Formed: 1982
From:
Huntington Beach,
CA,
United States
Last Known Status: Active
Background
The thrash metal sound of Slayer was formed in Huntington Beach, CA in 1982. Comprising Tom Araya (bass, vocals), Kerry King (guitar), Jeff Hanneman (guitar) and Dave Lombardo (drums), they made their debut in 1983, with a track on the compilation Metal Massacre III. After that the rest has been history. The band played at breakneck speed with amazing technical precision, but the intricacies of detail were lost in a muddy production. Araya's lyrics dealt with death, carnage, Satanism and torture, but were reduced to an indecipherable guttural howl. But this chaos called music is what set the ways for Slayer and many bands to follow.
Through the years, Slayer has been hit with much controversy over their lyrics, including lawsuits. But through the years Slayer has managed to build a following from coast to coast. Slayer has played such tours as Monsters of Rock, Ozzfest, and recently toured the U.S. co-headling with Pantera.
Now almost 20 years later, Slayer is still playing just as hard as ever. Will Slayer ever stop? Not likely, considering they are keeping up with thrash bands half their age, after all they did start it!
Latest Slayer News
Below is our complete Slayer news coverage, including columns and articles pertaining to the band. Some articles listed may be indirectly related, such as side projects of the band members, etc.
Note: We began associating news directly with bands in late 2003. Therefore, earlier band news may not be listed on this page.
Displaying records 481 - 500 of 756 1 2 ... 23 24 25 26 27 ... 37 38 Last
Slayer Announces "Unholy Alliance: Chapter III"
According to fansite SlayerSaves.com, Slayer is planning to head back to Europe in the Autumn to unleash the "Unholy Alliance: Chapter III" tour. Already confirmed for the tour are Trivium and Mastodon, who have been part of the previous two European Unholy Alliance tours. The only date confirmed thus far is in Switzerland on November 10. Excpect an official announcement and further dates to follow.
Slayer To Re-Release Vinyl Effort
Available now through Nuclear Blast mailorder is SLAYER's "Live Undead"/"Haunting The Chapel" combo (from 1985 and 1984, respectively) as a numbered new edition in blue splatter vinyl. The vinyl reissue is limited to 500 pieces.
The track listing is as follows:
Side A - Live Undead:
01. Black Magic
02. Die By The Sword
03. Captor Of Sin
04. The Antichrist
05. Evil Has No Boundaries
06. Show No Mercy
07. Aggressive Perfector
Side B - Haunting The Chapel EP:
01. Chemical Warfare
02. Captor Of Sin
03. Haunting The Chapel
04. Aggressive Perfector
For more information, click here.
Iced Earth Confirmed for Spain's Metalway Festival
ICED EARTH have been confirmed to appear at the 2008 Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain on July 12. Iron Maiden and Slayer are also scheduled to appear. For more information on the festival, check out the fest's site.
Slayer's High School Yearboiok For Auction On EBay
The 1983 yearboook from the South Gate High School in South Gate, California featuring some of the earliest pictures of SLAYER is being auctioned via eBay.
According to a posting on the auction page, "This is an extreme rarity. This is an annual/yearbook that features some of the earliest pictures from SLAYER. This yearbook is from South Gate High School in South Gate California where SLAYER got their first start and a slew of bands followed their path.
"This yearbook came out in 1983, so the pictures were probably taken around 1982, making this the pre-'Show No Mercy' era.
"There are a total of six pictures in this annual featuring SLAYER. All the original and current members of SLAYER are pictured here. Kerry King is using his original BC Rich Mockingbird guitar before he put tar (or whatever it was) to decorate it. The fourth picture shows Jeff Hanneman with a buzz haircut (he was the punk influence in the band).
"In this auction I [the seller] will also include a set of flyers from the era where SLAYER played around the South Gate area, and features more pictures from the band at this time."
The auction ends on April 26 at 21:55:04 PDT.
In This Moment Post Pantera Cover For Download
IN THIS MOMENT have uploaded their cover of PANTERA's 'I'm Broken', to their official MySpace page and is available to download. The track will be up for one week and will be replaced by their version of the SLAYER classic 'Postmortem'.
