Spin.com has issued the following from David Marchese:

SLAYER guitarist Kerry King is a badass. For one thing, he, co-guitarist Jeff Hanneman, bassist-singer Tom Araya, and drummer Dave Lombardo (who rejoined the band in 2005 after a lengthy absence) helped invent thrash metal, a speedy, bludgeoning style heard to pulverizing effect on the new World Painted Blood.

For another, he wears leather pants, spiked wristbands, scowls a lot, and has a tattooed skull. Not a tattoo of a skull, but a tattoo on his skull. There's a good chance he, or someone who looks very much like him, is who your mother is picturing on the rare and unpleasant occasions when the words "heavy metal" come to her mind.

But despite his fearsome appearance and Slayer's even more fearsome sound, King was happy to talk about his new album, how his band compares to other legends of heavy music, and the most metal thing he's ever done.

Q: There's already a lot of buzz about World Painted Blood being one of the band's strongest albums in some time. Did you guys have the sense when you were recording and writing it that you were on to something good?

A: "Yeah, we did. It's hard to say why exactly, but I think there was just a really good vibe in the studio. This time, instead of bringing in songs that were pretty close to being done, Jeff and I mostly worked stuff out in the studio. So I think that might have had something to do with it. And also we're comfortable again with Dave Lombardo being back on drums. Last time around, on Christ Illusion, we had to sort of get used to playing with him again. Not anymore. His playing is such a big part of our sound. Slayer is me, Jeff, Tom, and Dave - that's what makes us who we are. So what you're hearing on World Painted Blood is pure Slayer."

Read the full Q&A; with Kerry King at Spin.com.

BraveWords.com recently received the following press release:

SLAYER. MEGADETH. Two names synonymous with fierce, crunching power. Two bands whose histories are inevitably intertwined in defining the thrash/metal genre. Individually, their respective prowess and accomplishments are impressive; but together, they're brutal and unstoppable.

Megadeth and Slayer will join forces to co-headline American Carnage, the most blistering, the most explosive, and the most eagerly-antcipated mega-tour of the winter - and you do not want to miss it.

American Carnage will kick off on January 18th in Seattle, WA for a 26-date trek across North America that will include the six Canadian dates postponed earlier this month. Tickets for most shows go on sale this Friday, November 20th. Ticketmaster is offering a special presage for most shows from Wednesday, November 18th at 10 AM until Thursday, November 19th at 10 PM.

American Carnage is the first time that Slayer and Megadeth will have toured the US together since 1991's epic Clash Of The Titans tour. To celebrate that, and in recognition of the tough economic times that many of their fans are having, Megadeth and Slayer have decided to roll back the price of a chunk of tickets at every US show to the "1991 price" of $10.00. These specially-priced tickets will be limited and when they're gone, they're gone. Megadeth has also teamed with iloveallaccess.com to provide an Ultimate Fan Package including premium seats, meet and greets, pre-show parties and more.

In addition, Testament, who was also on the '91 Clash Of The Titans bill, will be special guests on the entire tour, marking the first time that all three bands have shared a stage together in more than 18 years, and making this a "must see" metal event.

Both Megadeth and Slayer will hit the road supporting new albums: Megadeth's 2009 album, Endgame, and Slayer's World Painted Blood, the band's 10th studio venture, which hit stores November 3rd. Testament's The Formation Of Damnation: Special Tour Edition, will be released on February 23rd, 2010 with special unreleased bonus tracks.

Slayer and Megadeth have already massacred territories together outside of the US, first with four explosive dates in June 2009 across Western Canada - Canadian Carnage - marking the first time the bands had shared a stage anywhere in 18 years; and then six co-headlining "Carnage" dates in Australia followed in October.

Slayer and Megadeth are also rescheduling the east coast leg of the Canadian Carnage tour, postponed from this fall.

Confirmed dates are as follows:

January

18 - WaMu Theatre - Seattle, WA
19 - Memorial Coliseum - Portland, OR
21 - Cow Palace - San Francisco, CA
22 - Long Beach Arena - Long Beach, CA
23 - Dodge Theatre - Phoenix, AZ
25 - Magness Arena - Denver, CO
26 - Tingley Coliseum - Albuquerque, NM
27 - El Paso Coliseum - El Paso, TX
29 - Verizon Wireless - Houston, TX
31 - Municipal Auditorium - Nashville, TN

February

1 - Gwinnett Arena - Duluth, GA
2 - Broadbent Arena - Louisville, KY
4 - Roy Wilkins Auditorium - Minneapolis, MN
5 - UIC Pavilion - Chicago, IL
6 - Cobo Arena - Detroit, MI
9 - Chevrolet Theatre - Wallingford, CT
11 - Izod Center - East Rutherford, NJ
13 - Susquehanna Center - Camden, NJ
14 - Tsongas Arena - Lowell, MA
16 - Pavillon de la Jeunesse - Quebec City, QC
18 - John Labatt Centre - London, ON
19 - Air Canada Centre - Toronto, ON
20 - Bell Centre - Montreal, QC
22 - Moncton Coliseum - Moncton, NB
23 - Metro Centre - Halifax, NS