About Me
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Slayer was established by the lead guitarist Kerry King in the Huntington Park, CA in the year 1982. Prior to the beginning of Slayer, Kerry was playing in another band with Tom Araya (vocals, bass) who Kerry kept in mind on his list of players for the new band. During that time however, Tom had his hands full by working in a hospital as a respiratory therapist. Finally, the first member to join the band was Jeff Hanneman (lead guitars) who happened to be living close to Kerry. Kerry heard Jeff playing guitar and soon after asked him to join his new band. Soon thereafter Dave Lombardo (drums) crossed the path with Kerry and Jeff while delivering pizza in the neighborhood and was given the opportunity to play drums. To make the line-up complete, Kerry called Tom to join the band as the lead singer and bass player which he then agreed. With the line up complete, guys began thinking what to name the newly established band. After thinking up the name Dragonslayer, they finally agreed to name the band Slayer Recording Begins
In 1983, Slayer began recording their first studio album by the name of "Show No Mercy". The album's final output consisted of many screams, thundering drumming, and many lengthy solos. Soon after the release of "Show No Mercy", Slayer received their first major exposure by appearing in many different metal magazines and were the talk in the underground metal scene. Their first big tour across the United States was really successful in terms of exposure as they slowly began gaining their legions of fans around North America. However it wasn't easy as the guys were traveling in a minivan from one gig to another and were barely making enough to buy food and other necessities. Soon after following their first major tour, Slayer recorded three songs for their "Haunting the Chapel" EP, which consisted of Chemical Warfare, Captor of Sin, and the title song Hell and Europe Await
1985 saw the release of "Hell Awaits", Slayer's second full offering. It consisted of satanic and slaughter lyrics with hell and satan being the major subject of the album. Also that same year, Slayer visited Europe for the very first time and showed their live talent while gaining more exposure there. Their first ever show in Europe was in Belgium as part of the famous Dynamo Festival where a large majority of the crowd were there to see Slayer. "Hell Awaits" quickly sold over 100,000 copies on the U.S shores and Slayer gained the attention from Rick Rubin who offered them to join his label DefJam. Slayer accepted the offer and moved to bigger and better things.The Masterpiece Released
Following "Hell Awaits", which was a perfect set up for their next album, Slayer started recording their next outing with producer Rick Rubin. For Rick, it was the first time working with a metal band at that point in time as DefJam was mainly involved with rap acts. Finally, in the latter part of 1986 "Reign in Blood" was completed and released to the masses! This record was full of gore disturbing lyrics, lightning speed riffing, insane drumming, and ear bleeding solos! Very soon following its release, "Reign in Blood" was hailed by many as the best thrash-metal album of all time with only Metallica's "Master of Puppets" receiving the same honors. Twenty years later no band was or is able to match the monster of a record that is "Reign in Blood" which is highly regarded by many as the takeoff of black and death metal. "Reign in Blood" featured such songs as Angel of Death and Raining Blood that became metal anthems everywhere and the album sold in large quantities. However, some problems came along after it's release. Because of the song Angel of Death, that deals with Nazi doctor Joseph Mengele and the experiments he did on his patents during the Holocaust, Slayer were accused of being Nazis themselves and Satan worshippers. Also Jeff was really interested in war medals at that time so he wore some Nazi cross and eagle symbols on his jacket, so that didn't help the situation. Slayer were refused by the promoters to play in some cities and also European fans had to wait until the following year to get their hands on the masterpiece that was "Reign in Blood". With no airplay, radio support, or anything in that sort, the band's third full outing easily managed to become Slayer's first gold album selling well over 500,000 copies exceeding everyone's expectations.New Tours and Some Problems
Slayer were on their way to glory, but problems began to arise in the band on the eve of the Reign in Blood tour that every Slayer fan was eagerly anticipating. There seemed to be some kind of misunderstanding between Dave and the rest of the band so Dave carelessly quit the band before the big tour. Guys had to find a quick replacement and Tony Scaglione from the band Whiplash showed up and joined the band. After the tour everything seemed to be in place between Dave and the rest of the guys so he rejoined Slayer. In support of the new record more touring following in Europe that was more successful than every with every venue being either sold out or close to it.New Sound
