Slayer Postpone Canadian, American Tour Dates

Thrash metallers Slayer have announced they're postponing upcoming Canadian and American tour dates so lead singer Tom Araya can have back surgery.

"Tom gave various medical treatments more than a fair shot," said Slayer's manager Rick Sales in a press release, "but they just haven't handled the problem, so he's biting the bullet and is scheduled for back surgery at the end of this month."

This will bum metalheads who were hoping to see the legends out with Megadeth.

Slayer's March and April dates in Europe are off as well, though their dates in June and beyond are still technically on.

This isn't the first time Slayer have had to reschedule tour dates this year. Their Canadian Carnage tour with Megadeth — which was to take place in December — was rescheduled to March and April when Araya had back surgery for the first time in November.

Araya apparently started experiencing problems on the band's Australian/New Zealand/Japanese tour last October, when he was diagnosed with cervical radiculopathy, a "dysfunction of the nerve root in the spine," according to eMedicine, that's often caused by heavy manual labour, smoking, or driving and operating vibrating equipment.

The surgical procedure that Araya will undergo is called an anterior cervical discectomy with fusion.

"As unfortunate as this is for so many people — the Megadeth and Testament camps, the concerts' promoters, and, of course, the fans — Tom's health is the number one priority, and this has to happen," said Sales.

Rescheduling/ticket refunding information for shows scheduled from now until April is apparently being worked on.

These dates are off:
Jan. 18 Seattle, WA @ WaMu Theatre w/ Slayer
Jan. 19 Portland, OR @ Memorial Coliseum w/ Slayer
Jan. 21 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace w/ Slayer
Jan. 22 Long Beach, CA @ Long Beach Arena w/ Slayer
Jan. 23 Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theatre w/ Slayer
Jan. 25 Denver, CO @ Magness Arena w/ Slayer
Jan. 26 Albuquerque, NM @ Tingley Coliseum w/ Slayer
Jan. 27 El Paso, TX @ El Paso Coliseum w/ Slayer
Jan. 29 Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless w/ Slayer
Jan. 31 Nashville, TN @ Municipal Auditorium w/ Slayer
Feb. 1 Duluth, GA @ Gwinnett Arena w/ Slayer
Feb. 2 Louisville, KY @ Broadbent Arena w/ Slayer
Feb. 4 Minneapolis, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium w/ Slayer
Feb. 5 Chicago, IL @ University Of Chicago Pavilion w/ Slayer
Feb. 6 Detroit, MI @ Cobo Arena w/ Slayer
Feb. 9 Wallingford, CT @ Chevrolet Centre w/ Slayer
Feb. 11 East Rutherford, NJ @ IZOD Center w/ Slayer
Feb. 12 Glens Falls, NY @ Glens Falls Civic Center w/ Slayer
Feb. 13 Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center w/ Slayer
Feb. 14 Lowell, MA @ Tsongas Arena w/ Slayer
Feb. 16 Quebec City, QC @ Pavilion De La Jeunesse w/ Slayer
Feb. 18 London, ON @ John Labatt Centre w/ Slayer
Feb. 19 Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre w/ Slayer
Feb. 20 Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre w/ Slayer
Feb. 22 Moncton, NB @ Moncton Coliseum w/ Slayer
Feb. 23 Halifax, NS @ Metro Centre w/ Slayer
March 7 Manchester, England @ Manchester Academy
March 8-9 London, England @ The Forum
March 11 Paris, France @ Le Bataclan
March 13 Bochum, Germany @ Ruhrcongress
March 15-16 Tilburg, Netherlands @ 013
March 17 Brussels, Belgium @ L'Ancienne Belgique
March 18 Herford, Germany @ x
March 20 Berlin, Germany @ Columbiahalle
March 22 Cologne, Germany @ Live Music Hall
March 24 Dresden, Germany @ Alter Schlachthof
March 25 Vienna, Austria @ Gasometer
March 26 Munich, Germany @ Zenith
March 28-29 Milan, Italy @ Alcatraz
March 30 Zurich, Switzerland @ Volkshaus
March 31 Weisbaden, Germany @ Schlachthof
April 2 Nottingham, England @ Rock City
April 4 Leeds, England @ O2 Academy Leeds
April 5 Birmingham, England @ O2 Academy Birmingham

These dates are still technically on:

June 16 Warsaw, Poland @ Bemowo Airport (Sonisphere)
June 19 Prague, Czech Republic @ Mimon Airport (Sonisphere)
Aug. 1 Knebworth, England @ Knebworth Park (Sonisphere)
Aug. 7 Stockholm, Sweden @ Stora Skuggan (Sonisphere)
Aug. 8 Pori, Finland @ Kirjurinlouto (Sonisphere)