Slayer Confirm Working On New Album

Slayer’s booking agent Scott Sokol recently took some time to discuss what the band’s currently up to, noting that new music is cooking up as we speak. “They’re definitely working on new music,” he confidently stated. “More things will be revealed in the coming weeks.”

During the rest of the Billboard chat, Scott also talked about the loss of guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who passed away in May from alcohol-related liver cirrhosis. “It wasn’t going to help anybody to cancel what they were doing,” Sokol explained. “The band likes to go out there and play. Not that I’m a counselor, or anything, but I think part of the way they deal with things is to do what they love. And they love to go out there and do their thing.”

The agent also noted that Hanneman’s stage absence prior to his death did make a difference, stating that “if it happened while they were on tour it might have been different.” Scott then went on to draw a parallel between Slayer and AC/DC. “I don’t think they’ve really missed a beat there,” he said regarding the addition of Exodus guitarist Gary Holt. “There’s no replacement for Jeff. Gary doesn’t replace Jeff, who is a legend unto himself. But Gary Holt, to a degree, is also that. He’s just a little different stylistically. Brian Johnson and Bon Scott are different frontmen for AC/DC, but both are legendary in their own right. So in some way you could look at it like that.”

In one of the interview’s highlight moments, Sokol named a Slayer show as one of top 10 life-changing experiences. “Maybe even top three,” he added. “Marriage, birth of children and going to a Slayer show. You’ve never seen anything like it; nobody has. That’s why they’ve been around doing what they do for as long as they have. Heavy metal was born with Black Sabbath. Then you had Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. But Slayer perfected it.”