SLAYER Announces More 2025 U.K. Shows, Comments On ‘Back To The Beginning’ Event

SLAYER has announced headline performances confirmed for the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., marking the band’s first U.K. and Canadian concerts in six years. The U.K. and Canadian dates will see SLAYER headlining at some of the countries’ biggest venues, including the 35,000-capacity Blackweir Fields in Cardiff, London’s 45,000-capacity Finsbury Park, and the 100,000-capacity Festival D’été De Québec in Canada.In addition to the band’s international headline dates, SLAYER will help celebrate BLACK SABBATH’s incredible career at SABBATH’s sold-out “Back To The Beginning” final concert, set for July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, England. The “Back To The Beginning” concert will mark only the third time SLAYER has shared a stage with BLACK SABBATH, following Ozzfest in 1998 and in 2004.”I am a SABBATH fan, and doing this show is an honor,” said SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. “I was hanging out with my brother and his friends during my junior year in high school, and we would play SABBATH all the time, so I am a big fan. BLACK SABBATH were the originators, people call them ‘the godfathers of metal music.’ I think it’s going to be an amazing experience, from the beginning to the end. I’m really, really honored to be a part of this, it’s going to be great.””I remember when we played with BLACK SABBATH at Ozzfest in 2004,” added SLAYER guitarist Kerry King. “It was when Rob Halford came back to JUDAS PRIEST and we were third on the bill. You couldn’t give me a better bill; I’ll never forget that. As it stands now, SLAYER plays a handful of gigs a year. But that’s how important this SABBATH date is, and it’s great we will get to play a longer set for our fans in Cardiff and London on this visit too. Being on the sabbath bill means the world to me, because these are my über heroes. And to know that their camp thinks enough of us to offer us a spot is flattering and humbling.”The confirmed SLAYER 2025 concert dates are as follows:July 3 – Blackweir Fields, Cardiff, Wales, UKLineup:SLAYERAMON AMARTHANTHRAXMASTODONHATEBREEDNECKBREAKKERJuly 5 – Villa Park, Birmingham, UK”Back To The Beginning” with BLACK SABBATH, METALLICA, GUNS N’ ROSES, TOOL, PANTERA, ANTHRAX and many others.July 6 – Finsbury Park, LondonLineup:SLAYERAMON AMARTHANTHRAXMASTODONANTHRAXNECKBREAKKERJuly 11 – Festival D’été De Québec – Québec City, Quebec, CanadaDirect support: MASTODONSeptember 18 – Louder Than Life @ Highland Festival Grounds, Louisville, KYIn a recent interview with Australia’s Metal Roos, King spoke about SLAYER’s future plans, following the band’s two festival appearances in September and October after a five-year hiatus. He said: “We’re never gonna tour again. We’re never gonna make a record again. Mark my word: we’re never gonna make a record again, we’re never gonna tour again. Because that was the last thing. We said [back in 2018], ‘This is our final tour.’ It took five years for us to come and say, ‘Hey, here’s a couple of shows, five-year anniversary.'”Elaborating on the significance of SLAYER’s comeback live performances more than four decades after the band’s formation, Kerry said: “I think it’s really cool. A lot of fans are into it. There’s gonna be haters who say, ‘Oh, they retired.’ Yeah. Whatever. This is all about celebration. Say a kid was 10 years old when we retired. Now he’s 15, 16. [It’s his] first opportunity to see us. I think that’s important.”King also touched upon the fact that SLAYER’s reunion shows were announced just a couple of weeks after he went public with the details of his new solo band and debut solo album. He said: “The [SLAYER] announcement timing was not my favorite, but my band was doing its thing. The festivals SLAYER agreed to play, they wanted to release [the information about us playing there], they wanted to announce [it]. So, the timing wasn’t in my favor, but everything went [as it did], and here we are in Australia [with my new band] kicking ass.”Kerry reflected on SLAYER’s two reunion performances last fall — on September 22, 2024 at the Riot Fest in Chicago, Illinois and on October 10, 2024 at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California — during a recent interview with Brian Slagel, CEO of Metal Blade Records, for the recently launched “100 Songs That Define Heavy Metal” podcast. Regarding how he felt going into the Riot Fest gig, King said: “It’s kind of like when we did the first ‘Big Four’ show, I said, ‘This is gonna be really cool for the fans, and it’ll be good to see the guys.’ And that’s about all I gave it. But then we actually played the show and a handful more shows, and I said, ‘You know what? This is really cool for me.’ And I didn’t expect that. And I didn’t expect that when we did the Chicago show [SLAYER at Riot Fest]. I went with the exact same idea. I’m, like, ‘This is gonna be really cool for the fans, especially fans that were too young to see us.’ And I hit the stage and I got goosebumps. I’m, like, ‘This is way bigger than I ever gave it credit for.’ … [And] we’ve got a lot of history in Chicago too, so for the reunion show to be there, it was pretty epic. And the response was over the top. It was way overwhelming.”At Riot Fest and Aftershock, SLAYER ran through a 20-song set that included opener “South Of Heaven”, “Seasons In The Abyss”, “Angel Of Death”, “Hell Awaits”, “Raining Blood” and the title track of SLAYER’s final album, “Repentless”.SLAYER was also scheduled to play at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky on September 27, 2024, but that performance was canceled due to severe weather.The lineup for SLAYER’s comeback was the same as the one which last toured in 2019: King and drummer Paul Bostaph, along with Araya and guitarist Gary Holt.King’s debut solo album, “From Hell I Rise”, came out in May 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music.Photo credit: Ryan Segedi