Band News
Slayer Wins Best Metal Performance Grammy; First Live Date Confirmed
February 10, 2008
Slayer was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 50th annual Grammy Awards, which are being held tonight (Sunday, February 10) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Slayer was nominated for the track "The Final Six", from the band's 2007 limited-edition "Christ Illusion". The song, written by Slayer's vocalist/bassist Tom Araya and guitarist Jeff Hanneman and produced by Josh Abraham, is a chilling look at an hypothesized end of the world. The track made its debut last July as the "Single of the Week" on MySpace where it has since accumulated some 750,000 plays, an astounding number for a song that received no commercial airplay.
A visibly nervous Araya accepted the award, stating, "Thank you very much. I don't know what to say. This is our second time. I have to thank Sony, first off, for reissuing the record and putting this new song on the album, and now I'm here again — we are here again, actually. Most of all, [I'd like to] thank Rick Rubin [producer and head of American Recordings], who's been with us, been there for us for the past 23 years, 24 years. Thank you. My wife, my two kids; Sandra [wife], Ariel and Tommy. They're here with me. Of course, my manager, who's been with us for a good 20 years now. Well, thank you very much. Thank the Academy. Thank you."
Slayer's two previous Grammy nominations were for 2002's "Disciple" from the album "God Hates Us All", and last year's "Eyes of the Insane", for which they took home the Grammy Award.
The nominees in this year's "Metal" category were as follows:
As I Lay Dying - "Nothing Left"
King Diamond - "Never Ending Hill"
Machine Head - "Aesthetics Of Hate"
Shadows Fall - "Redemption"
Slayer - "Final Six"
Only albums released between October 1, 2006, and September 30, 2007, could be considered for this year's awards.
The Grammys are determined by 12,000 music industry professionals who belong to the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.
Updated February 12 - Check out a video below of Tom Araya accepting the award!
In other news, Slayer have been confirmed for the Gods of Metal festival, set to take place June 27-29, 2008 in Bologna, Italy. Slayer are scheduled to play on Saturday, June 28th. Some of the other acts confirmed to take part include Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Yngwie Malmsteen, Testament, and many others.
For latest details concerning Gods of Metal, please check out their website right here.