Reign In The Sun: Slayer To Co-Headline North American Summer Tour With Marilyn Manson

Since rock 'n' roll's inception in the 1950s, 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:

Source: Press Release