It's hard to imagine a more provocative 1980s metal band than Slayer. Unlike their colleagues, the musicians chose a slippery anti-religious theme, which became the main one in their creative activity.
Satanism, violence, war, genocide and serial killings - all these topics have become the hallmark of the Slayer team. The provocative nature of creativity often delayed the release of albums, which is associated with the protests of religious figures. In some countries of the world, the sale of Slayer albums is still banned.
Slayer early stage
The history of the Slayer band began in 1981, when thrash metal appeared. The band was formed by two guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman. They met by chance while auditioning for a heavy metal band. Realizing that there is much in common between them, the musicians decided to create a team in which they would be able to realize numerous creative ideas.
Kerry King invited Tom Araya to the group, with whom he already had experience of performing in the previous group. The last member of the new band was drummer Dave Lombardo. At that time, Dave was a pizza delivery man who met Kerry while delivering another order.
Upon learning that Kerry King played the guitar, Dave offered his services as a drummer. As a result, he got a place in the Slayer group.
The Satanic theme was chosen by the musicians from the very beginning. At their concerts, you could see upside down crosses, huge spikes and pentagrams, thanks to which Slayer immediately attracted the attention of the "fans" of heavy music. Despite the fact that it was 1981, outright Satanism in music continued to be a rarity.
This caught the interest of a local journalist, who suggested that the musicians record one song for the Metal Massacre 3 compilation. The composition Aggressive Perfector attracted the attention of the Metal Blade label, which offered Slayer a contract to record an album.
First recordings
Despite the cooperation with the label, as a result, the musicians received practically no money for recording. Therefore, Tom and Carrey had to spend all their savings on the creation of their debut album. Getting into debt, young musicians fought their way on their own.
The result was the band's first ever album, Show No Mercy, which was released in 1983. Work on the recording took the guys only three weeks, which did not affect the quality of the material. The record quickly led to an increase in popularity among fans of heavy music. This allowed the band to go on their first full tour.
World famous band Slayer
In the future, the group created a darker style in the lyrics, and also made the original thrash metal sound heavier. In a matter of years, the Slayer team has become one of the leaders of the genre, releasing one hit after another.
In 1985, the more expensive and high-quality studio album Hell Awaits was released. He became a milestone in the work of the group. The main themes of the disc were hell and Satan, which were in the work of the group in the future.
But the real "breakthrough" for the Slayer group was the album Reign in Blood, which was released in 1986. At the moment, the release is considered one of the most important in the history of metal music.
The high level of recording, cleaner sound and high-quality production allowed the band to demonstrate not only their unprecedented aggression, but also their musical skills. The music was not only fast, but also very complex. The abundance of guitar riffs, fast-paced solos and blast beats exceeded.
The band had their first problems with the release of the album, related to the main theme of Angel of Death. She became the most recognizable in the work of the group, was dedicated to the experiments of Nazi concentration camps. As a result, the album did not enter the charts. That didn't stop Reign in Blood from hitting #94 on the Billboard 200.
The era of experiments
Slayer went on to release two more thrash metal albums, South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss. But then the first problems began in the group. Due to creative conflicts, the team left Dave Lombardo, who was replaced by Paul Bostafa.
The 1990s were a time of change for Slayer. The band began to experiment with sound, abandoning the thrash metal genre.
First, the band released an experimental album of cover versions, then an offbeat Divine Intervention album. Despite this, the album debuted on the charts at number 8.
This was followed by the first experiment with the nu-metal genre that was fashionable in the second half of the 1990s (the album Diabolus in Musica). The guitar tuning in the album is noticeably lowered, which is typical of alternative metal.
The band continued to follow the direction taken with Diabolus in Musica. In 2001, the album God Hates Us All was released, for the main song from which the group received a Grammy Award.
The band fell on hard times as Slayer again lost a drummer. It was at this moment that Dave Lombardo returned, who helped the musicians complete their long tour.
Back to the roots
The group was in a creative crisis, as experiments in the nu-metal genre had exhausted themselves. So a return to traditional old school thrash metal was the logical thing to do. In 2006, Christ Illusion was released, recorded in the best traditions of the 1980s. Another thrash metal album, World Painted Bloo, was released in 2009.
In 2012, the founder of the group, Jeff Hanneman, died, then Dave Lombardo left the group again. Despite this, Slayer continued their active creative activity, releasing their last album Repentless in 2015.
