Literally by popular demand — with more than half the tour dates already either completely sold out or a sell-out imminent — SLAYER has announced the second North American leg of its final world tour, set to kick off on Thursday, July 26 at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, New Hampshire. The tour will travel to 20 cities over about five weeks, culminating at San Jose's SAP Center on August 26. LAMB OF GOD, ANTHRAX, TESTAMENT and NAPALM DEATH will accompany the band on all dates.

A second North American leg for this tour had been considered to take place at some point down the line, but within 48 hours of the initial January 26 ticket on sale date, that all changed.

"We were blown away by the speed of sales for the final run," said Rick Franks, president of touring for Live Nation, one of the tour's promoters. "Thirty-six years later and SLAYER is bigger than ever before."

A special BLABBERMOUTH.NET presale will begin on Wednesday, March 7 at 10:00 a.m. EST and end on Thursday, March 8 at 10 p.m. local time. When prompted, type in the presale code "THETOUR" to access tickets before the general public.

General admission tickets will be available for purchase starting Friday, March 9 at 10 a.m. local time. Very limited SLAYER onstage + meet-and-greet + exclusive merchandise packages will be available. Log on to Slayer.net for all ticket and package purchasing information.

Newly announced tour dates:

Jul. 26 - Bank Of New Hampshire Pavilion, Gilford, NH (buy tickets)

Jul. 27 - Impact Music Festival, Darling's Waterfront Pavilion - Bangor, ME (buy tickets)

Jul. 29 - Northwell Health at Jones Beach - Wantagh, NY (buy tickets)

Jul. 31 - The Pavilion at Montage Mountain - Scranton, PA (buy tickets)

Aug. 01 - Times Union Center - Albany, NY (buy tickets)

Aug. 03 - Darien Lake Performing Arts Center - Darien Lake, NY (buy tickets)

Aug. 04 - Lakeview Amphitheater - Syracuse, NY (buy tickets)

Aug. 06 - Budweiser Gardens - London, ON (buy tickets)

Aug. 07 - Van Andel Arena - Grand Rapids, MI (buy tickets)

Aug. 09 - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre - St. Louis, MO (buy tickets)

Aug. 10 - Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood - Atlanta, GA (buy tickets)

Aug. 12 - Municipal Auditorium - Nashville, TN (buy tickets)

Aug. 13 - Walmart AMP - Rogers, AR (buy tickets)

Aug. 15 - Freeman Coliseum - San Antonio, TX (buy tickets)

Aug. 16 - The Zoo Amphitheatre - Oklahoma City, OK (buy tickets)

Aug. 18 - Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre - Denver, CO (buy tickets)

Aug. 19 - USANA Amphitheatre - Salt Lake City, UT (buy tickets)

Aug. 21 - Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater - Boise, ID (buy tickets)

Aug. 23 - Sunlight Supply Amphitheater - Portland, OR (buy tickets)

Aug. 26 - SAP Center, San Jose, CA (buy tickets)

Previously announced first leg:

May 10 - Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, CA

May 11 - FivePoint Amphitheatre, Irvine, CA (sold out)

May 13- Papa Murphy's Park at Cal Expo, Sacramento, CA

May 16 - Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, BC

May 17 - South Okanagan Events Centre, Penticton, BC

May 19 - Big Four, Calgary, AL (sold out)

May 20 - Shaw Convention Centre, Edmonton, AB (sold out)

May 22 - Bell MTS Place, Winnipeg, MB

May 24 - The Armory, Minneapolis, MN (sold out)

May 25 - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL

May 27 - Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill, Detroit, MI (sold out)

May 29 - Budweiser Stage, Toronto, ON (sold out)

May 30 - Place Bell, Montreal, PQ (sold out)

Jun. 01 - Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT (sold out)

Jun. 02 - PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ

Jun. 04 - Santander Arena, Reading, PA (sold out)

Jun. 06 - Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH

Jun. 07 - Blossom Music Center, Cleveland, OH

Jun. 09 - KeyBank Pavilion, Pittsburgh, PA

Jun. 10 - Jiffy Lube Live, Bristow, VA

Jun. 12 - Veteran's United Home Loans Amphitheater, Virginia Beach, VA

Jun. 14 - PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, NC

Jun. 15 - Orlando Amphitheater, Orlando, FL

Jun. 17 - Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land, Houston, TX (sold out)

Jun. 19 - The Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX (sold out)

Jun. 20 - Austin360 Amphitheater, Austin, TX (sold out)

On January 22, 2018, SLAYER announced that it would do one last concert tour around the globe to thank their fans for all of their support over the years, for making the last three and a half decades so packed with good times and unforgettable experiences, and then move on.

SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya talked about his possible retirement in a 2016 interview with Loudwire. He said: "At 35 years, it's time to collect my pension. [Laughs] This is a career move." He continued: "I'm grateful that we've been around for 35 years; that's a really long time. So, yeah, to me, it is. Because when we started off, everything was great, because you're young and invincible. And then there came a time where I became a family man, and I had a tough time flying back and forth. And now, at this stage, at the level we're at now, I can do that; I can fly home when I want to, on days off, and spend some time with my family, which is something I wasn't able to do when [my kids] were growing up. Now they're both older and mature. So now I take advantage of that." Araya added: "Yeah, it just gets harder and harder to come back out on the road. 35 years is a long time."

Tom also revealed another reason for his diminished enjoyment of the touring life. He said: "There's things that have gone on in my life that have made me change how I play as a bass player. I had neck surgery, so I can't headbang anymore. And that was a big part of what I enjoyed doing what I do — singing and headbanging. I liked knowing that I was one of the fucking badass headbangers. That played a big part. Now I just groove with the music, which is cool, because I'm grooving with the music and the feel of the songs, so that's changed a little for me."

SLAYER has been touring in support of its latest album, "Repentless", which was released in September 2015 via Nuclear Blast. That effort marked the band's first release since the death of SLAYER's co-founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman.

Hanneman contracted necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating disease, in January 2011 from a spider bite in his backyard. The infection ravaged the flesh and tissues of Hanneman's arm, leading to numerous surgeries, skin grafts and intense periods of rehab that forced him into semi-retirement and left him near death at several points.

Hanneman eventually died in May 2013 from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver. He is credited for writing many of SLAYER's classic songs, including "Angel Of Death" and "South Of Heaven".

Original SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo was effectively fired from the band after sitting out the group's Australian tour in February/March 2013 due to a contract dispute with the other members of SLAYER. He has since been replaced by Paul Bostaph, who was previously SLAYER's drummer from 1992 until 2001 and recorded four albums with the band.