SLAYER TRY SOME NEW BAIT TO LURE FANS TO THEIR CONCERTS

At this point, I really don’t imagine Slayer need any bait to lure fans to their concerts; I’ve seen them live quite a few times in my lifetime, and I’ve never seen the show be anything less than packed. Regardless of whether or not Slayer actually have anything to promote, if they play it, the fans will come.

Still, they’re trying out a little experiment, as explained in a press release:

“A brand-new Slayer album is expected in 2009, but some fans won’t have to wait that long to get an early listen to some of the new music.

“Fans who attend any of the upcoming European ‘Unholy Alliance Tour, Chapter III’ dates, will receive the new Slayer song via an exclusive download card that will also include special material from the entire tour’s line-up – Slayer, Mastodon, Trivium and Amon Amarth. The download card, along with a limited edition ‘Unholy Alliance Tour’ clothing patch, will be given away free only to ticket holders when they arrive at their local venue the night of the show.”

The rest of the download package doesn’t sound that interesting – the tracks from Trivium and Amon Amarth are singles from their new albums that fans will have already heard, and Mastodon “will take fans into the recording studio for a first-look and listen to the making of their upcoming album,” which is a pretty vague promise. But the idea of getting a new Slayer song with your ticket sounds pretty sweet – assuming you’re one of those fans, like myself, who actually looks forward to new Slayer songs.

I imagine this bitch will leak within seconds of the first fan downloading it, so we should all have some sense of what Slayer are up to real soon. Christ Illusion was, in my not so humble opinion, the very definition of a “comeback album,” so now the band just has to keep it up and not release a record that makes fans riot in the streets (Or does make fans riot in the streets. Kerry King would probably love that.).

And if you like Slayer (and if you’re reading this I assume you do), don’t forget that it’s not too late to enter the MetalSucks Slayer Olympics and win a personally dedicated autographed copy of D.X. Ferris’ 33 1/3: Reign in Blood book. It’s an awesome book, so enter the dang contest already!

-AR