Do you feel like your life has been lacking a certain intensity lately? Wake up at night just yearning for a reason to bang your head in triumph once again? Well, have we got a show for you.

After being forced to cancel some European and Canadian dates for lead singer Tom Araya’s back surgery, Slayer is back on the road again, teaming up with metal juggernauts Megadeth and fellow veterans Testament to roam much of the U.S. (and fill in those Canadian dates they missed). The headlining duo haven’t toured the U.S. together for almost two decades.

Appropriately, the tour is called American Carnage. Nuff said. Dates and video preview below.

1.18 Seattle, WA @ WaMu Theatre
1.19 Portland, OR @ Memorial Coliseum
1.21 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace
1.22 Long Beach, CA @ Long Beach Arena
1.23 Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theatre
1.25 Denver, CO @ Magness Arena
1.26 Albuquerque, NM @ Tingley Coliseum
1.27 El Paso, TX @ El Paso Coliseum
1.29 Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless
1.31 Nashville, TN @ Municipal Auditorium

2.01 Duluth, GA @ Gwinnett Arena
2.02 Louisville, KY @ Broadbent Arena
2.04 Minneapolis, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium
2.05 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion
2.06 Detroit, MI @ Cobo Arena
2.09 Wallingford, CT @ Chevrolet Theatre
2.11 East Rutherford, NJ @ Izod Center
2.13 Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Center
2.14 Lowell, MA @ Tsongas Arena
2.16 Quebec City, QC  @ Pavillon de la Jeunesse
2.18 London, ON @ John Labatt Centre
2.19 Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
2.20 Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
2.22 Moncton, NB  @ Moncton Coliseum
2.23 Halifax, NS  @ Metro Centre

According to Blabbermouth.net, rumors that the “Big Four” of thrash metal may tour together are officially airborne. In an interview with the U.K.’s Metal Hammer magazine, Slayer guitarist Kerry King suggested that Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich is currently plotting a tour and would feature Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax and Metallica on the same bill for the very first time. No public comment from Ulrich to be found yet, but King doesn’t seem so sold on Anthrax at the moment. Read:

“I’ve heard people referencing Lars. I don’t know Lars that well and I haven’t heard it from Lars, but apparently he’s talking to somebody about it. Maybe us, Metallica, Megadeth and, I think he even threw in Anthrax and I said in this day and age, I know we had that time together, but how do you leave out Machine Head? There’s better options than Anthrax and that’s nothing against Anthrax, but they’ve just been in pieces for quite some time and that doesn’t make as much sense to me.”

Slayer have been winning over new generations of thrash metallers for 25+ years, inherently inking them as one of the top iconic symbols of modern heavy metal. Returning with a vengeance Slayer have announced World Painted Blood as the title of their forthcoming album, slated for a late summer release. Helmed by Greg Fidelman and executive produced by long-time friend/guiding force Rick Rubin, the new album boasts a return to 80’s form and embraces the fruits of new-school production technique, as heard on the breakout track released last November, “Psychopathy Red.” Slayer are also hitting US Interstates this July with shock-rocker Marilyn Mason as co-headliners of the Rockstar Mayhem tour, which in the absence of Ozzfest will serve as the premiere heavy metal/rock package tour of the summer. Legions of tweeners will get the chance to head-bang with former generations of Slayer die-hards, only this time wearing a signature pair of Slayer Vans. Duh.

—Zeena Koda

As is our want, we’ve flipped the script here at The Singles Collection and in the spirit of timeliness, this week we’ll be featuring seven-inches that were exclusive to last Saturday’s Record Store Day (our newest all Sacred Bones feature will now run next week). Now, some of you may be listening to these as you read this, others may have unfortunately been shut out, while other still may have no idea these singles, or Record Store Day for that matter, even existed. At any rate, we’re only scratching the surface of the exclusive platters that were available on the 18th (for a full list, go here), and we hear some stores may even still have stock on some of these titles, so if anything strikes your fancy, best get a googlin’.

To kick things off this week, we’ve got a pair of split singles from Matador featuring the kings & queen of the alternative universe, Sonic Youth aka Sonik You*h. The first split features another icon, Beck, in a mutual appreciation style love fest which finds them covering each others’ songs — SY tackling “Pay No Mind” while Beck takes on “Green Light”. As you might imagine, Thurston & Co. thoroughly rough up the Mellow Gold sleeper, injecting it with their patented off-key/kilter harmonies/harmonics and some skuzzy meta-ooze thrown in for good measure. On the flip, Beck takes the EVOL track and turns it into a lovely, acoustic cloudburst that, if you didn’t know better, you’d swear was one of his very own.

