slayer

Location :Los Angeles, California
Website : www.slayer.net
Genre (s): Death , Thrash

..:: Biography ::..
Cover Tunes ... The Beginning (1982)
Slayer was started by Kerry King (Guitar) in 1982 in the Los Angeles Suburb "Huntington Park" at Hope Street near "Del-Mart". At the beginning Kerry searched for skilled musicians, before he started Slayer he'd been in a Band with Tom Araya (Vocals/Bass), he kept him in mind and asked him if he wanted to join. Now they searched a second Guitarist, Kerry heard Jeff Hanneman (Guitar) practising in a building where Jeff lived. Jeff was very interested in Punk music at that point of time so he joined the new started Slayer. Now the only person that was missing was a very skilled Drummer, by the Name Dave Lombardo.

After Jeff talked with Tom he decided to join to band, at that time Tom worked in a hospital as a therapist.

Slayer made their first appearances in 1982, one of the first shows was at their high school on March 25th 1982, Click Here for a paper cut of that show. At the beginning they played cover tunes of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and some punk bands.

Metal Massacre and Metal Blade (1983)
On August 27th 1983 the Band performed at a club called Woodstock, where they'd been watched by Brian Slagel the owner of Metal Blade Records. He liked Slayer's performance so much that he offered them a track on the upcoming Metal Massacre 3 record, a metal compilation in that time. Slayer agreed but only if Brian would help them to produce a whole album, and so Aggressive Perfector was the result for the Metal Massacre 3.

Show no Mercy and a tour with no Mercy (1983 - 1984)
In late 1983 Slayer entered the Studio to record their first full length Album Show no Mercy. The Album still today is said to be a masterpiece in the Thrash Genre. The Album consisted of a lot of screams and guitar solo fill-in's, and it was packed with such an evil energy. The Album was released December 1983 in the US and early 1984 due to distribution problems in Europe.

The following tour was a real experience for Slayer, they thought somebody would help them to figure out how to get to the shows but Brian Slagel just said "We've got these dates, see how YOU get there!". So they rented a Van for all their equipment, but in that Van there wasn't enough space for all Band Members so they also took Tom Araya's Camaro and hit the road. The Tour itself was very chaotic, the boys ended up sleeping at people's houses sometimes, and a lot of the time they had no money. The money they got for the shows they used for food and beer.

When they returned from the Tour, Brian Slagel asked them "Where's the money?" and they were like "What money?". "The money you were supposed to give me from the shows!", and they replied "Oh, but that was the only money we had to survive, to buy food!". The Tour went really good for them because everybody liked that "new" music. After the Tour in 1984 they recorded three new songs namely Chemical Warfare, Captor of Sin, and Haunting the Chapel these songs ended up on the 1984 EP Haunting the Chapel.

Hell Awaits and so does Europe (1985)
In 1985 Slayer recorded Hell Awaits which was also produced by Brian Slagel and which was also released via Metal Blade Records. The Album sold more than 100.000 units in a very short time after it's release, at that point of time major labels began to show interest in Slayer. Hell Awaits also shows that the band evolved and could also handle slower Songs like At dawn they Sleep. The Album itself is more darker and satanic than Show no Mercy.

In 1985 Slayer came to Europe for the first time, they played some club dates and the 1985 Dynamo Festival in Eindhoven/Holland. This was also a big step for the band, because they showed their live talent to all European fans.

Because of Slayer's success with Hell Awaits they were contacted by producer Rick Rubin from Def Jam Records, Rick produced bands like Public Enemy, Run DMC or the Beastie Boys. So when Slayer joined Def Jam Records it was Rick's first Metal Band ever, at the beginning some people thought that Rick couldn't produce a Metal Band like Slayer, but...

Reign in Blood! The most energetic Metal Album EVER! (1986 - 1987)
1986 saw the release of the best Thrash/Speed Metal Album ever. Reign in Blood was so fast and so evil that no other band till today can match it. The album is still a landmark in the Thrash/Speed sector even today! Fast and evil songs such as Angel of Death and Raining Blood are still the best speed metal songs available today.

But here some problems started, Slayer were described as Nazis because of the Lyrics to Angel of Death, which dealt with the experiments of the Auschwitz doctor Joseph Mengele on Jews. Jeff Hanneman also wore tags showing Nazi symbols, and he used to have a SS (the so called Police in that time) Sticker on his Jackson Guitar, which could've also stand for "Slatanic Slaughter".

