Today in 1986 Slayer released the album Reign in Blood Huntington Park, Los Angeles County, California Thrash Metal Status:Active Years active: 1981-present Slayer was formed in 1981, by Los Angeles schoolmates and guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Tom Araya soon joined on bass and vocals, and drummer Dave Lombardo joined last in 1982. They played in a style reminiscent of early Exodus, influenced heavily by Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, before their attendance at a mid-1982 Metallica concert convinced them to play faster and heavier. Black Magic was written in February 1983 and marked Slayers definite venture into thrash metal. They secured a spot on the compilation appearance Metal Massacre III in 1983, contributing the speed metal song Aggressive Perfector. They also recorded two demos in 1983, and became a popular live act in the Los Angeles area. (In 1983, Bob Gourley filled in for Dave for one gig. He later appeared in Dark Angel.) Their debut LP, Show no Mercy, was recorded in November, 1983. Show No Mercy was released after Slayer appeared on Brian Slagels Metal Massacre III compilation. Then came two EPs: Haunting the Chapel and Live Undead which was actually recorded in the studio in front of 50 of their closest friends. After 1985s Hell Awaits, Slayer were signed to Rick Rubins Def Jam record label, better known for acts like Run DMC. This led to three studio albums, including the brutal Reign in Blood, as well as a 1991 live double CD, Decade of Aggression. Dave Lombardo left the band in 1987 for several weeks, and was replaced for a few live gigs by Tony Scaglione (Whiplash), and then again left in 1992. Finally, in 1994, Paul Bostaph from Forbidden was brought in, and three more albums were recorded. Drummer Jon Dette was an official member of Slayer briefly in 1996. Then, in 2001, Bostaph left to join Systematic, and Lombardo, who had been in Grip Inc. and Fantômas rejoined the band. Interesting facts: Its official that Slayer is the most covered metal band in the world aside from Metallica. Kerry King played lead guitar on the Beastie Boys songs Fight For Your Right and No Sleep Till Brooklyn, and appeared in the music video for the latter. Tom Arayas brother John (Bloodcum) worked as an sound engineer for Slayer in their early days. Gene Hoglan, the legendary drummer who has played in bands such as Dark Angel, Strapping Young Lad, and Death, used to be a Slayer lights man and roadie on the Show No Mercy tour, and was asked to be Dave Lombardos drum tech on the Haunting North America tour (84), but knocked it back to pursue his own music career. He even did backup vocals on the album Show No Mercy (the song Evil Has No Boundaries). The band was never known as Dragonslayer. This has been refuted in countless interviews. And Slayer is not an acronym for Satan Laughs As You Eternally Rot, even though those words appeared on the first vinyl pressing of Show No Mercy, between the grooves of the record and the paper label in the middle. Def Jam Recordings Tom Araya – bass, vocals Jeff Hanneman – lead and rhythm guitar(R.I.P. 2013) Kerry King – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals Dave Lombardo – drums 1. Angel of Death 2. Piece by Piece 3. Necrophobic 4. Altar of Sacrifice 5. Jesus Saves 6. Criminally Insane 7. Reborn 8. Epidemic 9. Postmortem 10. Raining Blood Recorded in L.A., mixed at New Fresh, N.Y.C. Co-produced by Slayer. Expanded edition with bonus tracks (Aggressive Perfector and a remix of Criminally Insane). Songs were recorded for the Postmortem 12-inch single. Def Jam/Geffen also released the album on red, purple and green vinyl, limited edition picture vinyl with a different cover (bloody logo) and regular picture vinyl. Trivia: On all older versions of the CD and LP, Postmortem ends at 2:44 before the fast part. This error was corrected on the Expanded Edition reissue CD. Three different versions of the outro to Raining Blood exist. On some LP versions, the sound of the storm is created by a looped groove which continues indefinitely until the stylus is lifted. On other LP versions, the storm just fades after about 15 seconds. On the CD and cassette version, the storm outro lasts for 50 seconds. Reign in Blood is the third studio album and the major label debut by the American thrash metal band Slayer. It was released on 7 October 1986 through Def Jam Recordings. The album was the bands first collaboration with record producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the bands sound evolve. Reign in Blood was universally well received by both critics and fans, and was responsible for bringing Slayer to the attention of a mainstream metal audience. Kerrang! magazine described the record as the heaviest album of all. Alongside Anthraxs Among the Living, Megadeths Peace Sells... but Whos Buying? and Metallicas Master of Puppets, Reign in Blood helped define the sound of the emerging US thrash metal scene in the 1980s, and has remained influential subsequently. Reign in Bloods release was delayed because of concerns regarding its graphic artwork and lyrical subject matter. The opening track, Angel of Death, which refers to Josef Mengele and describes acts, such as human experimentation, that Mengele committed at the Auschwitz concentration camp, provoked allegations of Nazism. However, the band stated numerous times they do not condone Nazism, and are merely interested in the subject. The album was Slayers first to enter the Billboard 200; the release peaked at number 94, and was certified Gold on 20 November 1992. Reign in Blood was recorded and produced in Los Angeles with Rick Rubin. The album was the label boss first professional experience with heavy metal, and his fresh perspective led to a drastic makeover of Slayers sound. Steve Huey of Allmusic believed Rubin drew tighter and faster songs from the band, and delivered a cleanly produced sound that contrasted sharply with their previous recordings.This resulted in drastic changes to Slayers sound, and changed audiences perception of the band. Araya has since admitted their two previous releases were not up to par production-wise. Guitarist Kerry King later remarked that It was like, Wow—you can hear everything, and those guys arent just playing fast; those notes are on time. Hanneman has since admitted that while the band was listening to Metallica and Megadeth at the time, they were finding the repetition of guitar riffs tiring. If we do a verse two or three times, were already bored with it. So we werent trying to make the songs shorter—thats just what we were into, which resulted in the albums short duration of 29 minutes. King had stated that while hour-long records seem to be the trend; You could lose this part; you could cut this song completely, and make a much more intense record, which is what were all about. When the record was completed, the band met with Rubin, who asked Do you realize how short this is? Slayer members looked at each other, and replied So what? The entire album was on one side of a cassette; King stated it was neat, as You could listen to it, flip it over, and play it again. The music is abrasive and faster than previous releases helping to push the gap between thrash metal and its predecessor hardcore punk, and is played at an average of 210 beats per minute. youtube/watch?v=a_7TMeDTX_U
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 16:29:50 +0000
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