When the members of SLAYER were approached by Nuclear Blast America‘s General Manager Gerardo Martinez to make a music video for ‘Repentless’, the title track of the band’s 2015 label debut, they thought it was going to be a cool, one-off music video. Little did they know.
Martinez put the band together with up-and-coming director BJ McDonnell who turned in a storyline that the band really liked. McDonnell made his living as a motion picture and televison camera / steadicam operator, having worked on features such as »Avengers: Age Of Ultron,« »The Interview,« and »Jack Reacher,« and had one directing project under his belt, 2013’s »Hatchet III.«
“Meeting him, he was excited,” remembers SLAYER‘s Tom Araya. “He really liked the fact he was working with the band, he was a fan, and his excitement rubbed off because it made me excited. I thought,”‘well this is gonna be fucking great!””
‘Repentless’ was shot on August 25 & 26, 2016 at the Sybil Brand Institute, a women’s prison in East Los Angeles. BJ and producer Felissa Rose (»Camp Dread,« the upcoming »Death House«) put together an all-star cast of instantly-recognizable bad guys: Danny Trejo (»Machete,« »From Dusk Till Dawn«), Tony Moran (»Halloween«‘s Michael Myers, »American Poltergeist«), Derek Mears (»Predators,« »Friday the 13th«) Tyler Mane (»Halloween«), Sean Whalen (»Men In Black,« »Halloween II«), Vernon Wells (»Mad Max 2,« »Commando,« »Weird Science«), and Jason Trost (»Hatchet III«), who starred in all three videos. They then brought in a killer, all-pro crew – stunt coordinator Don Lee (»Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,« »Star Trek Beyond«), director of photography Eric Leach (»The Neighbor,« »What Lola Wants«), Special FX makeup artists Tony Gardner and Adrienne Lynn (»Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse,« »Zombieland,« »The Bad Batch«), and editors Ed Marx and Andrea Porter (»Hatchet III«).
Said Kerry King, “When I saw ‘Repentless,’ I said “that’s the video we should have done 20 years ago. It’s SLAYER. That video is SLAYER.””
Rolling Stone premiered the ‘Repentless’ video on September 11, 2015 writing “Full of gore and blood, the clip stays true to the legacy of the band.”
To date, the ‘Repentless’ video has accumulated more than 10-million YouTube views.
In the late autumn of 2015, Martinez discussed with McDonnell the idea of doing a prequel and sequel for ‘Repentless.’ McDonnell loved the idea and wrote the treatments. Filming for both videos took place February 1 & 2, 2016. ‘You Against You’ was shot at The Aviation Warehouse, a graveyard of jets, airplanes and helicopters in California’s Mojave Desert and premiered on March 16, 2016. Fuse.tv wrote that the video was “a gruesome, unholy, blood-ridden slaughterfest and also one of the top five fight sequences you’ll see this year.” So far, the video has racked up more than five-million YouTube views.
The snowy mountains of Wrightwood, CA served as the location for the final video in the trilogy, ‘Pride In Prejudice,’ that made its debut on September 6, 2016. Loudwire called the video “an over-the-top gorefest,” while it prompted Digital Music News to ask the question, “Have SLAYER gone too far in their new music video?” The same day the video made its premier, it scored nearly one-million views on all social formats.
Said director McDonnell, “Having the opportunity to write and direct three music videos for a band I’ve always loved was a bucket list dream come true. All of the guys in SLAYER made me feel so comfortable and at home. I put them in the worst elements possible and they were always enthusiastic and ready to bring the ‘A’ game. Heat, snow, wind, etc., the band owned it, bringing my vision to life. The band and crew all worked hard to bring this trilogy to life and I’m very proud of what we created.”
*****
On July 1st, SLAYER‘s new single, ‘You Against You’, has been released. New editions (shape, green, white/red splatter, clear) will be available soon. Pre-order now: http://nblast.de/SlayerNB
Catch SLAYER live on tour:
24.09. USA Houston, TX – Houston Open Air
25.09. USA San Bernardino, CA – Ozzfest Meets Knotfest
01.10. USA Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life At Champions Par
22.10. USA Sacramento, CA – Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park
26.10. USA Phoenix, AZ – Arizona State Fair
29.10. PRI San Juan – Coliseum Of Perto Rico
w/ ANTHRAX, DEATH ANGEL
09.09. USA Cleveland, OH – Jacob’s Pavilion
10.09. USA Detroit, MI – Freedom Hill Amphitheatre
12.09. CDN Toronto, ON – Sound Academy
13.09. CDN Montreal, QC – Metropolis
15.09. USA Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
18.09. USA Chester, PA – Rock Allegiance
20.09. USA Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room
22.09. USA St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
27.09. USA Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
28.09. USA Miami, FL – Fillmore
30.09. USA Tunica, MS – Horseshoe Casino Tunica
03.10. USA Norfolk, VA – Norva
05.10. USA Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
07.10. USA Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey Live
08.10. USA Austin, TX – ACL At The Moody Theatre
10.10. USA Denver, CO – Fillmore
11.10. USA Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
13.10. USA Missoula, MT – The Wilma Theatre
17.10. USA Lethbridge, AB – ENMAX Center
19.10. USA Penticton, BC – South Okanagan Events Centre
20.10. USA Abbotsford, BC – Abbotsford Centre
23.10. USA Reno, NV – Reno Events Center
27.10. USA El Paso, TX – El Paso County Coliseum
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