September 2015 saw the release of Repentless, what we didn’t realise at the time would be Slayer’s final album. The thrash legends had been through lineup changes and the untimely passing of legendary guitarist Jeff Hanneman, yet still seemed unshakeable. In fact, what became the outlaws’ swan song was spectacularly well-received; we at Hammer wrote that “Repentless is prime fucking Slayer, arguably their finest album since… if not ever, then it’s certainly among the best.” Even without the formidable talents of Hanneman, it was a riotous success for the band and 35 years in the game didn’t seem to be taking their toll.
Just a year later, when asked about the possibility of a 13th album, guitarist Kerry King was extremely positive. The Slayer co-founder told Jagermeister in 2016: “We’ve got lots of leftover material from the last album, ’cause we wrote so much stuff, and we recorded a bunch of it too. If the lyrics don’t change the song musically, those songs are done.” That, naturally, firmly planted the seeds of hope in fans’ minds that a purported eight or so songs left over from the Repentless sessions could resurface on another Slayer album.
Both King and Gary Holt, who stepped in in the wake of Hanneman’s death, reinforced this in 2017. King said on a podcast with Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta that he’d be open to Holt writing with Slayer: “You know, if he’s gonna stick around… I’m completely open to having that conversation. I haven’t talked to Tom [Araya, vocals/bass] about it, I haven’t talked to Gary about it, but I’m open.”
Holt agreed, telling Ultimate Guitar: “I’m ready to go if and when the time arrives.” However, Araya and drummer Paul Bostaph never gave any comment.
Based off Repentless and indeed much of the band’s catalogue (though perhaps not Diabolus In Musica), it’s fair to assume that any 13th album would have continued the thrash legends’ penchant for breakneck-speed riffing capped by Araya’s formidable bark. But King stressed in the same Jagermeister interview that, with Slayer’s touring commitments for Repentless, there likely wouldn’t be time to record or release until 2018. He elaborated to Revolver: “It’s conceivable, but I’m certainly not gonna promise it, because every time I do, I make a liar of myself!”
We know now that, unfortunately for fans, this album never materialised, for a myriad of reasons. In particular, as former drummer Dave Lombardo later confirmed, Araya had become tired of touring and being away from his family for so long. With the death of Hanneman likely weighing heavy as well, it’s easy to see why the legends weren’t afraid to go out when they did: on an album widely considered a late career high.
Holt initially said there might be one last album after Slayer’s farewell tour concluded. However, just two days after their final show, King’s wife Ayesha posted on Instagram that there wasn’t a “chance in hell” of new music – a sentiment echoed by Araya’s wife, Sandra. After almost four decades together, Slayer ended. King has since expressed anger at what he considers a “premature” retirement, though he now seems to be rectifying that with a solo band revving up in 2024. So, who knows: perhaps the lost Slayer songs could eventually be heard after all – just in a drastically altered form.
