SLAYER, MARILYN MANSON: More In Common Than You'd Think?

Since rock 'n' roll's inception in the 1950s, it's always been blamed for the ills of society-and no one knows that better than SLAYER or MARILYN MANSON. From suicides to school shootings, both acts have continually been unfairly categorized as scapegoats by media pundits and politicians simply because they can't understand these artists-or, maybe better yet, because they're afraid of them. Well, if people were scared before, now they have reason to be petrified.

This summer, SLAYER and MARILYN MANSON will co-headline a 25-city North American tour, which will feature both acts with elaborate stage set-ups playing full sets. "Usually we just come out and play, but this time around we're really going to give the fans a show," explains SLAYER's bassist/vocalist, Tom Araya. "Our set is going to span our entire career, but we're definitely going to squeeze in some new songs that we haven't performed live yet."

Fresh off winning their first-ever Grammy for their tenth full-length studio album, "Christ Illusion", SLAYER couldn't have more momentum going into the tour. "The other guys will tell you it didn't mean anything to them, but it did to me," Araya explains about the band's award for Best Metal Performance for the track "Eyes of the Insane". "We're fans of the music we create and if we don't like it, we know the kids aren't going to like it either," Araya continues when asked what has kept SLAYER relevant while so many of their peers have disbanded, or worse yet, become parodies of themselves.

"I think people like what they know," adds guitarist Kerry King. "The perfect comparison for SLAYER's role in metal is what AC/DC did with rock; they made the same record for 30 years, but just changed the flavor." While musical trends have come and gone, for the past 26 years SLAYER have continued to stay true to their thrash roots and loudly defied the music industry's standards. In fact at, at this point SLAYER — which also features guitarist Jeff Hanneman and drummer Dave Lombardo — aren't just a band, they're an institution.

When bands like GREEN DAY and THE OFFSPRING suddenly became ubiquitous in the late '90s the band released "Undisputed Attitude", a collection of hardcore punk covers from acts like MINOR THREAT and BLACK FLAG-and now that inoffensive pop music rules the charts, in typical SLAYER fashion the band countered with "Christ Illusion", a blistering critique of the current administration set to the tune of impossibly heavy riffs, frantic drums and guitar solos that pummel the listener in carefully constructed blasts of noise. In other words, it's just business as usual for SLAYER.

"I remember when I was a kid and one of the biggest metal bands at the time came out with a new album — I remember this because I was genuinely offended that they would put that album out," King explains when asked what he thinks has kept SLAYER not only relevant but revelatory for the past twenty years. "That band got sidetracked by commercial music and tried to cash in on it," he continues. "Look at me, even now I'm still marred by it," he adds with a laugh. "I don't want to do that to our fans ever."

It's not just lip service, it's the mantra that has helped make SLAYER the most popular thrash/metal band of all time. Face it: in a world as seemingly screwed-up and uncertain as the one we currently live in, we need a band like SLAYER more than ever. If you're a closed-minded critic you can take solace in the band's unrelenting consistency-and if you're a fan, be prepared to see one of SLAYER's most impressive performances of their storied career when they join forces with MARILYN MANSON this summer.

Says Araya: "MARILYN MANSON puts on a great show and his fans are very loyal as our fans are. Like SLAYER, MANSON has had his share of controversy, and like SLAYER, he's never backed down from that. And also like SLAYER, MANSON is outspoken and has taken a lot of grief for being that way. While there are similarities between us, there are differences too, and we think that the combination of those factors will make for a very interesting, possibly surprising, but definitely very entertaining show for both MANSON fans and SLAYER fans."

Tour dates for the SLAYER/MARILYN MANSON co-headline tour are as follows:

Jul. 25 - Sound Advice Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach, FL
Jul. 27 - Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa, FL
Jul. 28 - Hi Fi Buys Amphitheatre, Atlanta, GA
Jul. 30 - Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
Jul. 31 - TWCA Tower City, Cleveland, OH
Aug. 02 - Tweeter Center, Philadelphia, PA
Aug. 04 - DCU Center, Worcester, MA
Aug. 05 - PNC, Holmdel, NJ
Aug. 07 - Centre de Foire, Quebec, QC CANADA
Aug. 08 - Bell Centre, Montreal, QC CANADA
Aug. 10 - Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ON CANADA
Aug. 11 - DTE Music Theatre, Detroit, MI
Aug. 13 - Allstate, Chicago, IL
Aug. 14 - Xcel, Minneapolis, MN
Aug. 18 - Coors Amphitheatre, Denver, CO
Aug. 21 - Sleep Train Amphitheatre, Sacramento, CA
Aug. 23 - Sleep Train Pavilion, Concord, CA
Aug. 24 - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre @ Irvine, Los Angeles, CA
Aug. 25 - San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, CA
Aug. 27 - Cricket Pavilion, Phoenix, AZ
Aug. 28 - Journal Pavilion, Albuquerque, NM
Aug. 30 - Nokia Theatre, Dallas, TX
Aug. 31 - Reliant Arena, Houston, TX
Sep. 01 - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, San Antonio, TX