« video trilogy was conceived and directed by BJ McDonnell who directed the 2013 horror film »Hatchett III.« His rich resume as a motion picture cameraman includes »Jack Reacher,« »Tomorrowland« and »The Interview,« and just wrapped filming for the upcoming»Annabelle 2.«
In September 2015, SLAYER released »Repentless,« the band’s 12th studio album, the first without founding member Jeff Hanneman and first with producer Terry Date, to widespread rave reviews and the highest chart debut of the band’s career. The band – Tom Araya (vocals, bass),Kerry King (guitars), Paul Bostaph (drums) and EXODUS / SLAYER touring guitarist Gary Holt- has toured near-non-stop since the album’s release, and heads out on the road starting September 9 with a seven-week North American trek. This fall, Dark Horse Comics will publish a three-issue comic book series based on McDonnell’s original concept for the »Repentless« video trilogy and written by Jon Schnepp. In addition, October will see the release of SLAYER’s “Cradle To Grave” BMX Bikes/Subrosa four-bike collection. Comprised of the SLAYER Balance, SLAYER 20, SLAYER 26 and the SLAYER Urban Terrain Bike, all are intended for BMX riders to “use and abuse.”
On July 1st, SLAYER’s new single, ‘You Against You’, has been released. New editions (shape, green, white/red splatter, clear) will be available soon. Pre-order now: http://nblast.de/SlayerNB
24.09. USA Houston, TX – Houston Open Air
25.09. USA San Bernardino, CA – Ozzfest Meets Knotfest
29.10. PRI San Juan – Coliseum Of Perto Rico
w/ ANTHRAX, DEATH ANGEL
09.09. USA Cleveland, OH – Jacob’s Pavilion
10.09. USA Detroit, MI – Freedom Hill Amphitheatre
12.09. CDN Toronto, ON – Sound Academy
13.09. CDN Montreal, QC – Metropolis
15.09. USA Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
18.09. USA Chester, PA – Rock Allegiance
20.09. USA Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room
22.09. USA St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
27.09. USA Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
28.09. USA Miami, FL – Fillmore
30.09. USA Tunica, MS – Horseshoe Casino Tunica
03.10. USA Norfolk, VA – Norva
05.10. USA Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
07.10. USA Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey Live
08.10. USA Austin, TX – ACL At The Moody Theatre
10.10. USA Denver, CO – Fillmore
11.10. USA Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
13.10. USA Missoula, MT – The Wilma Theatre
17.10. USA Lethbridge, AB – ENMAX Center
19.10. USA Penticton, BC – South Okanagan Events Centre
20.10. USA Abbotsford, BC – Abbotsford Centre
23.10. USA Reno, NV – Reno Events Center
27.10. USA El Paso, TX – El Paso County Coliseum
Thrash legends SLAYER have unleashed their new official music video for the track ‘You Against You’, taken from their 12th studio album, “Repentless”. Check it out below:
In the song ‘You Against You,’ vocalist Tom Araya screams “Your perfect world is ending this day, So what? I wouldn’t have it any other way.” And so, from the very first frame of the band’s ‘You Against You’ music video, the gore, the violence, the projectile-blood-spewing and the carnage begins and just never ends.
‘You Against You’ is the prequel to ‘Repentless,’ Slayer’s brutal 2015 video filmed at an L.A. prison that has logged nearly 7.5 million YouTube views. Like ‘Repentless,’ ‘You Against You’ was directed by BJ McDonnell, stars Jason Trost “(Hatchet III”) as Wyatt, the eyepatched rebel inmate, and tells the story of the circumstances that led to Wyatt‘s erroneous arrest and imprisonment.
Slayer‘s performance of ‘You Against You’ was shot deep in the heart of California’s Mojave desert earlier this year in a graveyard of jets, airliners, and helicopters.
“After the ‘Repentless’ video,” said Tom Araya, “BJ delivers with ‘You Against You.’ Fucking awesome!!!”
In support of “Repentless”, on Nuclear Blast, the band’s 12th studio album and its career-highest chart debut, SLAYER will launch 2016 by pillaging and marauding its way across North America, headlining some two-dozen dates over a five-week period. With Special Guests Testament and Carcass on all dates, the tour starts on February 19 in Chicago and wraps up in Las Vegas on March 26. Confirmed dates are below. Ticket presales has started today, December 4 at 10AM local time, and the public onsale commences Saturday, December 5 at 10AM local time.
For this tour, SLAYER is offering several different limited-availability VIP packages that will include premiums such as watching SLAYER’s entrance and first three songs from right onstage, access to the band’s normally off-limits soundcheck, autographed collectibles, and a variety of custom VIP swag. Log onto Slayer’s Facebook for all VIP packages and ticketing details.
