The band went on to say: “We apologize to our fans who were planning to attend and look forward to performing in Europe again soon. Ticket refunds will be available at the original point of purchase.”

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The tour originally entailed a trip across Europe that would conclude with three UK dates and would see the band paying tribute to beloved Canadian prog-rockers Rush by covering their “A Farewell to Kings” record in its entirety.

In regard to their decision to cover “A Farewell to Kings”, bassist and frontman Les Claypool recently told the Nashville Tennessean: “We always joked that we were going to play ‘Hemispheres’ in its entirety. And then it was, like, ‘Well, maybe we should do something like that.’ ‘2112’ seemed a little too obvious. ‘Moving Pictures’ seemed a little too obvious. So, ‘A Farewell To Kings’ seemed like the right choice.”

Claypool also reminisced on touring with Rush, saying: “I was one of those guys as a high schooler, sitting in the audience … knowing every single note. Rush fans are very scrutinizing. They’ll tell you, we were one of the only bands accepted by the Rush crowd back in the day when we were touring with them. That being said, it’s very precious to a lot of people. We’re taking it very seriously. I’ll tell you, we’ve never rehearsed as a band this much in our lives as we did for this Rush thing. We’re doing it as close as we possibly can to the way they would do it.”

The band will still be performing the US leg of the tour, and for any American fans, more information can be found here.

Originally formed in 1984, Primus presently consists of bassist and vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry LaLonde and drummer Tim Alexander. The group are known for their instrumental chops, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and general weirdness, once being referred to as “quite possibly the strangest top-10 band ever” by music journalist Robert Christgau. The group found mainstream success with their sophomore album Sailing the Seas of Cheese, with its lead single “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver” remaining one of the group’s most popular tunes, having gained a platinum certification less than a decade after its initial release.

It would seem that Claypool has leaked this information early. However, it is an addition to a bill that has included Lamb of God and Anthrax, who have been on the whole tour. Other bands who have been on other legs include Napalm Death, Behemoth and Testament.

The next leg will see Slayer trek across North America with support from Lamb of God, Amon Amarth and Cannibal Corpse. It starts May  2nd in Pheonix, Arizona and  ends on May 25th in Mansfield, Massachusetts. After that they will be heading to Europe playing both their own shows and festival dates. Find information on all shows here.

Slayer are one of what is considered the “big four” of thrash metal along with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax from Huntington Park, California. They were formed in 1981 by vocalist and bassist Tom Araya and guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Haneman.

They have always stood out from the rest of the big four due to their style of playing with has always been much more fast and aggressive than the others. Their current line-up is Araya, King, guitarist Gary Holt and drummer Paul Bostaph. Dave Lomabardo and John Dette have both previously been drummers.

When the original line-up was together Araya, King and Haneman were all responsible for the lyrics while King and Haneman wrote all of the music. The bands lyrics and imagery have always covered controversial subjects such as serial killers, necrophilia, torture, genocide, human experimentation, Satanism, hate crime, terrorism, blasphemy, Nazism and war which has resulted in them facing pressure from religious and censorship groups. Despite this they have been highly influential with their third album “Reign in Blood” being considered to be one of the greatest metal albums of all time.

They have released twelve studio albums, two live albums, a box set, six music videos, two extended plays and a covers album. Four of their albums have been certified gold in the US. They have also been nominated for a grammy four times, winning it twice for the songs “Eyes of the Insane” and “Final Six” both of 2006’s “Christ Illusion.” In total, they have sold over five million albums. They announced their decision to split in January 2018.

Tour Dates:

2 – Phoenix, Ariz. @ Ak-Chin Amphitheatre
3 – Albuquerque, N.M.@ Isleta Amphitheatre,
5 – El Paso, Texas @ UTEP/Don Haskins Center
7 – Edinburg, Texas @ Bert Ogden Arena
8 – Dallas, Texas @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
10 – Tampa, Fla. @ MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre
11 – West Palm Beach, Fla. @ Coral Sky Amphitheatre
13 – Huntington, W.V.@ Big Sandy Superstore Arena
14 – Columbia, Md. @ Merriweasther Post Pavilion
16 – Noblesville, Ind. @ Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
17 – Bonner Springs, Kansas @ Providence Medical Center Amphitheater
19 – Clarkston, Mich. @ DTE Energy Music Center
20 – Youngstown, Ohio @ Covel Centre
22 – Ottawa, Ontario @ Canadian Tire Centre
24 – Camden, N.J.@ BB&T Pavilion
25 – Mansfield, Mass. @ Xfinity Center