A brief chat with Slayer

With a headlining slot at the Mayhem Fest taking place on July 5 at Red Rocks, fans can get ready to welcome thrash titans Slayer back to Colorado. The death of guitarist Jeff Hanneman is still painfully fresh, but the band aims to pay tribute to their fallen comrade every night. A new album, Repentless is about to drop, a record which sees the return of drummer Paul Bostaph. We spoke to Bostaph about it all.W

Yellow Scene: People are excited to hear the new Repentless album – how do you think it stacks up next to the impressive back catalog?

Paul Bostaph: I think it stacks up really well. It’s a Slayer record. It’s aggressive, and dark. We wouldn’t have put it out if we didn’t think it was great.

YS: You rejoined a very different band from the one you left, one in the midst of a mourning period. Has it been strange, or was it easy to slot back in?

PB: It hasn’t been easy at all. The mourning period still isn’t over. I think of Jeff every time I’m on stage, and while I was in the studio. As long as we’re doing this, Jeff will be a huge part of it.

YS: You have the Mayhem Fest with King Diamond coming up – are you excited for that?

PB: Yeah. We had the first rehearsal last night. I’m looking forward to seeing what King Diamond does. We’re super-excited. Can’t wait.

YS: Do you like playing Colorado?

PB: I always love coming to Colorado. I’ve never had a bad show there. I’m looking forward to playing at Red Rocks. I’ve only played there once before, on my first tour with Slayer.

YS: When Mayhem Fest is over, what’s next?

PB: Let’s see, we do the Motorboat four-day cruise with Motorhead, Anthrax, Testament and a bunch of metal bands. Then we go to Japan, then back home, then we finish the year in Europe.

Slayer plays with King Diamond, HellYeah, the Devil Wears Prada, Whitechapel, Thy Art is Murder, Jungle Rot, Sister Sin, Sworn In, Shattered Sun, Feed Her to the Sharks, Code Orange, and Kissing Candice at Mayhem Fest; Sunday, July 5; rockstarmayhemfest.com.