Some Pics of Slayer in the Studio with Producer Terry Date

In case there was any doubt as to the nature of the photo Slayer posted last week showing Kerry King in front of a recording console with the hashtag #SlayerAlbum15, this should clear it up: the band has posted six more photos on their Instagram page all clearly shot inside a recording studio. The band is definitely recording their fifteenth album right now.

The only new bit of information here is that the band is working with producer Terry Date, shown in one of the photos. Slayer recently signed with Nuclear Blast after working with Rick Rubin for nearly thirty years (first on Def Jam, then on American); Rubin had a producer or executive producer credit on all of their albums going back through Reign in Blood.

Although an additional who’s who of producers worked on some of those albums along with Rubin — Andy Wallace on Seasons in the Abyss, Toby Wright on Divine Intervention, Matt Hyde on God Hates Us All, Josh Abraham on Christ Illusion and Greg Fidelman on World Paint Blood, in addition to a few self-production credits — this will be the first time since 1985’s Hell Awaits that Slayer won’t have Rick Rubin involved at all. Some would argue that Rubin hasn’t been doing much (or any) hands-on producing lately, just showing up from time to time and giving a little direction — which may or may not be true — but nevertheless this is kind of a big deal. Whether that change manifests in their music or not — compoounded with the absence of Jeff Hanneman — we’ll have to wait and see.