Formed in Huntington Park, California, Slayer is one of the ‘Big Four’ thrash metal bands alongside, Anthrax, Metallica and Megadeth. The group is famous for its aggressive musical style and has went on to inspire many heavy metal acts including, Slipknot, Bullet for My Valentine, Pantera, Hatebreed, Lamb of God, Lacuna Coil and Darkthrone. They have also influenced the American death metal band, Deicide, whose drummer, Steve Asheim stated,
“There obviously would not have been a Deicide as we know it without the existence of Slayer."
Over the years, Slayer has spawned many genre defining hits like, Seasons of the Abyss, Stain of Mind and Implode which led to them changing the landscape of thrash metal music forever. The band has received great success throughout the world and were included in VH1’s list of the ‘100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.’
Slayer has now announced a series of tour dates with Anthrax, Lamb of God, Testament and Behemoth. So, if you are planning to watch this legendary group take the stage in your city live then grab your Slayer tickets from here.
Getting Discovered
Slayer was born when drummer Dave Lombardo, vocalist and bassist Tom Arya and guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King decided to form a band together in 1981. The group then started to make a name for themselves by performing cover songs of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden at different clubs and parties around Southern California.
A couple of years later, the band opened for Bitch at the Woodstock Club in Anaheim. Their performance at the show was so impressive that it caught the attention of the founder of Metal Blade Records, Brian Slagel, who asked the group to contribute a song for his compilation album, ‘Metal Massacre III.’ The group then recorded, Aggressive Perfector which gained much attention in the underground community. Considering the positive response that the band had gotten for their song, Slagel immediately signed them to his label.
Kicking Off Their Career
In November of 1983, Slayer hit the Track Record Studios located in Los Angeles to work on their first studio effort. The band completed the album in three weeks and released, ‘Show No Mercy’ on December 3rd. It helped them in bringing them national popularity and contained two sides consisting of five songs each including, Black Magic, Fight Till Death, The Final Command and The Antichrist. The album earned mixed reviews from the critics and became the highest selling release of Metal Blade Records at that time.
Slayer didn’t stop and came out with their debut extended play, ‘Haunting the Chapel’ the following year. The EP is considered as one of the classic works of the band and was met with positive response from AllMusic. It contained three hit songs, Chemical Warfare, Haunting the Chapel and Captor of Sin.
The band followed it up by churning out their second full-length studio LP, ‘Hell Awaits’ on April 2, 1985. The record played a pivotal role in influencing future extreme metal acts and received four stars out of five from AllMusic and The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Moreover, it was loaded with seven songs which were covered by many famous groups including the title-track by Incantation and Cradle of Filth, At Dawn They Sleep by Six Feet Under and Necrophiliac by Benediction.
Raising the Bar
After ‘Hell Awaits’ turned out to be an enormous hit, Rick Rubin and Russell Simon offered the group a record deal with their label, Def Jam Records. The band signed the recording contract and started to write songs for their next studio project. On October 7, 1986, they put out their third album, ‘Reigns in Blood.’ This record was different from their previous two releases as it didn’t feature the complex arrangements that they were known for and included stripped down, hardcorepunk influenced song structures.
‘Reigns in Blood’ became an instant classic and shot the group straight to superstardom. It was not only called the ‘Best Metal Album of the Last 20 Years’ by Metal Hammer but was also praised by some of the biggest death metal bands including, Obituary, Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse. The record marked their first studio effort to debut on the Billboard 200 at the ninety forth spot and was certified gold in the United States. It also received 5/5 stars from AllMusic, The Guardian and Kerrang! The album also included a song, Angel of Death which appeared in Hollywood films like ‘Soundtrack to War,’ ‘Gremlins 2’ and ‘Jackass: The Movie.’
Slayer then came out with their last studio album of the decade titled, ‘South of Heaven’ on July 5, 1988. It dominated both the American and the European markets and was awarded gold certification in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom. The album peaked at the fifty seventh spot on the Billboard 200 and ranked at the forty seventh spot on the Rolling Stone’s list of the ‘100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.’
Rocking The 90s
Slayer kept the momentum going into the new decade and spawned four studio efforts in the 90s including, ‘Seasons in the Abyss’ and ‘Divine Intervention’ which hit the markets in 1990 and 1994 respectively. Both albums recorded gold level sales in the United States and Canada and were approved by the critics and fans alike. ‘Seasons in the Abyss’ performed well on the music charts and landed at the eighteenth spot on the Billboard 200. It also made the Rolling Stone’s list of the ‘100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time’ and contained a track, War Ensemble which featured in, ‘Guitar Hero: Metallica.’ On the other hand, ‘Divine Intervention’ also had its share of hits and climbed to the eight spot in the U.S.
The remaining two LPs that were released during the 90s are titled, ‘Undisputed Attitude’ and ‘Diabolus in Musica.’ These two records did not bring them much success as compared to their early works and failed to wow the fans of thrash metal.
Dominating the New Millennium
Slayer celebrated the start of the new millennium by churning out their ninth studio effort, ‘God Hates Us All’ on September 11, 2001. The album set the industry abuzz and received 8/10 rating from Rock Hard. The quartet penned down thirteen tracks for this record including, Disciple and Here Comes the Pain. The former was nominated for a Grammy Award under the category of ‘Best Metal Performance’ while the latter served as theme song for WCW Thunder.
After a gap of five years, the group came out with another record, ‘Christ Illusion.’ It became a top-ten hit in multiple countries and consisted of two songs, Eyes of the Insane and Final Six both of which earned them a Grammy Award each. The record also got an overwhelmingly positive response from PopMatters as the publication not only included it in its list of ‘The Best Metal Albums of 2006’ but also labeled it as, “Slayer's best album in sixteen years and their most thought-provoking work to date."
The band then came out with two more studio LPs out of which, ‘Repentless’ is their twelfth and last studio record. It turned out to be their highest charting album to date as it reached the fourth spot on the Billboard 200 and was placed in the list, ’30 Most Anticipated Rock + Metal Albums of 2015’ by Loudwire. The record was supported by three singles, Implode, When the Stillness Comes and Repentless and received positive response from different publications including Class Rock which gave it 4/5 stars.
In addition to twelve studio albums, Slayer has three live and four video records under their belt. Moreover, they have put out two extended plays and fourteen music videos so far.
Slayer Tour Tickets
After rocking for more than three decades, the thrash metal icons, Slayer have decided to call it a day. The band has announced their farewell tour which is scheduled to begin with a show at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on May 10, 2018. From there, the group will go on to play concerts in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Bristow, Charlotte, Orlando and Houston. The quartet will be concluding its trek by June 20th by making their final stop at the Austin 360 Amphitheatre in Austin, Texas.
This is literally your last chance to watch this group perform live, so if you want to watch them set the stage on fire with their powerhouse of performance then get your hand on these Slayer tour tickets today.