Twenty-fifteen has proven to be a pretty darned good year for Slayer. Ignoring the odds and naysayers, the band – Kerry King/guitars, Tom Araya/bass, vocals, Paul Bostaph/drums, and touring guitarist Gary Holt – wrote, recorded and released its first album since the death of founding member, guitarist Jeff Hanneman, and first with producer Terry Date. SLAYER proved the doubters wrong with an album that SPIN called “as unrelenting as all of their previous,” Rolling Stone described as “…lean, quick, precise and brutal…” Loudwire deemed “…a potent release that is undeniably SLAYER…” and Guitar World simply declared “The Metal Album of the Year.” Repentless sounds like a SLAYER album…a sonic assault of brutal, ominous, lightening-fast and heavy-as-hell music, with lyrics that unmask what SLAYER knows best – the terror, the corruption and the societal turmoil that dominates our world. As a member of The Big Four, SLAYER didn’t just help define the thrash-metal genre, SLAYER defines an attitude.
For this upcoming tour, fans can expect to hear many of their favorite SLAYER songs selected from the band’s 30-plus year discography, as well as a few of the brand new ones. As the Austin Chronicle put it about one of SLAYER’s recent shows, “[It was] one hundred minutes of just plain pummel…the group delivered fast, hard, no-frills bludgeon.”
With more dates to be announced, the first leg of SLAYER’s 2016 North American tour is as follows:
FEBRUARY
19 Riviera Theatre, Chicago, IL
22 War Memorial, Nashville, TN
24 The National, Richmond, VA
26 House of Blues, Myrtle Beach, SC
27 The Ritz, Raleigh, NC
29 The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC
MARCH
2 Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY
3 The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA
5 The Fillmore, Silver Spring, MD
6 The House of Blues, Boston, MA
8 LC Pavilion, Columbus, OH
9 The Orpheum, Madison, WI
11 Myth, St. Paul, MN
12 Civic Auditorium, Fargo, ND
14 MacEwan Hall, Calgary, AB
15 Shaw Centre, Edmonton, AB
17 Revolution Event Center, Boise, ID
19 The Paramount, Seattle, WA
20 Roseland Ballroom, Portland, OR
22 Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA
26 The Joint, Las Vegas, NV
SLAYER recently unleashed the band’s 12th album, “Repentless”, on September 11th via Nuclear Blast Records. To celebrate its release, the band created a gore-soaked music video for its title track—and RED Digital Cinema was there to capture the entire shooting experience.
Watch RED’s behind the scenes clip of SLAYER’s “Repentless” here:
RED commented on the music video, “Featuring a star-studded cast of classic and contemporary horror icons, the music video was designed with cinema-quality production value and special effects in mind. The video’s director, BJ McDonnell, used SCARLET DRAGONs to help capture his vision of a visually stunning music video with a story to tell.”
“Repentless,” the first music video for the album, has now amassed more views in less than two weeks than any of the band’s previous music videos during the same time frame – more than four-million views at social media. The video was directed by BJ McDonnell (“Hatchet III”), filmed at the Sybil Brand women’s prison in East Los Angeles, and features copious amounts of blood, grizzly murders, and cameo appearances by some of Hollywood’s most recognized anti-heroes, including Danny Trejo (“From Dusk Till Dawn”) and Tony Moran (“Halloween”).
On this previously unreleased video clip, SLAYER’s Tom Araya and Kerry King talk discuss the “Repentless” track:
The album scored a Top 10 debut in 25 countries, Top 5 in 14 countries, and made career-highest debuts in the United States, the UK, Germany, The Netherlands and New Zealand.
In support of Repentless, SLAYER hits the road next month, dates are below:
OCTOBER
6 Namba Hatch, Osaka, Japan
8 Studio Coast, Koto, Japan
10 Saitama Super Arena, Saitama-Shi, Japan
12 The Republik, Honolulu, HI
13 The Republik, Honolulu, HI
25 013, Tilburg, Netherlands
26 Zenith Paris, Paris, France
27 Komplex 457, Zurich, Switzerland
30 Santana 27, Bilbao, Spain
31 Coliseum, La Coruna, Spain
NOVEMBER
1 La Riviera, Madrid, Spain
3 Razzmatazz, Barcelona, Spain
5 Alcatraz, Milano, Italy
7 Planet.tt Bank Austria Halle Gasometer B, Vienna, Austria
8 Haus Auersee, Leipzig, Germany
10 Zenith, die Kulturhalle, Munich, Germany
12 Columbiahalle, Berlin, Germany
13 RuhrCongress, Bochum, Germany
14 MHPArena, Ludwigsburg, Germany
16 Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt, Germany
17 Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
19 Rockhal, Esch Sur Alzette, Luxembourg
21 Newport Centre, Newport, UK
22 Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth, UK
24 O2 Apollo Manchester, Manchester, UK
25 O2 Academy Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
27 O2 Academy Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
28 O2 Academy Leeds, Leeds, UK
30 O2 Academy Brixton, Brixton, UK
DECEMBER
3 Hal 14, Helsinger, Denmark
4 Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
5 Lisebergshallen, Goteborg, Sweden
9 Stadium Live, Moscow, Russia
“Repentless”, the 12th studio album from the iconic thrash metal band SLAYER and the first without beloved founding member Jeff Hanneman, makes the highest German chart debut in the band’s 32-year recording career, coming in at #1. SLAYER‘s “Christ Illusion” has been the band’s highest debut, premiering in 2006 at #2.
