Slayer officially reunites ahead of 2024 Riot Fest and Louder Than Life Festival

In what seems to be a dream scenario for fans, American thrash metal band Slayer has decided to reunite in 2024, with the first shows set to be performed at Riot Fest and Louder Than Life Festival. An official press release from the band confirmed that guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo, and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya will once again form their fabled four-man band and go live.

This was quite unexpected from the band as they went on a drawn-out farewell tour in 2019 and had not indicated anything about a reunion for the past few years. In fact, Kerry King, who will release his solo album on May 17 this year, revealed to Rolling Stone that they did not think about bringing Slayer back.

But as it stands, the legendary band is back on its feet and will be the headliners of the 2024 Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky, and Riot Fest in Chicago.

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When is Slayer playing together again?

The mammoth metal band, which was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo, and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya, worked together for over three decades. In 2019, the band disbanded following a farewell tour. But fans of the band will be glad to know that they will be playing together again as soon as September 2024.

The first appearance from the reunited band will be at Riot Fest on Sunday, September 22, 2024. It will be followed up with another appearance on day two of the Louder Than Life festival on Friday, September 27, 2024. In a recent press release from the band, Araya said:

"Nothing compares to the 90 minutes when we're on stage playing live, sharing that intense energy with our fans...And to be honest, we have missed that."

King added to this:

"Have I missed playing live? Absolutely. Slayer means a lot to our fans; they mean a lot to us. It will be five years since we have seen them."

The announcement has also sparked excitement across almost all social media platforms. This version of the band will consist of the same four members who embarked on the farewell tour.

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Why did Slayer break up?

While the band never explicitly revealed a reason for disbanding, it was attributed to different reasons from the different band members. It was reported that Araya was unwilling to perform because it was getting physically too straining.

Moreover, the band has continuously performed since 1981. Their fatigue from the tours and recording perhaps resulted in this decision to ultimately disband. But now it seems it's still some time to go, and Slayer will continue to perform, if not record, from now on.