The second exclusive RSD jam from Sonic Youth is their split with Memphis’ favorite son, Jay Reatard. For his part, Jay’s track, “Hang Them All” is a scorcher, a blink-and-you-missed-it track that bubbles with skittering synth and a clap-trap rhythm reminiscent of the Blood Visions-era. It alone is worth the price of admission, and certainly bodes well for his upcoming full-length. The SY track, “No Garage” is a rehearsal space jam that, well, sounds a lot like you’d figure a Sonic Youth rehearsal would. Which isn’t to say it’s bad, but it’s essentially instrumental meandering with a nice, Kraut-y groove that eventually denigrates into their trademark squall of loping distortion and ear-piercing feedback. Both of these splits are, ostensibly, sold out, but stores with extra stock seem to pop up daily, so make sure to keep a close watch if you don’t want to pay eBay prices.

The Sub Pop stable did their part and released a handful of limited 45’s for RSD, the best of which is the Obits‘ “I Can’t Lose” b/w “Military Madness”. For those not already familiar, Obits are Rick Froberg from Hot Snakes/Drive Like Jehu’s new project, and while their sound doesn’t really deviate too much from either/both of those outfits, it’s still new Froberg jams so who are we to complain? “I Can’t Lose” is less dissonant/angular than we’re used to hearing him, yet it roars with a heads-down fury and undeniable hooks-a-plenty. On the flip, their take on Graham Nash’s “Military Madness” flips the original on its ear, injecting it with a venomous core that’s both touching and destructive in equal measure. Copies of this still seem to be kicking around places like Reckless Records, so if you need some more Froberg in your life, you know where to go.

Lastly this week, we’ve got one of the lost gems from RSD, the super limited Kim Phuc & Centipede E’est split on Dear Skull Records out of Pittsburgh. These were primarily only available in the Pittsburgh area, with some other notable stores (Permanent Records in Chicago, Academy in NYC) getting the remaining stock to give away to punters who came out early and purchased vinyl. We’re not sure if this is going to get a proper release or not, but it truly deserves one as the two tracks here are absolute stunners. On the A-Side, Kim Phuc’s “Rustbelt Noose” delivers all the spit-crusted-psych-punk power you’ve come to expect from them, and has now officially taken the mantle as the greatest KP song yet. Not to be outdone on the flip, Centipede E’est offer up “Stingray”, an epic space-rock jam that’s ebbs and flows with terse psych-grooves and sky-melting crescendos. These are absolutely gorgeous, all hand-numbered out of 200 and featuring fantastic screened covers. We’re not sure if they are still available anywhere or not, but we’d suggest trying Paul’s or Wicked Discs in Pittsburgh if you are trying to track one down.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our truncated look at some of the Record Store Day exclusives, and make sure to also keep an eye out for others like the Slayer “Psychopathy Red” 45 and the totally awesome Jesus Lizard 9×7″ collection Inch as they’re both totally worth your time and hard-earned loot. Also make sure to come back next week to read about the newest batch of gems from one of our favorite labels, Sacred Bones Records.

Slayer will be offering up some new thrash for your cash for the first time since 2006 in celebration of the third annual Record Store Day April 18. The 7-inch single, “Psychopathy Red”, will come in the form of blood-red vinyl and won’t last long — only 5,000 copies are being distributed worldwide.

“Psychopathy Red” marks the first new music from Slayer since the 2006 album Christ Illusion. The single comes as a collector’s item, packaged in a special Russian crime-scene “evidence envelope” since the song was inspired by Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, also known as the Rostov Ripper. He confessed to murdering 56 children between 1978 and 1990. The band recorded the song — which you can see a live rendition of below — in an L.A. recording studio in October.

The decision to release the single on Record Store Day was an effort to acknowledge the support independent record stores have offered Slayer and to metal as a whole over the years. The band is currently in L.A. recording a new LP, due out this summer. They’ll be co-headlining the five-week Mayhem Festival this summer, as well, alongside Marilyn Manson. It kicks off July 10 in Sacramento, Calif.

Slayer – “Psychopathy Red”

I headed off to the Studio at Webster Hall to catch one of the more respected metal bands at this moment, Early Man. Having never witnessed them live before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Two Flying-V’s and lots of hair later, I’ve come to realize why these guys are adored by true metalheads.


[Red Fang]

The night started with opener Red Fang, and while they were tight and not without merit, they tended to be a bit more on the rockin’ side of metal. The way Clutch can fall under a metal veil, but in essence they’re just a heavy rock band. This is how I perceived Red Fang’s set and it left me wondering if Early Man was in this vein of heavy.

[Early Man]

I did not have to wonder long however, because as soon as they took the stage to soundcheck, the sight of two Flying V’s quickly let me know this band was either really metal, or really ironic. Either would be a treat, but thankfully, I don’t have to go into a tirade about bands being ironic (to be fair, most metal bands do not tread the irony trail), and what I heard on this night was pure visceral enjoyment. From thrashing, to tapping to solos and lightning speed chugging, Early Man embodied everything that made early Metallica or Slayer great. They practically blew the speakers out of the much-too-small venue. I say it was too small, because by the end of their set, everyone in attendance was asking where their hearing went.