"Dave [Lombardo]'s been back with us, playing live, for a couple of years now, and we're all looking forward to recording together again," Slayer's Tom Araya (bass, vocals) said in a press release yesterday announcing that the four original members of Slayer—Araya, Kerry King (guitar), Jeff Hanneman (guitar), and Lombardo (drums)—have entered a Los Angeles-area studio to record their first new studio album together since 1990's Seasons In The Abyss. The as-yet-untitled album is expected to drop this fall on American Recordings/Warner Bros., and on June 6th (6/6/6) Slayer plans to begin The Unholy Alliance Tour, that will eventually deliver the band to Seattle this July.

             "It feels really good being back with the same guys I started out with," Lombardo commented on the studio reunion. "The chemistry is definitely there, that's the exciting part of it, to capture that chemistry again. And that's what is happening."

             Executive Producer Rick Rubin, who helped solidify the Slayer sound beginning with 1986's Reign In Blood, is working with Josh Abraham (Korn, Velvet Revolver, Atreyu) to produce the album. "We're real happy to have Josh on the team," said Hanneman. "He's a very creative and intuitive guy, he knows music, and he really gets who Slayer is and what we're doing."

             Hanneman, Araya, and King have reportedly been writing songs for this new album since they wrapped their last North American tour in September 2004.  "This is probably the most prepared we've been to record an album since the 80s," King stated. "We've been writing and cutting demos for months." While subject to change, working titles for some of the songs that will be recorded include: "Catalyst," "Cult," "Supremist," and "Consfearacy." "I like to write songs that have different meanings for different people," said King, "where everyone can say, 'I know what he means,' but still get their own sense of what the song is about."

             The Unholy Alliance Tour (full title: "The Unholy Alliance Tour - Preaching to the Perverted") starts in San Diego, CA, and is planned as a seven-week summer run. The opening line-up is: Lamb of God, Mastodon and Children of Bodom (who will rotate the second and third slots), and Thine Eyes Bleed, and ticket prices are not supposed to exceed $39.00. All tour dates are not yet confirmed, but confirmed dates are below.

             "We want to make The Unholy Alliance tour an annual global event," stated Slayer's long-time manager, Rick Sales, "so we decided to be smart about the design from the beginning. We chose to book most of the tour's shows at indoor venues, as that allows the bands and the fans amenities like air conditioning and indoor bathrooms, as well as the very best stage lighting, production, and sound, and less expensive concession prices. The few shows that will be played outside will be played at night in permanent facilities with our lighting, production, and so on. Everyone wins."

Confirmed dates for Slayer's Unholy Alliance Tour:

6/6 - Sports Arena, San Diego, CA
6/7 - The Orleans, Las Vegas, NV
6/12 - Pop's Outside, St. Louis, MO
6/13 - Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL
6/15 - Tweeter Center, Camden, NJ
6/16 - Continental Airlines Arena, E. Rutherford, NJ
6/17 - Tsongas Arena, Lowell, MA
6/23 - Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, TX
6/25 - Reliant Arena, Houston, TX
6/29 - Tower City Amphitheatre, Cleveland, OH

7/6 - Cobo Arena, Detroit, MI
7/7 - Eagles Auditorium, Milwaukee, WI
7/14 - Qwest Field Event Center, Seattle, WA
7/16 - Salem Armory, Salem, OR
7/19 - HP Pavilion, San Jose, CA
7/21 - Mesa Amphitheatre, Mesa, AZ
7/22 - Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA