SLAYER drum tornado Dave Lombardo spoke with Zisis Petkanas from Rock Overdose recently about a number of topics. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Rock Overdose: I heard that you Slayer rehearsing again and that nine songs are ready, right?

Lombardo: "Yes I said that. King and I have these songs, we are working on them. But we will release only one EP."

Rock Overdose: Just an EP?

Lombardo: "Yes only EP. We will release two songs."

Rock Overdose: This summer?

Lombardo: "I think so, I'm almost certain. I don't know how the schedule is or it is evolved."

Rock Overdose: Could you give us more details?

Lombardo: "No, I don't know any details. I've got no details. I just know this. Kerry and Tom are rcording it right now, they are doing the vocals."

Read more at Rock Overdose.

On the weekend of May 25th - 27th during the I'll Be Your Mirror event at Alexandra Palace in London, Slayer will present their undisputed classic, Reign In Blood, live in it's entirety to celebrate it's 25th anniversary.

Joining Slayer on Friday night are influential doom metal trailblazers SLEEP - this will be their first UK visit since reforming for two amazing ATP festival shows in 2009, and legendary Washington sludge group MELVINS. Further details at this location.

Slayer recently issued the following health status of their "brother" Jeff Hanneman:

"Slayer fans everywhere - it's time to let you know what is going on with our brother Jeff Hanneman. As you know, Jeff was bitten by a spider more than a year ago, but what you may not have known was that for a couple of days after he went to the ER, things were touch-and-go. There was talk that he might have to have his arm amputated, and we didn't know if he was going to pull through at all. He was in a medically-induced coma for a few days and had several operations to remove the dead and dying tissue from his arm. So, understand, he was in really, really bad shape. It's been about a year since he got out of the hospital, and since then, he had to learn to walk again, he's had several painful skin grafts, he's been in rehab doing exercises to regain the strength in his arm; but best of all, he's been playing guitar. We were all excited when he joined us onstage for the encore a year ago at The Big Four show at Coachella (see photo below).

Since then, we've given him all the time and support he's needed to continue his rehab so he can come back to the band fully recovered and able to deliver the kind of shows we all want him to. While Jeff's been doing some writing and has been coming to rehearsal over the past several weeks, he has decided he needs to take more time to continue his rehab. While we want him back onstage with the band, all of us support his decision. So, we're very grateful that Gary Holt (EXODUS) will continue to fill in for Jeff, and will tour with us until Jeff completes his rehab and is ready to return. How long will that be? The best and most honest answer we can give you is 'as long as it takes.' We also wanted you to know that we've been doing some writing and recording for the next Slayer album - we've tracked a few songs, and will finish the album when we're off the road later this year. Gary will join us on tour in Europe and the UK in May and June, and then we'll all see you on this Summer's Mayhem Festival.

Slayer's tour schedule can be found here.