Slayer

Slayer biography

Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax. Their album Reign in Blood is considered to be the foundation and inspiration of death metal.

Slayer's musical traits involve fast tremolo picking, double bass drumming, and shouted (or chanted) vocals. Hanneman, King, and bassist/lead vocalist Tom Araya, contribute to the band's lyrics. King and Hanneman create and arrange the music with additional arrangement from drummer Dave Lombardo and sometimes Araya. The band's lyrics and album art, which cover topics such as serial killers, Satanism, religion and warfare, have generated album bans, delays, lawsuits and strong criticism from religious groups and the public.

Since their debut album in 1983, the band has released two live albums, one box set, six videos, two extended plays, and eleven studio albums, four of which have received gold certification in the United States. The band has received five Grammy nominations, winning two of them; one in 2007 for the song "Eyes of the Insane", and one in 2008 for the song "Final Six" (both from 2006's Christ Illusion). Slayer has played music festivals worldwide, including Unholy Alliance, Download, and Ozzfest. As of November 2011, Slayer has begun writing their next album.

History

Early days (1981)

Slayer was founded in 1981, when guitarist Kerry King met Jeff Hanneman while auditioning for a band. They recruited Chilean bassist and vocalist Tom Araya, who had played with King before in the band Quits (previously known as Tradewinds). Drummer Dave Lombardo was recruited when he met King while delivering a pizza. Rumors that the band was originally known as Dragonslayer, after the 1981 movie of the same name, were denied by King, as he stated, "We never were; it's a myth to this day."

The band was invited to open for Bitch at the Woodstock Club in Los Angeles, performing eight songs - six being covers. While playing Iron Maiden's "Phantom of the Opera" the band was spotted by Brian Slagel, a former music journalist who had, at the time, recently founded the label Metal Blade Records. Impressed with Slayer's performance, Slagel met with the band backstage and asked them to record an original song, "Aggressive Perfector" (), for his upcoming Metal Massacre III compilation. The band agreed and the song created underground "buzz", which led to Slagel offering the band a recording contract with Metal Blade.

Show No Mercy, Haunting the Chapel and Hell Awaits (1983-1986)

Without a recording budget, the band was forced 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, hitting shelves three weeks after tracks were completed. Show No Mercy, released in December 1983 by Metal Blade Records, generated underground popularity for the band, and the group began its first national club tour in 1984 to promote the album traveling in Tom Araya's Camaro towing a U-Haul trailer. The tour gave the band additional popularity; sales of Show No Mercy reached more than 20,000 in the US and another 20,000 worldwide.

Biography from , the free encyclopedia.
It may not have been reviewed by a professional editor, and recent changes may not show up straight away. See the latest version of this article. Used under licence. Subject to disclaimers.