Former Slayer Drummer Jon Dette Offering Lessons
Former SLAYER/TESTAMENT drummer Jon Dette (PUSHED) has issued the following update:
"Starting next month (April) until July, I will be available for drum lessons to students of all ages and levels.
I am looking at a couple locations in the North San Diego County coastal area to teach and should have that locked down by next week. In some cases, I will make myself available for lessons at a students home or rehearsal studio.
If enough people are interested in the Orange County area, I'll look into setting up a day to travel up there for lessons as well.
If you're interested, please contact me here on MySpace or email me at: jondette@yahoo.com .
Lesson days will be:
Monday - Friday: 1 - 8 PM
Saturday: 2 - 6 PM
Sunday: TBA
Slayer Announce More European Dates
According to a posting on the SLAYER fan site SlayerSaves.com, the California thrash metal veterans have scheduled the following dates:
June 24 - Tasmajdan Stadium - Belgrade, Serbia
June 25 - Club B1 Maximum - Moscow, Russia
June 27 - Topfest - Nové Mesto nad Váhom, Slovakia
June 28 - Gods of Metal - Bologna, Italy
June 29 - Tuska Festival - Helsinki, Finland
July 01 – [to be announced] - Tallinn, Estonia
July 03 - Arvikafestivalen - Arvika, Sweden
July 04 - Roskilde Festival - Roskilde, Denmark
July 05 - Wâldrock - Bergum, Netherlands
July 07 - Kaliakra Rock Fests - Kvarna Bulgaria
July 09 - Lisboa, Portugal - Super Bock Super Rock
July 11 - Via De La Plata Festival - Mérida, Spain
July 12 - Monsters of Rock - Zaragoza, Spain
Iced Earth On 2008 Via De La Planta Festival
ICED EARTH will be performing at the VIA DE LA PLATA FESTIVAL in Madirid, Spain on July 11. Iron Maiden and Slayer are also on the bill. More ICED EARTH tour dates for 2008 are in the works, so stayed tuned for upcoming announcements.
As previously reported, ICED EARTH will be appearing at the following 2008 festivals:
May 2 - Chicago Powerfest (USA)
May 9 - Centre de Foire, Quebec City (Canada) - NIGHTWISH special guest
June 20 - Fields of Rock (Holland)
June 21 - Hellfest (France)
June 27 - Bang Your Head (Germany)
June 28 - Graspop Metal Meeting (Belgium)
June 29 - Gods of Metal (Italy)
July 5 - Metal Camp, (Slovenia)
July 11 - Via De La Planta (Spain)
August 16 - Bloodstock (UK)
September 27 - ProgPower USA (USA)
Manson's "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" Live w/ King
Marilyn Manson performed "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" live at the Wiltern in Hollywood late last month, joined by Slayer's Kerry King. You can watch the performance on YouTube or below. More...
Slayer Announce More European Tour Dates
According to SlayerSaves.com, California thrash metal veterans SLAYER have scheduled a date in Moscow, Russia on June 25. This will be SLAYER's second time ever playing in Russia after performing there back in 1998. SLAYER is also scheduled to perform in Tallinn, Estonia on July 1 as well as take part in this year's Monsters of Rock festival in Zaragoza, Spain later that same month.
Upcoming SLAYER shows:
June 25 - Club B1 Maximum - Moscow, Russia
June 27 - Topfest - Nové Mesto nad Váhom, Slovakia
June 28 - Gods of Metal - Bologna, Italy
June 29 - Tuska Festival - Helsinki, Finland
July 01 – [to be announced] - Tallinn, Estonia
July 03 - Arvikafestivalen - Arvika, Sweden
July 04 - Roskilde Festival - Roskilde, Denmark
July 05 - Waldrock - Bergum, Netherlands
July 09 - Lisboa, Portugal - Super Bock Super Rock
July 11 - Via De La Plata Festival - Mérida, Spain
July 12 - Monsters of Rock - Zaragoza, Spain
Metal Legends To Be On Bruce Dickinson Show
IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson will air a MAIDEN "tour special" during the March 7 edition of his weekly BBC 6 Music radio show, aptly named "The Bruce Dickinson Friday Rock Show". The show will feature interviews with Steve Harris (IRON MAIDEN), Lars Ulrich (METALLICA), Ronnie James Dio and Kerry King (SLAYER), along with extracts from Bruce's own audio diary. Listen to the program live via the Internet between 10:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. U.K. time at BBC.co.uk.
