Heavy metal stalwart Slayer is ready for a nap. In the band's 37-year career, it has released 12 studio albums, played thousands of concerts and won two Grammys for best metal performance (in '07 and '08). This week, the band called it a job well done and announced that its next world tour, beginning in May, will be the last.
The first leg of the ominously named One Final World Tour comprises 26 dates across North America. At the end of June, the tour will visit three Texas cities: Houston, Austin and Dallas. The Dallas date is June 19 at Bomb Factory.
Tickets to the Bomb Factory gig, $56.75 and up, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 26, a ticketfly.com. Slayer uber-fans can also purchase exclusive merchandise and meet-and-greet packages at slayer.net.
Supporting Slayer on the tour are genre fellows Lamb of God, Anthrax, Testament and Behemoth. All have played with Slayer in the past.
"If you are lucky enough to be invited to play even just once with living legends like Slayer, it's an incredible honor," Randy Blythe, the vocalist and guitarist of Lamb of God, said in a press release announcing the tour. "Slayer gave Lamb of God our very first two overseas shows. Slayer has subsequently taken us on several full length tours, both at home and abroad. ... It is irrefutable that Slayer helped create the genre of aggressive metal, and all modern bands of that ilk owe them a huge debt — I know we do."
Slayer's success has often been in spite of challenges, such as the 2013 death of founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman from cirrhosis.
"We want to help give Slayer the best send-off possible and to have one last blast with our friends. But you know, at the end of the day, Slayer will never die," Anthrax bassist Frank Bello said in the press release.
The One Final World Tour:
May
10 Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, CA
11 FivePoint Amphitheatre, Irvine, CA
13 Papa Murphy's Park at Cal Expo, Sacramento, CA
16 PNE Forum, Vancouver, BC
17 South Okanagan Events Centre, Penticton, BC
19 Big Four, Calgary, AB
20 Shaw Centre, Edmonton, AB
22 Bell MTS Centre, Winnipeg, MB
24 The Armory, Minneapolis, MN
25 Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL
27 Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre @ Freedom Hill, Detroit, MI
29 Budweiser Stage, Toronto, ON
30 Place Bell, Montreal, QC
June
1 Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT
2 PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
4 Santander Arena, Reading, PA
6 Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
7 Blossom Music Center, Cleveland, OH
9 KeyBank Pavilion, Pittsburgh, PA
10 Jiffy Lube Live, Bristow, VA
12 VUHL Amphitheater, Virginia Beach, VA
14 PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, NC
15 Orlando Amphitheater, Orlando, FL
17 Smart Financial Centre, Houston, TX
19 The Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX
20 Austin 360 Amphitheater, Austin, TX
Slayer, with Lamb of God, Anthrax, Testament and Behemoth, 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 19, $56.75 and up, thebombfactory.com.