"Needless to say, we are all stoked as all hell to be part of this tour. We have hung out with [Slayer guitarist] Kerry King a bunch of times and he is a cool cat. We are all looking forward to getting to know the other dudes as well."

Unearth--which also includes guitarists Ken Susi and Biz McGrath, bassist John Maggare and drummer Mike Justin--will spend Jan. 24 through Feb. 28 opening for Slayer throughout the United States in support of its album "III In the Eyes of Fire." The record was produced by Terry Date, best known for his work with Metallica.

"[Date] had a lot of great ideas for capturing the live energy we were going for on the new disc," Phipps said. "He is a master at recording bands. The biggest reason we chose him was because of his past work from Pantera and the Deftones to Dredge. This guy knows his aggressive music, so it was a perfect fit for us."

In terms of Unearth's catalogue, "III" fits right in, according to Phipps. It subtly traces Unearth's musical history while bringing in new sounds.

"It has elements of every recording we have, but at the same time is a natural progression of who and what we are as a band. It is necessary for a band to grow as musicians and as songwriters and we all believe that this record is our best material to date."

Those sounds are created by Susi and McGrath, who then bring their riffs to practice so Justin can throw down beats. Each member gives their input as to how the songs should be arranged.

"Once the song is relatively close to being done, I get a vibe from the tune and then put the lyrics down," Phipps explained.