History of SLAYER

Genre:Metal/Thrash/Hardcore

Personil:Tom Araya(bass/vocal)

             Kerry King(guitar)

             Jeff Hanneman(guitar)

             Dave Lombardo(drum)

Kota asal:USA/California

Label: American/Sony BMG

Pucking Slayer Is Back.

From the opening squeals of the guitars of Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman and the punishing breakaway attack of Dave Lombardo's drums on "Flesh Storm" it's clear from the first thirty seconds the thrash metal titans have returned to pummel listeners with a raging onslaught of new music guaranteed to lay waste to MP3 players, car stereo speakers and whatever else gets in their way.
Christ Illusion marks the long-awaited return of the legendary Slayer. Its first record in five years and its first record in fifteen years with the original band line-up, Christ Illusion is a cacophony of brutality. A soundtrack for the post-Apocalypse. Steeped in scorching riffs and a litany of menacing tracks/tirades on religion and violence, Slayer forges ahead on its devastating path of aural destruction with ten new songs, each charged with the electric hostility for which Slayer is renowned.
Of the record Kerry King is ecstatic: "I love it. I really like God Hates Us All and I think that's the best record we've done in my opinion since Seasons In The Abyss, and I like this better than that one. I think it's a more complete record, I think sonically it better: all the performances are awesome. I think this one is more intense not because we're trying to do 'Reign In Blood: The Sequel,' it's just that's where our writing is taking us now."
Songs like the "Flesh Storm," "Eyes of the Insane," "Skeleton Christ," "Jihad" and the first single, "Cult" showcase the band at its most blazing intensity. The sonic excitement of speed, propelled by King, Hanneman and Lombardo and lead by the immutable roar of Tom Araya provoke the listener with Slayer's trademark fascination with terror, violence and religion.
For as long as Slayer has been making records it has been surrounded by controversy.
Since the band recorded its first album, "Show No Mercy," Slayer has been plagued with accusations of Satanism, fascism, racism and so on. Christ Illusion gives no quarter to critics who would mindlessly attack the band for, what the Germans call, "der Reiz des Unbekannten" (meaning "the attraction of the unknown"). A lyric fascination with violence and terror which guitarist King enthusiastically describes this way: "When I was I kid I would see a horror movie over a love story. Being shocked, being in an environment that's not reality might be frightening but is cool nonetheless. With a lot of our songs we put people in that place. It doesn't bother me because I enjoy it. It could easily be programming from all the fucking news channels."

Slayer is often assailed for its subject matter, though the band is unrepentant. " According to Araya, "Violence, darkness... So much of my inspiration comes from news articles or pictures and just start describing the images. Television- A&E, the History Channel, Court TV, Documentaries."
The singer continues, "With this record, as far as a theme: there is none. That's just our favorite subject matter. The common thread is death. I think that's just a common thread in general: we all share death, and we all share it at different times in different ways, but it's the one thing that we all have in common. We all die. It's how we live that makes us different."
Beyond being controversial Slayer is an exceptional force in music, highly praised for its trailblazing style of fast, heavy and aggressive music yet bristling with melody. The much-heralded return of Dave Lombardo to the drummer's throne will leave fans gasping for breath as he clobbers the listener on song after song.
Commenting on Lombardo's return to the fold, King notes, "Not to say the shine's worn off, but it's old news to us. I think the thing the kids are going to get into, besides just being the first Slayer album in five years, is that Dave's on it. When he came back he wasn't a member, he just came back to do a couple of tours and people started asking back then 'Is he gonna hang around?' And I would tell them that was up to Dave. But I could tell that Dave was having a killer time." King confided. "So it was just a matter of time before he said, 'Yeah, let's do it!' But it's great. And now that he's got a new Slayer album that he's played on, I think he's going to get some more enjoyment out of playing. He takes pride in everything he does and it's awesome to have him back with us."
Having the original members record their first album together in fifteen years is certainly newsworthy but the lasting might of the band and its continued popularity is an achievement few can boast. For each of the members, the band is resolute. There is no other band like Slayer.

"The staying power behind Slayer is that we've stuck to our guns," Says Araya. "Integrity... that would be number one. A lot of it has to do with the fact that we've stuck to what we do best. And the fact that we've been together as a band for so long. Ten years with Dave; another ten without Dave; and now Dave's back. It has a lot to do with compromise, that's just the way it has to be. You have to be able to compromise and give and take and that has a lot to do with why we're still together and a force to be reckoned with. I've learned that without each other, Slayer wouldn't exist, and that the whole is greater than its parts."
Kerry King is far more succinct. "Slayer to me is the coolest band on the planet. There is a timeless quality to Slayer. It's cool, but I can't explain it. It's our life."
Slayer has created one mesmerizing record after the next, has influenced many of today's most successful bands, including Slipknot, Sepultura, Killswitch Engage, and continues to earn new generations of fans, while staying true to its ceaselessly devoted followers. Slayer's legacy is cemented in music forever and the band remains undaunted in its directive to make punishing, aggressive and exciting music. With Christ Illusion the band marks its territory. Slayer has exceeded itself far beyond thrash metal to become an unstoppable juggernaut without equal.
Tom Araya sums it up: "I think the best thing is the band's longevity and the fact that we haven't bowed to anyone. That we were able to make a record like Reign In Blood, which, to us, was just another record, but to others, was something very special, it's had such an impact. People will remember it for a long time, and it's all because we did things our way, we didn't bow down to anyone. We didn't compromise. We stuck to being who we are."