Slayer also used a iron eagle as their logo and their fanclub is called Slatanic Wehrmacht, so it was easy for the people to accuse Slayer to be Nazis. Some concerts were banned because some stupid idiots accused them of being Nazis, and also because of that CBS didn't want to release Reign in Blood, that's why it came out on DefJam in October 1986 in the US.

Slayer fans in Europe had to wait until January 1987 to buy the Album. Because of the Nazi problem in the US it was hard to find a distributor for the Album in Europe.

Reign in Blood sold over 500.000 copies and became Slayer's first Gold Record, the Album also appeared on the US-Top 100 without big advertisements and airplay.

Tom, Jeff and Kerry are big friends as everybody knows, but Dave Lombardo was some sort of an outsider from the beginning. By the time they reached their 1986 Reign in Blood Tour the problems got so serious that Dave left the Band and had to be replaced by Tony Scaglione from Whiplash. But Tony just wasn't the right one to fill such big shoes, so luckily Dave returned. 1987 became a very busy touring year for Slayer, appearing on festivals in Europe and all over the world.

South of Heaven a disappointment...at first! (1988 - 1989)
In 1988 it was time to release another Album, everybody expected the band to reach the high pace they reached on Reign in Blood. But South of Heaven was a disappointment at first for some fans, it was much slower than Reign in Blood. Jeff Hanneman and Tom Araya had done most of the songwriting, so the record became slower.

At first the fans didn't want to accept the Album but later they understood that this was also an brilliant album. The lyrics on that Album were also a little bit different than Reign in Blood. Instead of Satanism and Gore the band focused on War Scenarios and Nazism.

After South of Heaven they made a real big tour, which became known as the World Sacrifice Tour. This Tour lead them through the US till Europe and back.

By that time Slayer had become something like idols for many Skinheads all over Europe and the US. Complete crap!!! Because Slayer never were and are NOT Nazis!

Seasons in the Abyss! Let the titans clash! (1990 - 1991)
1990 saw the release of Seasons in the Abyss, an Album which combined the old Slayer sound with some new influences. The Album sold over 1.000.000 copies in the US and received Gold and Platinum. With this Album Tom Araya started to write lyrics about Serial Killers, the first Song was Dead Skin Mask which deals with Ed Gein.

The Album was really good received by the fans, because it had speed and had the typical Slayer elements in it. The Album also received great reviews, I can remember a german Metal Magazine from 1990 saying that this would be the ultimate Slayer Album...well they forgot Reign in Blood ... hehe.

After that Album one of the biggest Tours in Metal history followed, the Clash of the Titans tour. The bills for Europe and US were different and looked like this, Europe: Slayer, Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, Testament, USA: Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Alice in Chains. Slayer got along very well with the other bands except for Megadeth, since then the relationship between Slayer and Megadeth hasn't been the best.

To celebrate their 10th Birthday Slayer released a Double Live Album called Decade of Aggression but one year too early...in 1991. The Album featured all classic Songs in a perfect live atmosphere, I consider this to be the ultimate Metal Live Album! Slayer also wanted to release a Video for Decade of Aggression but they were very critical and decided it not to be released...damn I wish I had that video. Video Clips from "Black Magic" and "Reign in Blood" were taken from that Video for MTV.

Break up rumors! Dave's end with Slayer... (1992 - 1993)
In early 1992 every Metalfan was shocked by one message...Dave Lombardo got kicked out of Slayer. As we already know there had been some problems in the past but this time the problems got too big.

Tom, Jeff and Kerry said that Dave spent too much time with his wife, and he also didn't practise that often because he had some back problems which really affected his drumming.

Now they had find a new Drummer, in that time Paul Bostaph just quitted the Bay Area Thrashers Forbidden. Kerry knew that and gave him a call, so they got together and jammed. Paul was given a Number of Songs he had to play, and he even played one song that was not on the list, Silent Scream which is very hard to play on drums. So he really fitted into Slayer and got along very well with the other dudes.

Now it was time to face new challenges like the Monsters of Rock Festivals 1992 which took place in Poland, Czech Republic, Germany and England. In that year they also played the Donington Monsters of Rock in England for the first time along with bands like Iron Maiden and W.A.S.P.

After these appearances Slayer disappeared from the face of the earth (so to say) and the Slayer following feared that there could be a break up.

Luckily Slayer did not break up, in late 1993 they appeared on the Soundtrack of Judgment Night. They recorded a Song called Disorder with Rapper Ice-T.

Finally a new record...Divine Intervention kills 'em all (1994 - 1995)
In early 1994 the news came around that there would be a new Slayer Album, the release date was said to be February. Then it was pushed to Summer, due to some problems with the record company the Album was released in October 1994.