Year 1988 came and it was time for the new Slayer album that fans were impatient to get their hands on since Slayer were building up from "Show no Mercy" to "Reign in Blood" with speed, intensity, and the potential to surprise their fans. "South of Heaven" finally saw the light of day on August 11th, however, the fans didn't accept it like they did the earlier albums. "South of Heaven" was slower than it's predecessors; Tom didn't scream this time but actually sang more and the album was also much heavier and more instrumental and it was more professionally done. However later .. it's release, slayerheads realized that "South of Heaven" was just another classic that had different sound than its predecessors. Also Kerry being known for his intensity to write fast songs, wasn't involved as much in making this record as his was involved in the previous ones so mostly Jeff and Tom wrote the music and lyrics. The songs South of Heaven, Mandatory Suicide, and Spill the Blood will always stay with the fans as some of the best Slayer songs ever written to date.Time to Sacrifice and Visit the Abyss
After the release of "South of Heaven", Slayer embarked on one of their biggest tours yet dubbed "World Sacrifice" Tour, which included dates around the world including a huge North American outing. After just another little break, Slayer recorded and soon thereafter released a new album called, "Seasons in the Abyss", one of the ultimate metal albums of all time. It was received much better by the fans than "South of Heaven" because it combined Slayer's speed and chaos of "Reign in Blood" with new influences and heavy sound of "South of Heaven". One of the many tours that Slayer followed up with was the infamous "Clash of the Titans" World Tour that included such names as Megadeth, Anthrax, and Testament. This tour packed sold out arenas around United States and Europe and was the premier thrash attack as thrash metal reached its peak around the 1990-91. Around the early 90's, having released 5 classic metal albums in just 8 years time one after another, Slayer came to be recognized as one of the premier metal bands of all time rivaling such bands as Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath.Live Aggression and some Problems Follow Up
A year later, after the release of "Seasons in the Abyss", Slayer compiled some of their live recordings captured during the Seasons touring and released their first full length double disk live album called "Decade of Aggression". It was the ultimate live album that included practically all of the Slayer's classics. Slayer continued destroying everything in their path with their live shows until more problems arose in the band. Dave Lombardo again had some differences but this time it was more serious and he was kicked out by the rest of the guys. Some reasons were that he spent a lot of time with his wife and not enough time practicing with the band. A lot of fans were shocked and believed this was the end of Slayer...New Drummer and a Well Deserved Break
In the early 1992, Slayer had to find a new drummer to fill the shoes of Dave, which are in no way easy to fill. Fortunately, there was a guy available by the name of Paul Bostaph who at the time quit the band Forbidden. Slayer and Paul hooked up and Bostaph was given a deadline to learn some of Slayer's songs before his audition. However Paul prevailed by showing his amazing drumming skills and the guys were impressed to the point that Paul ended up being the new drummer! After having a stable lineup again more dates followed up around the world with the Monsters of Rock festival. However now it was time for the band to take the much deserved break. In the year 1993, Slayer made their only appearance by contributing a song called Disorder on a soundtrack to "Judgment Night" in which Slayer worked with Ice-T.They Are Back
After taking a break and everything seeming to be in place, Slayer's new album was in the works. Finally by the end of 1994 a new record came out and a first with Paul Bostaph. "Divide Intervention" became another success going gold in no time. Slayer also achieved the highest position on the national charts in their career, debuting at number 8. By this time Slayer's music didn't change like the other Thrash-metal pioneers Metallica and Megadeth. Slayer kept to their roots to satisfy their fans who stuck with them from the very beginning plus the whole new flood of fans which came along later on. One example to see how loyal Slayer fans are can be found inside "Divine Intervention" cd inner sleeve that includes a very controversial picture where a fan carved a Slayer logo on his arms with a razor. Soon after the release of the new album, another tour followed by the name of "European Intourvention". Machine Head was a support act on that tour but of course no band supporting Slayer ever came close to match Slayer live. Slayer played sold-out shows everywhere they ventured. A U.S. tour followed with Biohazard and Machine Head again supporting. Along came Slayer's first home video release called "Live Intrusion" that contained Slayer massive live set and some additional footage from the road.Covers Time
In 1996 Slayer decided to release a cover album of punk songs with a name of "Undisputed Attitude". At first it was supposed to be a double album one disc containing heavy metal covers and the other punk covers, however the band decided to go ahead with just covering the punk tunes. Conversely something unexpected happened after the recording of the album as Paul quit the band because he wanted to concentrate on working with a band called "The Truth about Sea Food". So once again the guys had to find a new drummer. John Dette turned out to be the next drummer to play in Slayer after he left Testament. Now it was time to release the album, however some delays followed but the album finally saw it's release in May of 1996. The album featured 13 cover songs and three Slayer original songs, with 2 of them dating way back from 1984 written by Jeff Hanneman for a side project that never got of the ground. Again more touring followed up including the first edition of Ozzfest festival which Slayer co-headlined with Ozzy Osbourne in California but it wasn't long until more problems surfaced. John had some disagreements with Tom and was kicked out soon thereafter but luck would have it Paul had quit his side project and came back to rejoin Slayer! Soon afterwards the talks of a new album began.New Studio Record
