Is “Psychopathy Red” the best Slayer song of the post-Seasons in the Abyss era? I s’pose that’s open to Jaeger-fueled debate – I’m still kinda partial to “Disciple” myself – but any way you cut it, it certainly does rule, and serves, to my mind at least, as example number 8 gazillion why Slayer are so vastly superior to so many of their peers.

So. Saturday, April 18 is Record Store Day, which, in case you don’t know, is pretty much what it sounds like – a day meant to “celebrate” (a.k.a. “get shoppers into”) record stores, or, more specifically, independent record stores. Slayer’s contribution to the day: a limited to 5,000 pressings only 7-inch vinyl of “Psychopathy Red.” A press release gives more details:

The blood-red vinyl “Psychopathy Red” 7-inch collectors item will be packaged in a special Russian crime scene “evidence envelope,” as the song was inspired by the heinous Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, aka the Rostov Ripper, who confessed to brutally murdering 56 children. The song was recorded by the band – guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, bassist/vocalist Tom Araya, and drummer Dave Lombardo – in a Los Angeles recording studio last October.

The official Record Store Day website says that there 7-inch will feature a  “weird ass backward tracking song on the flipside,” which, admittedly, is just a cheap gimmick to appeal to the lowbrow sense of humor to many Slayer fans. But, hey, it’s working, ’cause I’m writing about it, and I’m fairly certain I’m gonna buy a copy of this bitch.

To find a shop near you that’ll be participating in Record Store Day, go here.

-AR