IRON MAIDEN has announced it is coming back for more major USA concerts this summer which will take it to a number of cities it has not played in many years along with a return to the Los Angeles area with two nights at the 16,000-capacity Verizon Amphitheatre on Friday, May 30 and Saturday, May 31. Tickets for the majority of these shows will go on sale to the public on Saturday, March 1. A special pre-sale will be made available exclusively to members of the IRON MAIDEN fan club, who will also be eligible to enter to be "First to the stage barrier."
Headline News
Slayer Wins Second Metal Grammy Award
Slayer took home the award for Best Metal Performance for their song "Final Six" at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards Sunday night in Los Angeles. The song off their latest album, Christ Illusion beat out tunes from Shadow's Fall, Machine Head, King Diamond and As I Lay Dying. Some of the metal award finalists actually walked the red carpet normally reserved for more mainstream celebrities.
Tom Araya took his place at the podium and thanked long-time producer Rick Rubin and the academy.
"It's...most of all (I'd like to thank) Rick Rubin, who has been with us, been there for us, for the past twenty-three years, twenty-four years, so thank you. My wife, my two kids, Sandra, Errol and Tommy. They're here with me. Of course our manager who has been with us for a good twenty years now. Well, thank you very much. Thank the academy. Thank you."
Araya also talked backstage that perhaps with two Grammys they could be considered unearthed from the underground.
"This is awesome. I guess we're part of the industry now, above ground. None of those tunnel diggings anymore. No, this is our second win actually. It's kind of exciting. We've been fortunate to have been around this long with no radio play. We've gotten support from satellite radio recently, MTV gave us minimal support, but it's all on word of mouth and people liking what we do and passing it on to their friends. We owe a lot of our success to our fans. The industry is great, but the fans are the ones that take the time to look you up to see what you're doing, wait for the record to come out and buy it so..."
Slayer won for "Eyes Of The Insane" last year (2007), and have two other nominations to their credit. More...
Slayer Announces RockHard Helmet Line
Slayer has joined forces with O'Neal USA, one of the leading manufacturers of motorcycle and BMX accessories, to produce a limited edition of Slayer helmets that feature the band's distinguished and celebrated artwork. The helmets will launch under the name of RockHard, and will be sold at all Cycle Gear locations and at finer motorcycle dealerships worldwide . In addition, each helmet will be certified and numbered with its own Certificate of Authenticity. Slayer's RockHard Helmets go on sale on Monday, February 25 and once they're gone, they are gone.
Slayer's RockHard Helmets will be available in three unique shells: Full Face Street (retail from $349), Off Road Dirt ($249 to $269), and Half Shell (Harley style) ($159 to $179). Every helmet will be boxed in a custom-made container patterned after the Anvil road cases, which are used to transport band equipment while on tour. Each helmet passes the highest safety standards from around the world, certified standards in each country in which they are sold. These standards include DOT, SNELL, Australia, EU, Japan and ECE. Each helmet is produced with the finest materials and is made with the most comfortable liners for a perfect fit every ride.
"The RockHard Helmet line, and the Slayer helmet in particular, has generated a huge amount of buzz with our retail outlet buyers," said Jim O'Neal. "Personally, I'm very psyched about this product as it takes Slayer to another merch level."
RockHard Helmets is also producing limited edition helmets for AC/DC, KISS, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Hustler in its current first "Tour" line up. With nearly 300 artists under contract with the RockHard project, what better way to launch the RockHard line than with the almighty metal icon, Slayer.
