Slayer tour postpones 'Canadian Carnage' dates with Megadeth

A back injury in Slayer has forced the hard rock band to postpone its five-date Canadian Carnage Tour with touring partners Megadeth.

Veteran rocker Tom Araya, bassist and vocalist for Slayer, is being treated for a performance-related back injury. According to a statement on the band's official Web site, Araya's treatment includes "an immediate surgical procedure" to take place in Texas on the morning of November 3.

As a result of the injury and planned surgery, Slayer and Megadeth have postponed the brief tour, which was scheduled to launch November 8 at Moncton Coliseum in Moncton, NB. Only a handful of gigs were booked for the outing, which was to end November 13 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, ON.

Details about the rescheduled tour are forthcoming. The band will also reschedule an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" that had been set for November 4, though remaining members Kerry king, Jeff Hanneman and Dave Lombardo will hold a previously announced in-store appearance earlier that day.

"What is foremost in our minds right now is that Tom do whatever he needs to to get this taken care of," King said in a statement about his ailing bandmate. "While all four of us are disappointed that we won't be able to see through all of our commitments set for the next few weeks, the most important thing is Tom's health."

Megadeth, however, will go ahead with its year-end performance schedule. The group has more than 20 concerts inked for the remaining months of 2009, beginning with a November 14 show at Orbit Room in Grand Rapids, MI, and concluding December 13 at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, NV.

The brief November tour would have been the second leg on the 2009 Canadian Carnage Tour. The co-headlining venture launched in June with a handful of shows in the western provinces.