“Repentless”, the band’s first album produced by Terry Date (SLIPKNOT, SOUNDGARDEN, DEFTONES) now also holds the record as the band’s career-highest chart debut in the US (#4; + #2 on Billboard’s Current Albums, Top Rock Albums, and Hard Music charts), the Netherlands (#2), Australia (#3), New Zealand (#8), the UK (#11) and on the Japanese International Chart (#1), and bowed at #3 in Finland, #4 in Belgium, and #5 in both Sweden and Greece. Additionally, the album debuted in the Top 10 in France (#7), Italy (#8), Hungary (#9) and Japan (#10).
“The entire Nuclear Blast global team thanks SLAYER and their loyal fans everywhere for the tremendous first-week success for »Repentless«,” said Gerardo Martinez, NB‘s general manager, USA. “SLAYER made an amazing album that stayed true to who the band is, and the fans’ overwhelming response is proof of that.”
“Repentless”, the album’s first music video, made its premiere on the album’s 9/11 release date and has since logged more than 1,9 million YouTube views and is north of two-million views on SLAYER’s Facebook page. The video was directed by BJ McDonnell (»Hatchet III«), filmed at the Sybil Brand women’s prison in East Los Angeles, and features copious amounts of blood, grizzly murders, and cameo appearances by some of Hollywood’s most recognized anti-heroes, including Danny Trejo (»From Dusk Till Dawn«) and Tony Moran (»Halloween«). The’Repentless’ video can be viewed here:
“Repentless” is SLAYER‘s first release since 2009’s Grammy-nominated »World Painted Blood,« and likely the most challenging album of the band’s career. The album marks the first timeSLAYER have worked with producer Terry Date, drummer Paul Bostaph’s return to the recording lineup since 2001’s »God Hates Us All«, guitarist Gary Holt’s first appearance on a SLAYERalbum, and first release on Nuclear Blast. With »Repentless«, SLAYER – Tom Araya/bass, vocals, Kerry King/guitars, Paul Bostaph/drums, and guitarist Gary Holt – continue to unleash its aggressive and focused sonic assault, remaining crushing and brutal, while steadfastly refusing to trade its musical integrity for any reason.
In support of “Repentless”, SLAYER head back out on tour next month. Dates are below:
28.09. USA Miami, FL – Motörhead’s Motörboat Cruise
06.10. J Osaka – Namba Hatch
08.10. J Tokyo – Studio Coast
10.10. J Saitama Shi – Saitama Super Arena
12.10. USA Honolulu, HI – The Republik
13.10. USA Honolulu, HI – The Republik
25.10. NL Tilburg – 013
26.10. F Paris – Le Zenith
27.10. CH Zurich – Komplex
30.10. E Bilbao – Santana 27
31.10. E La Coruna – Coliseum
01.11. E Madrid – La Riviera
03.11. E Barcelona – Razzmatazz
05.11. I Milan – Alcatraz
07.11. A Vienna – Gasometer
08.11. D Leipzig – Haus Auensee
10.11. D Munich – Zenith
12.11. D Berlin – C-Halle
13.11. D Bochum – RuhrCongress
14.11. D Ludwigsburg – MHP Arena
16.11. D Frankfurt – Jahrhunderthalle
17.11. B Brussels – AB
19.11. LUX Luxembourg – Rockhal
21.11. UK Newport – Centre
22.11. UK Plymouth – Pavillion
24.11. UK Manchester – Apollo
25.11. UK Glasgow – Academy
27.11. UK Birmingham – Academy
28.11. UK Leeds – Academy
30.11. UK Brixton – Academy
03.12. DK Helsingor – Hal 14
04.12. N Oslo – Spektrum
05.12. S Gothenburg – Lisebergshallen
09.12. RUS Moscow – Stadium Live
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 