SLAYER Adds Second Los Angeles 'Reign In Blood' 40th-Anniversary Show Due To 'Overwhelming Demand'

Due to overwhelming demand, California thrash metal legends SLAYER have added a second "Reign In Blood" 40th-anniversary show at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.

After the November 13, 2026 SLAYER concert at the Kia Forum sold out with the Citi and artist presales, a second show was added for November 14, 2026.

A special BLABBERMOUTH.NET presale for the second Los Angeles concert will begin on Thursday, April 23 at 10:00 a.m. PDT and end on Thursday, April 23 at 10:00 p.m. PDT. When prompted, type in the presale code "BLOOD26" at this location to access tickets before the general public. General on-sale will be Friday, April 24 at 10 a.m. PDT.

The two Kia Forum dates will mark SLAYER's first Los Angeles concerts in seven years.

SLAYER will also play a "Reign In Blood" 40th-anniversary headlining show on September 4 at Shakopee, Minnesota's Mystic Lake Amphitheater.

These are the only U.S. performances of the special "Reign In Blood" anniversary show, and the only three U.S. headline dates where fans will witness "Reign In Blood" played in full. Festival appearances throughout the year will feature different sets. Shakopee will feature support from DOWN, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and HATEBREED, while CANNIBAL CORPSE, CAVALERA and CROWBAR will open the first Los Angeles show.

A special BLABBERMOUTH.NET presale for the Shakopee concert will begin on Thursday, April 23 at 10:00 a.m. CDT and end on Thursday, April 23 at 10:00 p.m. CDT. When prompted, type in the presale code "BLOOD26" at this location to access tickets before the general public. General on-sale will be Friday, April 24 at 10 a.m. CDT.

SLAYER's only U.S. East Coast performance of 2025 took place on September 20, 2025 at Hershey, Pennsylvania's 30,000-seat Hersheypark Stadium. Two days earlier, SLAYER performed at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky. The Louder Than Life show marked the reunited thrash metal pioneers' fourth full concert of 2025, following the band's appearances the 35,000-capacity Blackweir Fields in Cardiff, U.K., London, U.K.'s 45,000-capacity Finsbury Park, and the 100,000-capacity Festival D'été De Québec in Canada. SLAYER also helped celebrate BLACK SABBATH's incredible career by playing a six-song set at SABBATH's sold-out "Back To The Beginning" final concert on July 5, 2025 at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.

The lineup for all of SLAYER's comeback shows in 2024 and 2025 was the same as the one which last toured in 2019: guitarist Kerry King and drummer Paul Bostaph, along with bassist/vocalist Tom Araya and guitarist Gary Holt.

"Reign In Blood" was released on October 7, 1986 through Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's first collaboration with record producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound evolve. Kerrang! magazine described the record as "the heaviest album of all time," and a breakthrough in thrash metal and speed metal.

"Reign In Blood"'s release was delayed because of concerns regarding its graphic artwork and lyrical subject matter. The opening track, "Angel Of Death", which refers to Josef Mengele and describes acts such as human experimentation that Mengele committed at the Auschwitz concentration camp, provoked allegations of Nazism. However, the bandmembers stated numerous times they do not condone Nazism, and are merely interested in the subject.

On the topic the controversy surrounding "Reign In Blood"'s lyrical content, SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman previously said, "'Angel Of Death' was a big problem. I remember getting a phone call after the album was done: Sony wasn't going to release it. I remember being at home, pissed, throwing things. What the fuck? I didn't think anything was wrong with 'Angel Of Death' or anything else we did, it's a documentary! There's no 'Heil Hitler' or 'white people rule,' it's a documentary; grow up, people. It took months before they picked it up again. Finally, we got signed by a distributor."

"Reign In Blood" was SLAYER's first album to enter The Billboard 200 chart (at No. 94). The LP was certified gold by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) on November 20, 1992 for sales in excess of 500,000 copies.

In a 2009 interview with Filter magazine, Araya stated about "Reign In Blood", "On that first album [together], Rubin made sure that he recorded. He wanted to duplicate what he was hearing." King added, "It was the first time you actually heard SLAYER in its pure ferocity, and it made a big difference. One funny thing about that album is if it came out today, no one would give a shit. They'd say, 'That's cool.' But at the time it came out it made such a difference. People still reflect on that as a poignant time, where shit changed."

Back in October 2021, SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo told Metal Injection about "Reign In Blood": "I look at that album as a masterpiece. And it's one of those albums that will stand the test of time. It's brilliant. The fire, the energy that that album has. I don't hear that in other records. I don't know if it's because I'm listening to a band that I was part of that I have this perspective that's objective. But you know, it's brilliant and I'm very appreciative … I think that album will forever be like the epitome of thrash music and part of a historic time in music history… SLAYER had a certain energy that's unlike anything else. And so that definitely is for me one of the greatest metal records ever made."

Photo credit: Ryan Segedi