Slayer Confirmed For Gods Of Metal Festival
Los Angeles thrash metal legends SLAYER have been confirmed for the Gods of Metal festival, set to take place June 27-29, 2008 in Bologna, Italy. The festival billing is now shaping up as follows:
Friday, June 27:
IRON MAIDEN
AVENGED SEVENFOLD
Saturday, June 28:
SLAYER
CARCASS
MESHUGGAH
TESTAMENT
AT THE GATES
Sunday, June 29:
JUDAS PRIEST
YNGWIE MALMSTEEN
MORBID ANGEL
ENSLAVED
National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences members have nominated SLAYER for the band's third Grammy Award. The SLAYER track, "The Final Six", from the group's 2007 limited-edition "Christ Illusion", was nominated in the category of "Best Metal Performance."
"The Final Six", written by Tom Araya and guitarist Jeff Hanneman and produced by Josh Abraham, is a chilling look at an hypothesized end of the world. The song made its debut last July as the "Single of the Week" on MySpace where it has since accumulated some 750,000 plays, an astounding number for a song that received no commercial airplay.
"When I first got the word, I thought someone was playing a joke," mused Araya. "But obviously, we've made an impression on the industry. The people at the upper levels have taken notice of what we've done, and that's awesome."
SLAYER's two previous Grammy nominations were for 2002's "Disciple" from the album "God Hates Us All", and last year's "Eyes of the Insane", for which they took home the Grammy Award.
Slayer Book Due In April
Continuum International Publishing Group has confirmed an April 15th release date for SLAYER's Reign In Blood (33 1/3), a new book about the legendary 1986 album from the Los Angeles thrashers.
Written by D.X. Ferris, the book description is as follows: "Slayer's controversial Reign In Blood remains the gold standard for extreme heavy metal: a seamless procession of 10 blindingly fast songs in just 28 minutes, delivered in furious bursts of instrumental precision, sparking a new genre called death metal and today serves as a benchmark for metal musicians. The disc marked slayer's coronation as the kings of thrash, and their ongoing 25-year streak of vitality places them in the small fraternity of rock's greatest groups. Through interviews with the entire band, producer Rick Rubin, engineer Andy Wallace, and a who's who of headbangers from three decades, D.X. Ferris explores the creation of the most universally respected metal album and its long road to the stores."
For more information on Reign In Blood (33 1/3), click here.
BW&BK spoke to Slayer's Tom Araya recently about Reign In Blood. Recalls the frontman: "In the studio, I just looked up and realized it was only 28 minutes and said 'is that all the songs?' And Rubin looked up and said, 'yup, that's all the songs.' We were recording the songs and never once did we even think to look at the times structured to those songs. Because they were complete songs. You don't give a thought about how long the song is. The only one we thought was short was 'Necrophobic'. That's the only one we knew - of course it's obvious that it's a short song. The other ones, we were singing them and playing them - 'arrggghhh, this is great.' We're getting down to the final vocals and doing the mixes - and we looked up and went 'shit, 28 minutes. Is that all the songs?" I look over at Andy and with a confused look on his face he says 'there must be an error, that must be wrong. It's right, but that can't be right!' Then we talked to Rubin, and he said, 'well, you've given me ten songs.' It didn't state the length. He wasn't freakin' out - it was his label. Rubin is the boss - 'you've given me ten songs, nothing stipulates time.' He was happy - he thought it was great. He wasn't really concerned at all. They put the album on both sides of a cassette tape! If anything, that would be the one record that could've gone platinum (one million units in the US) because it was sold twice every time you bought a cassette. I thought - it was probably the only record we hit platinum with and we won't get credited for it."
Slayer To Work On New Material In The New Year
Right after the New Year, Slayer plans to start working on new material for their eleventh studio album, intended for a 2008 release, and will tour the world to support it. "I'm excited to see where the new music will go, how it's going to sound, what the total writing and recording experience will be like. I'm sure it will be like the one for 'Christ Illusion' - great!"
Slayer recently received their third Grammy nomination. The Slayer track, "The Final Six," from the band's 2007 Limited Edition "Christ Illusion," was nominated in the category of "Best Metal Performance."
"The Final Six," written by Slayer's vocalist/bassist Tom Araya and guitarist Jeff Hanneman and produced by Josh Abraham, is a chilling look at an hypothesized end of the world. The song made its debut last July as the Single of the Week on MySpace where it has since accumulated some 750,000 plays, an astounding number for a song that received no commercial airplay.
