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Slayer haven’t been broken up for long, but they’re already back together. The thrash heroes released Repentless, their last album, in 2015, and they wrapped up their farewell tour in December 2019 — just in time, before the pandemic got in the way. Just a few weeks ago, guitarist Kerry King announced his debut solo album From Hell I Rise, and in an accompanying Rolling Stone interview, he said that he hasn’t even spoken with longtime co-leader Tom Araya since the band’s last show. Today, though, Slayer have announced plans to headline two big festivals this fall.
First off, Slayer will headline Chicago’s Riot Fest, which goes down 9/20-22. The rest of the Riot Fest lineup hasn’t been announced yet, but they wanted to get that Slayer news out there. Slayer’s set is billed as “a Midwest exclusive performance,” which suggests that more Slayer shows will soon happen in places other than the Midwest. I tend to think of Louisville, Kentucky as the Midwest, and that city is getting a Slayer performance, too.
Louisville’s Louder Than Life festival has just unveiled its lineup. Louder Than Life goes down 9/26-29 at Kentucky Exposition Center’s Highland Festival Grounds, and Slayer are sharing headlining duties with Slipknot, Mötley Crüe, and Korn. That lineup also features Slayer’s fellow Big Four thrash band Anthrax, as well bands like Judas Priest, Gojira, Dropkick Murphys, Evanescence, Clutch, Mastodon, Sum 41, Tom Morello, PUP, Fugitive, Body Count, Biohazard, HEALTH, the Armed, Show Me The Body, Drug Church, Touché Amoré, the Chisel, Militarie Gun, Narrow Head, Soul Glo, and Gel. Here’s the poster.