Slayer at the Fields of Rocks festival in 2007.
Slayer recently kicked off their American Carnage tour alongside Megadeth and Testament. The concert series have been a huge success for the band, and for metal fans it has been a real treat listening to their album, Rust in Peace, which they are playing in its entirety—in addition to other tracks.
Now, the great American rock band of the last three decades, known for having a distinct and radical thrash metal sound, will release for the first time a limited-edition box set called The Vinyl Conflict.
The eleven vinyl discs will feature the band’s entire recording catalogue—all ten albums. “Most longtime Slayer fans may not have these records at this point,” said Dino Paredes, from American Recordings, “or their copies are completely beat-up, so to have the complete catalogue in this first-class presentation is terrific.”
According to the music label, a lot of effort went into creating The Vinyl Conflict, treating the band’s previous albums the same way they would treat a great jazz, classical, Bob Dylan or Miles Davis record—something that isn’t normally done for metal records. Slayer’s catalogue has been re-mastered from the original analog flat master tapes, and were pressed on the highest quality—180-gram audio vinyl at RTI. “The vinyl box is a real treat for fans, especially with today’s renewed and increased interest in vinyl,” promised Sony Legacy’s Adam Farber. And Farber is right. The old-school audio format indeed is making a comeback. A Nielsen’s 2009 sales figures report shows that vinyl sales grew by a whopping 89 percent between 2007 and 2008.
It remains to be seen if vinyl’s resurgence will continue. There are those that swear by the full-bodied substance of a vinyl recording—their numbers are growing.
The Vinyl Conflict will be released October 12 and can be pre-ordered now for $129.