"When I first got the word, I thought someone was playing a joke," mused Araya. "But obviously, we've made an impression on the industry. The people at the upper levels have taken notice of what we've done, and that's awesome."
Slayer's two previous Grammy nominations were for 2002's "Disciple" from the album "God Hates Us All," and last year's "Eyes of the Insane," for which they took home the Grammy Award.
Rock And Metal Featured In Grammy Nominations
The 50th Annual Grammy Awards will be held at Los Angeles' Staples Center on Sunday, February 10th, 2008.
Nominees of interest include:
* Best Hard Rock Performance (For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.):
- 'Sweet Sacrifice' - EVANESCENCE. Track from: The Open Door [Wind-up Records, LLC]
- 'The Pretender' - FOO FIGHTERS. Track from: Foo Fighters [Roswell/RCA Records]
- 'I Don't Wanna Stop' - OZZY OSBOURNE. Track from: Black Rain [Epic]
- 'Sick, Sick, Sick' - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE. Track from: Era Vulgaris [Interscope Recods]
- 'The Pot' - TOOL. Track from: 10,000 Days [Volcano]
* Best Metal Performance (For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)
- 'Nothing Left' - AS I LAY DYING. Track from: An Ocean Between Us [Metal Blade Records]
- 'Never Ending Hill' - KING DIAMOND. Track from: Give Me Your Soul...Please [Metal Blade Records]
- 'Aesthetics Of Hate' - MACHINE HEAD. Track from: The Blackening [Roadrunner Records]
- 'Redemption' - SHADOWS FALL. Track from: Threads Of Life [Atlantic]
- 'Final Six' - SLAYER. Track from: Christ Illusion [American Recording/Columbia]
* Best Rock Instrumental Performance (For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, without vocals. Includes Rock, Hard Rock and Metal. Singles or Tracks only.)
- 'The Ecstasy Of Gold' - METALLICA. Track from: We All Love Ennio Morricone [Sony Classical]
- 'Malignant Narcissism' - RUSH. Track from: Snakes & Arrows [Anthem/Atlantic]
- 'Always With Me, Always With You' - JOE SATRIANI. Track from: Satriani Live! [Epic/Red Ink]
- 'Once Upon A Time In The West' - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN. Track from: We All Love Ennio Morricone [Sony Classical]
- 'The Attitude Song' - STEVE VAI. Track from: Sound Theories Vol. I & II [Epic/Red Ink]
Get Thrashed Expect April DVD Release
The makers of Get Thrashed: The Story of Thrash Metal have issued the following brief message:
"For all those who have been asking - Get Thrashed: The Story Of Thrash Metal should be out on DVD April, 2008. More details coming soon!!!"
Get Thrashed documents the history of thrash metal by dissecting the genre from its head banging beginnings to the present day resurgence. The film features some incredible vintage live footage as well as interviews from legendary acts such as EXODUS, SODOM, ANTHRAX, METALLICA and more!
Slayer's Kerry King Hosts Blender Bytes Video
Kerry King of Slayer is the host of this week’s Blender Bytes video on Blender.com. Answer Kerry’s music trivia question correctly for the change to win a Sirius Satellite Radio car set-up and $150 in free music downloads. You can check it out here.
Paul Bostaph Back With Testament
Paul Bostaph (ex-SLAYER/EXODUS) will join the ranks alongside originating classic thrash legends Chuck Billy on vocals, Alex Skolnick on lead guitar, Eric Peterson on rhythm guitar and Greg Christian on bass. Unfortunately Nick Barker (ex-DIMMU BORGIR, CRADLE OF FILTH) will not be recording with Testament on this new album, due to Homeland Security and International Work Visa issues. Rather than delaying this long awaited return of Testament, the band has chosen to recruit Paul Bostaph, long time friend and member, to record on the much anticipated album, which is tentatively scheduled for a spring 2008 release via Nuclear Blast.
Displaying records 481 - 500 of 756 1 2 ... 23 24 25 26 27 ... 37 38 Last