Remember all those months ago, when we interviewed Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards and he said that the band is planning on putting out a two song EP before Mayhem Fest? Well, Mayhem Fest is practically midway through and not a mention of an EP. We do know the band has two songs fully recorded, and plenty more written, but what's the deal guys?
Sad news, doesn't look like it'll be done in time for the summer. Those two completed songs? They still have to be mixed and mastered. Kerry King broke the news in a recent interview with Artist Direct saying:
“I haven’t worked on it as much as I’d like to. I don’t really write on the road. When we're in Europe, I don’t go out that often. There are still a number of currencies over there, and you get dicked every time you change money [Laughs]. If I don’t have any local money, I’ll probably sit in my room. I wrote some lyrics over there. I cleaned up a couple of song ideas we had. We have two finished. They just need to be mixed. I was under the impression we wanted those done so people had access to them for Mayhem and then we could play something live, but they’re not even mixed yet. By the time they’re mixed and mastered, Mayhem will be over. I just assume save them for the record so we don’t have to make up more for the record. We’ve got two others that just don’t have leads and vocals. I’ve got two or three more that are ready to at least be demos. I’d like to get them done in August and September so that means I’d better start finishing my lyrics [Laughs].”
Chances are that EP is just not happening, but that's not the worst news. It just means we'll get the full package when Slayer is good and ready to deliver to us the full package. And, I'm totally cool with that. We also know that the two completed songs have titles, "Chasing Death" and "Implode". King also discussed the lyrical themes of those tracks:
For "Chasing Death", as you get older, you're friends start dropping. You're having that new sensation. My guitar tech Armand "Butts" Crump III died earlier this year, and he was 35-years-old. Those are the tough ones. Nobody expects a healthy person to just kick off at 35. It's the idea of dealing with this because that didn't happen when we were all 20. It's talking about stuff like that. "Chasing Death" is not directly related to any of my friends dying. It's like people who drink too much. They don't help themselves out so they're chasing death.
[For "Implode",] it's not directly connected to the Mayan Calendar, but everybody always talks about the world ending. Whether it's with war or disease, that's where I went with it.
There you have it. I will end this post linking to this girl with the incredibly hot Slayer tattoo.