Slayer

Slayer ranked among the most singular, potent, and ferocious thrash metal acts to emerge during the 1980s. Their vividly brutal lyrics explored topics ranging from violent death and mutilation to armed conflict and infernal torment. Blistering tempos, unhinged guitar leads, and formidable technical command supplied an apt, harrowing sonic counterpart to these grim preoccupations, allowing the group’s output to endure more convincingly than the other members of the era’s Big Four—Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Predictably, Slayer attracted sustained controversy, including persistent speculation linking them to Satanism and Nazism that only heightened their aura. They issued several landmark records, among them Reign in Blood, Hell Awaits, and Seasons in the Abyss, and their stature within the expanding death-metal community received increasing recognition even as initial critics grew quieter. Slayer maintained greater independence and creative drive than any metal outfit predating Nirvana, and that same ferocity forged an equally ardent connection with their audience. The band formally disbanded in 2019.

Guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman founded Slayer in 1982 in Huntington Park, California, bringing bassist/vocalist Tom Araya and drummer Dave Lombardo into the lineup. Early performances consisted chiefly of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden covers, yet the quartet soon realized that deliberately provocative Satanic imagery drew both notice and followers. Metal Blade founder Brian Slagel invited the band to contribute a song to the Metal Massacre, Vol. 3 compilation—an anthology that also introduced Metallica and Voivod on vinyl—leading quickly to a recording contract and the debut album Show No Mercy. Although the group’s initial presentation retained a somewhat theatrical quality, their extreme velocity and instrumental skill were already unmistakable. The 1984 EPs Haunting the Chapel and Live Undead appeared next, but Hell Awaits, released the following year, concentrated the band’s thematic preoccupations into a loose concept piece centered on damnation and suffering, generating immediate excitement throughout metal circles and securing a fervent core audience.

Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin signed Slayer and supplied the clearest production the band had yet received on the lean Reign in Blood. CBS declined to distribute the album because of its explicit content, generating widespread publicity; Geffen Records ultimately handled release. Merging Slayer’s signature speed with hardcore’s pacing and brevity—while retaining none of hardcore’s structural conventions—and featuring the band’s most unsettling lyrics to date, Reign in Blood achieved instant classic status, broadened Slayer’s reach, and was frequently cited as the definitive speed-metal record (though some reserved that distinction for Metallica’s Master of Puppets).

South of Heaven surprised portions of the band’s most dedicated listeners by demonstrating that Slayer could escape the narrow expectations attached to their reputation as the fastest and most extreme act around. Lombardo briefly departed and was replaced by Whiplash drummer Tony Scaglione before returning. Seasons in the Abyss, issued in 1990, earned broad praise by folding classic Slayer aggression into a more accessible yet equally uncompromising framework; “War Ensemble” and the title track received regular airplay on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball, reinforcing Slayer’s standing alongside Metallica at the forefront of thrash. After the double-live set Decade of Aggression, Lombardo exited once more to form Grip Inc.

The band remained largely inactive for several years, releasing only one new track—a duet with Ice-T on a medley of Exploited songs for the Judgment Night soundtrack. Paul Bostaph, formerly of Forbidden, joined in time for 1994’s Divine Intervention, which critics greeted enthusiastically; the concurrent rise of death metal, itself heavily indebted to Slayer and especially Reign in Blood, prompted fresh acknowledgment of the band’s foundational role. The album proved commercially robust, entering the Billboard 200 at number eight.

Bostaph later left to focus on his side project, the Truth About Seafood, and ex-Testament drummer Jon Dette took his place for the mostly punk-and-hardcore cover collection Undisputed Attitude. Bostaph returned for 1998’s Diabolus in Musica. Slayer rejoined Def Jam for God Hates Us All in 2001; Lombardo rejoined the following year. The four-disc anthology Soundtrack to the Apocalypse appeared in 2004, followed by the new studio album Christ Illusion in 2006. After extensive touring through 2007 and 2008, the band delivered World Painted Blood in 2009. In 2010 they performed alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax on Big 4: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria. Jeff Hanneman died of liver failure on May 2, 2013, at a Los Angeles hospital; he was 49.

King and Araya resolved to continue without their co-founder and began writing new material. Lombardo was dismissed for a third time; Bostaph rejoined, while Exodus guitarist Gary Holt—who had substituted for Hanneman during his 2011 bout with necrotizing fasciitis—was installed permanently. The resulting album, Repentless, was completed in 2015. Three tracks—“When the Stillness Comes,” “Implode,” and the title song, which King described as a “HannemAnthem” in tribute—were issued as digital singles during spring and summer. Repentless arrived September 11 via Nuclear Blast and debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. The band toured worldwide for more than two years before planning a follow-up record that ultimately never materialized. In 2018 Slayer announced a farewell tour that circled the globe and concluded late in 2019. To mark the occasion they released the concert film The Repentless Killogy, pairing a short movie with footage from a 2017 performance at the Los Angeles Forum—the same venue where the band played its final show on November 30, 2019. In 2021 the group announced vinyl, CD, and cassette reissues of its entire Metal Blade catalog, encompassing Hell Awaits, Show No Mercy, the Haunting the Chapel EP, and the 1984 live album Live Undead.