Quite a few delays plagued the release of the next album so Slayer used all the extra time that they had to work on it some more and as a result they recorded 2 more songs for it, Death's Head and Stain of Mind. Finally after some additinal delays, the record was on the heels of it's release. During June of 1998 it finally came out and it was called "Diabolus in Musica". The album had a different fresh sound to it but still had the trademark Slayer speed and aggression. Diabolus also received good reviews from the metal community and Slayer was quite happy with their new outing. However the album didn't do as well on the charts as the previous ones. It still sold well but not as much a usual Slayer record. Mandatory tour was to follow (heh what do you expect a new album but no tour, hell no!!!). Slayer toured the world in September of '98 visiting such places as Australia and Russia for the very first time. After touring the world, U.S. was next in line to get slayed once again! Slayer again were part of the now annual Ozzfest Festival for the second time playing along side Black Sabbath. Slayer destroyed every band on that tour as nobody compared to the live show that Slayer can put up, well maybe not Black Sabbath.Contributions Along the Way
As Slayer were doing all the heavy touring during the 1999 they were already thinking about their follow up to "Diabolus in Musica" and with the completion of the Ozzfest tour, Slayer took a break to work on the new material. Some of the new stuff ended up on the compilations and soundtracks. Slayer contributed a song, 'Here Comes the Pain' to a WCW compilation album that came out at the end of 1999 which also featured such artists as Metallica and Megadeth. A Black Sabbath tribute album was to be released and Slayer took a part in it by covering 'Hand of Doom'. Another song, 'Bloodline', that would be on the new album eventually, ended up on a soundtrack to the movie Dracula 2000. Now Slayer were focused to release the new album itself, whew!God Hates Us All is Released
The guys were busy recording the new album most of the early 2001 but recording process was done quite soon and with another batch of delays the album was set a final release date on September 11th. During the summer of the same year, Slayer did a huge arena tour across America with Pantera by the name of Extreme Steel Tour. Pantera and Slayer co-headlined. After the completion of the successful run, the album release date was drawing nearer. Ironically, the new album "God Hates Us All" was released on September 11th, 2001. Slayer came back to a more thrash-speed style that wasn't quite found on their previous release. Songs such as 'Disciple' and 'God Send Death' became instant classics in the hearts of the Slayerheads! Slayer followed up with the edition of "Tattoo the Planet" European Tour that some bands dropped of including Pantera because of the events of September 11th. Slayer headlined that tour to the massive European crowds playing their classic set which wasn't easy to pick out at this time having more than 10 albums released!Lombardo is Back!
Slayer came back to the U.S. shores to start the "God Hates Us All" tour during which a December 2001 show's material was shot for the first ever Slayer DVD that was to be released in the near future. However the same month Paul sustained a chronic elbow injury which prevented him from playing to his full capacity so Paul had to leave Slayer and this time for good. Slayer began yet another search for a new drummer, but guess who turned up and took the place?? none other than the drum god Dave Lombardo!. For the first time in 11 years the original line-up was back together and it was time to rip up the venues across the world once again! After the second leg of "God Hates Us All" U.S. Tour, guys took a much deserved break from touring with only playing a few festival dates here and there.
After 5 Years, Christ Illusion is Here
After having another European festival circuit run in the summer of 2005, Slayer finally got the go-ahead to return to the studio to record their follow up to 2001's GHUA, a first with Dave Lombardo in 15 years since Seasons in the Abyss. Slayer spent the majority of the winter and spring recording the new album. The release date was officially confirmed for July 25th, 2006 but yet another delay pushed the final release date to August 12th. In early summer Slayer officially revealed to the fans that the new album will be titled "Christ Illusion", and to get a small taste of what the fans should expect, Slayer confirmed for release an EP titled "Eternal Pyre" containing a new track called 'Cult'. The EP was appropriately released on June 6th, 2006 to celebrate the infamous date. Finally with great anticipation, "Christ Illusion" was finally released on August 12th, 2006 and Slayer achieved the highest album position in their 25 plus year career, landing at number 5 on USA Billboard 200, selling around 65,000 copies in the first week! The new album was also received very strong in Germany, Finland, Canada, Austria, and many other territories around the world. Right now Slayer are busy promoting the album with a worldwide tour which includes North America, South America, Europe, and East-Asian countries...Quick NavigationBand HistoryTom ArayaKerry KingJeff HannemanDave LombardoPast Members
