Slayer

Slayer formed in 1981 in the famous Bay Area Thrash (Metallica, Exodus, Testament, Death Angel, Megadeth ...) on the side of San Fransisco. The band includes bassist/singer Tom Araya (ex- Quits), drummer Dave Lombardo (ex-Sabote) and guitarists Kerry King (ex- Quits) and Jeff Hanneman. The combo chose to name itself Slayer in tribute to the film "Dragonslayer" released the same year. With Metallica , Anthrax and Megadeth , Slayer is part of what the media call "The Big Four" because of their position as a leading figure in the extreme flagship movement of the time: the Thrash. Along with Venom, Slayer is also the band that played a major role in spreading the "unhealthy" idea of Metal. Slayer played a lot on provocation with his satanic words, his penchant for the Second World War, which had been assimilated by some to Nazism, while Jeff Hanneman had always defended himself from being passionate about this event, his father having participated in it. If the band had a rather subversive image, he was just as impressed by his music, Slayer was indeed faster and more violent than anything that was done at the time, in the early 1980s then marked by Glam Rock and Hair Metal. Slayer was put on the front of the stage as soon as Aggressive Perfector was published on the Metal Massacre IV compilation. Araya's voice is seen as an aggression for many people and rhythms mixing the speed of the Punk and the technique of Metal defray the chronicles, even though Venom and Metallica had done so shortly before, none reached the velocity and aggressiveness of Slayer. Brian Slagel quickly noticed the quartet and soon had it signed. Show No Mercy came out in 1983, but went a little unnoticed, just like Hell Awaits two years later. We had to wait until 1986 and the release of the famous Reign in Blood for the band's reputation to take off. With this 30-minute genius album concept, Slayer influenced a whole generation of musicians, especially in the Death Metal current. The release of South of Heaven in 1988 marks a turning point in the band's career that abandons satanism, slows down tempo somewhat and brings more melodic lines of singing. Two years later, an anthology tour took place alongside Megadeth (who had just released Rust in Peace) and Anthrax , three of the four biggest groups in Thrash. Shortly after this tour, Slayer released Seasons of the Abyss by continuing on South of Heaven's lead but this record is much better designed than his predecessor, so much so that he divided fans on whether Reign in Blood is their best album or not. After a double live album 1991, Dave Lombardo left Slayer in 1992 and was replaced by the former Forbidden Paul Bostaph with whom the band recorded Divine Intervention in 1994 and the recapture album Punk Undisputed Attitude in 1996. 1996 was also marked by the trial of Slayer because of the abduction, torture, rape, and then the murder of a 15-year-old girl by three members of the Black Metal Hatred group. The connection with Slayer? The murderers were allegedly influenced by the song Necrophiliac. Slayer was not dismissed in this case until 2001. Back in 1996, Bostaph abandoned the band on tour to take care of his Jazz career. He was replaced by the former Testament drummer John Dette, but he returned to his former band as early as 1998, leaving again the place of a vacant drummer, taken over by Paul Bostaph. The same year released Diabolus in Musica, a controversial album because calmer, finally for Slayer. God Hates Us All "corrects" the shot in 2001 by returning a little more to its bases, even though it stands out deeply at the level of sound. The following year marked Paul Bostaph's second departure for Systematic , and Dave Lombardo's return behind the drums. After a tour in 2004 with Machine Head , Slipknot and Mastodon , the band paused before returning to the studio to record its tenth studio album, Christ Illusion , released in 2006. In 2009 Slayer handed over the cover with World Painted Blood. Then the Americans enter the famous Big Four with Megadeth, Anthrax and Metallica. The tours followed when, suddenly, on May 2, 2013, Jeff Hanneman (one of the band's founders and principal composer) died at 49 years of age. Slayer is recovering very quickly from this tragedy. Sick, Hanneman's death was not a real surprise. He is the guitarist of Exodus, Gary Holt who comes to take the place of guitarist alongside King, very quickly at ease the boy gives the illusion that nothing has really changed. In 2015 finally released a new realization, it is Repentless .