Well, friends of the metal persuasion, that time of year has rolled around again. The holiday season is upon us, time to show up on doorsteps with your electric twangers and sing songs about roasting nuts, burn down churches, and, most of all, it’s time to avoid all your repulsive metalhead friends that might have the nerve to expect a gift. But for those of you who just don’t seem to have that flare for hiding in your closet for two months straight, here are some wallet-emptying items they’re sure to find amusing.

Here’s the 2016 Metalhead’s Holiday Gift Guide…

Don’t ask me why I decided to go to Ozzfest/Knotfest this year. Normally an annual rite of passage for my husband and our 13-year-old son, I somehow got it in my head that it would be a fun thing for me and my 9-year-old daughter to tag along this year. Perhaps it is all part of my middle-aged crisis that is also attempting to convince me that I am a somewhat relevant rock n’ roll star who is destined for success in my family band (#thecheesebergens), but anyway…

I was approaching the festival in what already looked like miserable conditions as hot winds kicked up dust storms all over the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, CA. Early thoughts on the parking lot situation: Why do schlubby guys feel like it’s necessary to take off their shirts and stand in the beds of their pickup trucks? And why are there so many more of them taking off their shirts than the ones who actually look good without shirts? But there were plenty of those too…shout out to the twin shirtless heavy metal cowboys with man buns (yes, you are reading that correctly!).

Well, we now know what the long-awaited new Slayer album is called and when it will be released.

The California metal giants will release their eleventh studio album entitled Repentless on September 11, 2015 via their own as yet unnamed imprint through Nuclear Blast Records. It will be the first album since the death of founding guitarist and major songwriting contributor Jeff Hanneman in 2013.

Thrash titans and merchandise machine Slayer has just released the second track from their upcoming and as yet untitled eleventh record. The track is titled “When the Stillness Comes” and will be made available as a 7″ single for this year’s Record Store Day, taking place on Saturday.

Have a listen to the new track here below.

The gang at Loudwire teamed up with the folks over at Filthy Frackers to create a video of a “what if” NES-style 8-bit video game featuring the thrash metal giants of The Big 4 – Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax.

The 83-second 8-bit animated video with chiptune audio features Metallica’s “One,” including scenes from the video of the band members as well as the footage from the Johnny Got His Gun movie; Slayer’s “Raining Blood” (with the band in a live performance sequence); Megadeth’s “Sweating Bullets,” which showcases frontman Dave Mustaine’s multiple personalities from the video; and Anthrax’s “Madhouse,” with zany footage from that music video, as well as guest appearances from retro gaming characters.

Watch the video here below.

Slayer: legendary thrash metal band, angels of death, servants of the dark lord, and… rescuers of kittens? I grew up outside of Indianapolis, Indiana, and woke up this morning to find that my childhood friend Dave Fox had sent me this awesome story which ran originally in Indy’s alternative newspaper Nuvo. It seems that heavy metal icons Slayer and their entourage came to the rescue of one defenseless feline before their recent show at The Old National Centre in Indianapolis.

Nuvo’s music blogger Katherine Coplen got the full story from Old National Centre spokesperson Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald.

Well metalheads, that time of the year has come around again. And whether you’re rockin’ under the mistletoe while headbanging to Twisted Sister’s Heavy Metal Christmas, or whether you’re holed up in a basement listening to Venom’s Black X-Mas, there’s probably a metalhead on your Christmas list who is expecting something other than coal in their stocking.

Well, never fear oh ye holiday headbangers. Geeks of Doom is kind of enough to supply you with the quintessential list of seasonal must-haves for the metal mavens.

In honor of the fact that I am taking my 12 year-old son and his friend to see Slayer, Exodus, and Suicidal Tendencies at The Forum in Los Angeles tomorrow night, this week’s Thrashback Thursday thrashes all the way back to where it started for me. I was about their age when I went down that heavy metal rabbit hole. Slayer and early Metallica were like a godsend for a hormonal teenage boy to headband his aggressions, frustrations, and angst out to. May the metal be as kind to the kids as it’s been to me all of these years.

With the opening track of their brilliant 1984 EP Haunting The Chapel here is the mighty Slayer with “Chemical Warfare.”

SLAYER! What else need be said? Here are the kings of thrash with the opening track of their 1996 watershed release Reign In Blood.

Watch Slayer perform “Angel of Death” here below.

Right now, Amazon has Slayer‘s Reign In Blood in MP3 format on sale for only 5.00. The sale is part of the site’s monthly deals on MP3 albums for only $5 each.

If you’d like a physical copy of Reign In Blood, the CD is available for $11.49 and is an AutoRip, which means with the CD purchase you’ll also get a FREE MP3 download of the entire album.

This discount MP3 version of Reign In Blood contains two extra tracks: “Aggressive Perfector” and a remix of “Criminally Insane.” The original 10-song album, which clocks in at under 30 minutes, was released in 1986 and was the band’s breakout effort, mostly thanks to the wildly popular “Angel Of Death.” Featuring the original four members of Slayer, the album is a non-stop double-bass frenzy of thrash metal that set the bar high for other bands in that genre. A highly worthy purchase, even at full price, other standout songs are “Jesus Saves,” “Postmortem,” and “Raining Blood.” My favorite Slayer album by far. Check it out!!!