The Album called Divine Intervention was very aggressive, it was described as the Reign in Blood of the 90s, and I consider it Slayer's 2nd best album. The Album sold about 800.000 copies in the US, and appeared on the US Top 100 at Position 8 after selling 100.000 in the very first week.

Once again Slayer were described as Nazis because of the Song SS-3 that Jeff wrote. It dealt with SS Hangman Reinhard Heydrich. Max Cavalera at that time Vocalist and Guitarist of Sepultura called them Nazis and stuff like that. The relationship between the two bands got really fucked up in that time, but since Max Cavalera left Sepultura the relationship has improved.

In late 1994 Slayer started their European Intourvention with Machine Head as the support band. As usual Slayer blew Machine Head away every show. The European Tour ended in December 1994, the tour itself was very successful!

In the inner sleeve of Divine Intervention you can see Mike Meyers arm who has Slayer carved in it. I just did the same thing in December 1997, but I don't have any photos of it. Sorry!

In early 1995 Slayer started their tour in the US supported by Biohazard and Machine Head. The Tour was very successful and was sold out almost everywhere they'd been. In March 1995 they recorded their first home video ever called Live Intrusion. It shows the band with its great liveshow and also some off the road cuts.

Slayer also played the Donington 1995 Festival in August. I have some Video footage from that Show and I think they blew every other fucking band away! It seemed like every fan of this really big crowd just waited for SLAYER!

Punk Covers + Slayer = An Undisputed Attitude! (1996 - 1997)
In 1996 Slayer released Undisputed Attitude an Album of Punk Covers, this was very strange for many fans, for me too. But that's the music they grew up with, and I think every fan should respect that.

Right after the recordings of Undisputed Attitude Paul Bostaph quitted Slayer that was really a shock for some fans because everybody thought Paul was the perfect drummer for this band. He said he was tired of metal and he wanted to work with a band called The Truth about Seefood (stupidest name for a band). Slayer then searched for a drummer and got John Dette from Testament.

Let's get back to the Album itself, it featured Songs from Artists like T.S.O.L., Minor Threat, D.I and a lot more. It also featured 3 new Slayer tunes, namely Can't stand you, DDAMM and Gemini. Can't stand you and DDAMM were written by Jeff Hanneman in 1984 for a side project that was never realized. Gemini is a very slow paced song, it was written for a Soundtrack but was never taken.

After that Album Slayer did a big tour and played a couple of Summer Festivals in Europe in 1996. After that there were problems with their drummer...again! John left the band because he had some problems with Tom and also because he was a too hardcore oriented drummer. So they searched for a drummer once again, Paul Bostaph just left The Truth about Seafood and he was asked by Slayer if he wanted to join, Paul agreed and was back in Slayer in January 1997. So it was time for another Album.

Also in 1997 they recorded a Song called No Remorse (I wanna die) with Atari Teenage Riot, for the Spawn Soundtrack. I personally hate the song because it's more a Rave song than a Slayer song!

Diabolus in Musica...kills all critics! (1998)
Many rumors were told about Diabolus in Musica, some people said Slayer had sold out like "Metallica", others said the Album was going to be Industrial. But Slayer showed them all and released a great Album that combined old Slayer sounds with new influences. The Album is typical Slayer, even though some songs are really slow, but the highspeed Songs are still there. The Album entered US Top 100 at #31 which is quite a success for Thrash Metal in the 90's.

Slayer started their world Tour in September 1998 visiting Asia, Europe, Australia, US and also Russia for the first time! The tour was very successful and Slayer brought an impressive performance to all their fans!

Touring till death... (1999 - 2000)
In 1999 Slayer Toured the US first with a Headliner Tour from March till May. In May they then joined the OzzFest which was Touring the US from May till late July. Slayer toured the US very excessively in 1999!

After the OzzFest Slayer started writing for their new album. In 2000 they made a recording break and toured Europe once again supporting Iron Maiden on some gigs. They also contributed the song Bloodline for the Dracula 2000 soundtrack that year, a song which should later appear on the new album.

God hates us all...and Slayer (2001 - 2002)
It took Slayer until spring 2001 to finish their album, but due to record company problems the release got delayed. Nevertheless Slayer toured in the summer on the Extreme Steel Tour with Pantera and others throughout the world.

Finally on September 11th 2001 the new album God hates us all got released and debuted on the US Billboard Charts at #28! This was followed by a tour to europe and then back to the US. The 2nd leg of the US tour started in January 2002 with Dave Lombardo behind the drumkit as a replacement since Paul Bostaph quit the band because of a chronic elbow injury.