Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and vocalist/bassist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's current lineup comprises King, Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph, and guitarist Gary Holt, who initially joined as a touring musician in 2011 before joining the band permanently after Hanneman's death in 2013; the drummer Jon Dette is a former member of the band.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman, and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and all of the band's music was written by King and Hanneman. The band's lyrics and album art, which cover topics such as serial killers, occultism, terrorism, religion, fascism, racism, and war, have generated album bans, delays, lawsuits and criticism from religious groups. However, its music has been highly influential, being cited by many bands as an influence musically, visually, and lyrically; the band's third album, Reign in Blood (1986), has been described as one of the heaviest and most influential thrash metal albums.
Slayer released twelve studio albums, three live albums, a box set, six music videos, two extended plays, and a cover album. Four of the band's studio albums have received gold certification in the United States; Slayer sold 5 million copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The band has received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one in 2007 for the song "Eyes of the Insane" and one in 2008 for the song "Final Six", both of which were from the album Christ Illusion (2006). Slayer disbanded in 2019 following the conclusion of their global farewell tour, but has reformed to perform sporadic reunion shows since 2024.
History Early years (1981–1983)
Slayer was formed in 1981 by Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo, Tom Araya and Kerry King in Huntington Park, California. The group started out playing covers of songs by bands such as Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Venom at parties and clubs in Southern California. The band's early image relied heavily on Satanic themes that featured pentagrams, make-up, spikes, and inverted crosses. Rumors that the band was originally known as Dragonslayer, after the 1981 film of the same name, were denied by King, as he later stated: "We never were; it's a myth to this day." According to Lombardo, the original band name was to be Wings of Fire before they settled in with Slayer. According to him, he also designed the band logo. For inspiration, Lombardo thought in a perspective of a murderer of how they would carve out the logo with a knife and since he is lefthanded, the logo is unintentionally slanted to the right.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
In 1983, Slayer was invited to open for the band Bitch at the Woodstock Club in Anaheim, California to perform eight songs, six of which were covers. The band was spotted by Brian Slagel, a former music journalist who had recently founded Metal Blade Records. Impressed with Slayer, he met with the band backstage and asked them to record an original song for his upcoming Metal Massacre III compilation album. The band agreed and their song "Aggressive Perfector" created an underground buzz upon its release in mid-1983, which led to Slagel offering the band a recording contract with Metal Blade.
Araya noted in a 1991 Metal Forces interview that the band had written original songs in its early days that "were more in the Scorpions and Iron Maiden vein", but they left those songs behind after rehearsing Aggressive Perfector extensively in preparation for the Metal Massacre album.
Show No Mercy, Haunting the Chapel, and Hell Awaits (1983–1986)
Without any recording budget, the band had to self-finance its debut album. Combining the savings of Araya, who was employed as a respiratory therapist, and money borrowed from King's father, the band entered the studio in November 1983. The album was rushed into release, stocking shelves three weeks after tracks were completed. Show No Mercy, released in December 1983 by Metal Blade Records, generated underground popularity for the band. The group began a club tour of California to promote the album. The tour gave the band additional popularity and sales of Show No Mercy eventually reached more than 20,000 in the US and another 20,000 worldwide.
In February 1984, King briefly joined Dave Mustaine's new band Megadeth. Hanneman was worried about King's decision, stating in an interview, "I guess we're gonna get a new guitar player." While Mustaine wanted King to stay on a permanent basis, King left after five shows, stating Mustaine's band was "taking too much of my time." The split caused a rift between King and Mustaine, which evolved into a long running feud between the two bands.
In June 1984, Slayer released a three-track EP called Haunting the Chapel. The EP featured a darker, more thrash-oriented style than Show No Mercy, and laid the groundwork for the future direction of the band. The opening track, "Chemical Warfare", has become a live staple, played at nearly every show since 1984. The EP sold 70,000 copies in its first eight months of release, according to Metal Blade founder Brian Slagel.
Later that year, Slayer began their first national club tour, traveling in Araya's Camaro towing a U-Haul trailer. The band recorded the live album Live Undead in November 1984 while in New York City.
In March 1985, Slayer began a national tour with Venom and Exodus, resulting in their first live home video dubbed Combat Tour: The Ultimate Revenge. The video featured live footage filmed at the Studio 54 club. The band then made its live European debut at the Heavy Sound Festival in Belgium opening for UFO.
Show No Mercy had sold over 40,000 copies, which led to the band returning to the studio to record their second full-length album. Metal Blade financed a recording budget, which allowed the band to hire producer Ron Fair. Released in April 1985, Slayer's second full-length album, Hell Awaits, expanded on the darkness of Haunting the Chapel, with hell and Satan as common song subjects. The album was the band's most progressive offering, featuring longer and more complex song structures. The intro of the title track is a backwards recording of a demonic-sounding voice repeating "Join us", ending with "Welcome back" before the track begins. The album was a hit, with fans choosing Slayer for best band and live band, Hell Awaits as 1985's best album, and Dave Lombardo as best drummer in Metal Forces 1985 Readers Poll.
Reign in Blood, Lombardo's brief hiatus, and South of Heaven (1986–1989)
Following the success of Hell Awaits, Slayer was offered a recording contract with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin's newly founded Def Jam Records, then a largely hip-hop-based label. The band accepted, and with an experienced producer and major label recording budget, the band underwent a sonic makeover for their third album Reign in Blood, resulting in shorter, faster songs with clearer production. The complex arrangements and long songs featured on Hell Awaits were ditched in favor of stripped down, hardcore punk influenced song structures.
Def Jam's distributor, Columbia Records, refused to release the album due to the song "Angel of Death" which detailed Holocaust concentration camps and the human experiments conducted by Nazi physician Josef Mengele. The album was distributed by Geffen Records on October 7, 1986. However, due to the controversy, Reign in Blood did not appear on Geffen Records' release schedule. Although the album received virtually no radio airplay, it became the band's first to enter the Billboard 200, peaking at number 94, and the band's first album certified gold in the United States.
Slayer began touring in support of Reign in Blood in late 1986 with Overkill. The band was added as the opening act on W.A.S.P.'s US tour, but just one month into it, drummer Lombardo left the band: "I wasn't making any money. I figured if we were gonna be doing this professionally, on a major label, I wanted my rent and utilities paid." To continue with the tour, Slayer enlisted Tony Scaglione of Whiplash. However, Lombardo was convinced by his wife to return in 1987. At the insistence of Rubin, Slayer recorded a cover version of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" for the film Less than Zero. Although the band was not happy with the final product, Hanneman deeming it "a poor representation of Slayer" and King labeling it "a hunk of shit", it was one of their first songs to garner radio airplay.
In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird—we've never done that on an album, before or since."
Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful", and Kim Neely of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel". King said "that album was my most lackluster performance", although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Touring for South of Heaven took place between August 1988 and January 1989, which included opening for Judas Priest on their Ram It Down tour and headlining a North American tour with Motörhead and Overkill.
Seasons in the Abyss and Lombardo's second departure (1990–1993)
Slayer returned to the studio in early 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 9, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number No. 57 and peaked at No. 40 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt. In support of Seasons in the Abyss, the band participated in the Clash of the Titans tour that was co-headlined by Megadeth; a European leg featured Testament and Suicidal Tendencies, while the North American trek had Anthrax and a then-unknown Alice in Chains as the direct support act. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. It debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200.
In May 1992, Lombardo left the band due to conflicts with the other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc., with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to fill in the drummer position. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War", "UK '82", and "Disorder", with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993.
Divine Intervention, Undisputed Attitude, and Diabolus in Musica (1994–2000)