"Christ Illusion" is Slayer's first new studio album since 2001, and the first recorded by the band's original line-up - Kerry King/guitars; Tom Araya/bass, vocals; Jeff Hanneman/guitars; Dave Lombardo/drums - since 1990's "Seasons In The Abyss." "Christ Illusion" was produced by Josh Abraham and executive produced by Rick Rubin, and will be released on Slayer's long-time label, Rubin's American Recordings/Warner Bros. Records.

"Christ Illusion" deals with familiar Slayer themes - god, religion, hate, and war. Song titles are "Flesh Storm," "Catalyst," "Eyes of the Insane," "Jihad," "Skeleton Christ," "Consfearacy," "Black Serenade," " Catatonic," "Cult," and "Supremist." According to Araya, "No one is going to be disappointed, it's going to blow everybody away. It's fast, heavy, and maybe faster than anything we've done before."

"It's a good mix of fast, brutal music and slower moodier stuff, it's pretty intense," added King. "It sounds like a damn Slayer record."

A core player in Slayer's history has also rejoined the team for the "Christ Illusion" project. Larry Carroll, who did the cover artwork for "Reign in Blood," "South of Heaven," and "Seasons In the Abyss," has painted an original piece for the "Christ Illusion" cover. Working only from the song titles and early lyrics, Carroll has produced a classic Slayer masterpiece - a portrait of the Christ - whose forearms have been chopped off - standing in an ocean of blood surrounded by floating, decapitated heads. Carroll created the painting on a 4-by-4-foot slab of wood using a combination of mediums. King already has placed dibs on ownership of the original wooden canvas.

Slayer will headline this summer's six-week-plus "Unholy Alliance Tour:
Preaching To The Perverted," which features Lamb of God, Children of Bodom,
Mastodon, and Thine Eyes Bleed, and kicks off at the Tweeter Center in Camden, NJ next Thursday, June 15. Confirmed tour dates are as follows:

JUNE
15 Tweeter Center, Camden, NJ
16 Continental Airlines Arena, E. Rutherford, NJ
17 Tsongas Arena, Lowell, MA
19 US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH
20 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL
21 Pop's Outside, St. Louis, MO
23 Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, TX
24 Nokia Live, Dallas, TX
25 Reliant Arena, Houston, TX
27 HiFi Buys Amphitheatre, Atlanta, GA
29 Washington Avenue Armory, Albany, NY
30 Tower City Amphitheatre, Cleveland, OH