WORLD PAINTED BLOOD

Q: WHAT’S THE TITLE OF THE NEW SLAYER ALBUM?

A: WORLD PAINTED BLOOD.

Q: WHAT’S IT SOUND LIKE?

A: WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK?

NINE STUDIO ALBUMS, THOUSANDS OF LIVE SHOWS AND NEARLY THREE DECADES INTO A CAREER THAT’S MADE THEM ONE OF THE BIGGEST AND MOST IMPORTANT METAL BANDS IN THE WORLD, THE MEMBERS OF SLAYER KNOW EXACTLY WHAT KIND OF MUSIC THEY MAKE—BRUTAL BUT BEAUTIFUL, PUNISHING YET PRECISE. A FRESH SLAYER RECORD IS A THING OF TERROR BUT ALSO ONE OF TRUST: YOU CAN DEPEND ON WHAT YOU’RE GETTING—EVEN IF YOU’RE UNPREPARED FOR IT.

AS GUITARIST JEFF HANNEMAN SAYS WITH A SLY LITTLE CHUCKLE, “AT THIS POINT I THINK A SLAYER ALBUM PRETTY MUCH SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.”

AND YET THERE ARE SOME INTERESTING THINGS YOU SHOULD BE MADE AWARE OF REGARDING WORLD PAINTED BLOOD, THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED FOLLOW-UP TO 2006’S CHRIST ILLUSION, WHICH DEBUTED INSIDE THE TOP 5 OF BILLBOARD’S ALBUM CHART, A CAREER BEST FOR SLAYER. LET’S START WITH THE FACT THAT ITS FURY, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, WAS BORN OUT OF FUN.

“THE INTERACTION BETWEEN ALL OF US ON THIS RECORD WAS REALLY SOMETHING SPECIAL,” SAYS HANNEMAN OF HIS WORK WITH THE BAND’S THREE OTHER FOUNDING MEMBERS: SINGER-BASSIST TOM ARAYA, GUITARIST KERRY KING AND DRUMMER DAVE LOMBARDO. “RATHER THAN TRYING TO GET SOMETHING DONE,” HANNEMAN CONTINUES, “IT FELT LIKE WE WERE JUST HAVING A GOOD TIME. WE WERE DISCUSSING THINGS, GIVING THINGS A GO. THE PREVAILING ATTITUDE WAS, ‘LET’S TRY IT!’ IT WASN’T EVEN WORK, REALLY—IT WAS PLAY.”

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, SLAYER ENTERED THE STUDIO—IN THIS CASE, THE PASS, IN LOS ANGELES—WITHOUT AN ENTIRE ALBUM’S WORTH OF MATERIAL ALREADY WRITTEN AND REHEARSED. THEY’D BOOKED A PRELIMINARY CHUNK OF STUDIO TIME IN OCTOBER 2008 TO SEE HOW THEY LIKED WORKING WITH PRODUCER GREG FIDELMAN, WHO’D BEEN RECOMMENDED TO THE BAND BY THEIR LONGTIME PAL RICK RUBIN AFTER THE TWO WORKED TOGETHER ON METALLICA’S DEATH MAGNETIC. “WHILE WE WERE IN THERE RECORDING THE COUPLE OF SONGS WE HAD, THINGS WERE JUST REALLY CLICKING WITH GREG,” SAYS ARAYA. “SO WE THOUGHT, ‘WHY DON’T WE TRY TO WRITE THE REST OF THE RECORD IN THE STUDIO?’ WE WEREN’T SURE WHAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN; WE JUST KIND OF DID IT, AND THE MUSIC KEPT ON COMING.”

NOT ONLY DID IT KEEP ON COMING—FIRST DURING THAT INITIAL SESSION, THEN IN A SECOND PERIOD OF WORK STRETCHING FROM JANUARY TO MARCH 2009—BUT IT CAME IN A WAY IT HADN’T BEFORE, DRIVEN BY A NEW DEGREE OF COLLABORATION. FOR SLAYER’S LAST SEVERAL ALBUMS, HANNEMAN WOULD WRITE HIS SONGS, KING WOULD WRITE HIS, THEN THE TWO GUITARISTS WOULD BRING THEIR SEPARATE MATERIAL INTO THE STUDIO, WHERE THE BAND WOULD PUT IT TO TAPE. “THIS TIME,” SAYS KING, “EVERYONE WAS TALKING ABOUT WHAT WE WERE DOING. EVERYONE HAD A SAY AND WAS INVOLVED—LIKE, ‘MAYBE WE SHOULD GO FASTER HERE OR STOP THERE OR WHATEVER.’ IT WAS COOL.”

HANNEMAN IS SUCCINCT WHEN ASKED HOW OR WHY THIS COOPERATIVE SPIRIT TOOK ROOT. “I HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA,” HE ADMITS. “THE CHEMISTRY WAS JUST GOOD.” THE GUITARIST DOES NOTE THAT SLAYER “WEREN’T RUSHED, AND THAT MAKES A LOT OF DIFFERENCE WITH THE MUSIC. I DON’T LIKE BEING RUSHED, AND ON THIS RECORD WE HAD PLENTY OF TIME.”

YOU CAN HEAR THE EFFECTS OF THAT CREATIVE FREEDOM THROUGHOUT WORLD PAINTED BLOOD, WHICH LOMBARDO SAYS FITS IN WITH SUCH CLASSIC SLAYER SLABS AS REIGN IN BLOOD AND SEASONS IN THE ABYSS. “THE RHYTHM RIFFS ON THIS ONE MAKE THE HAIRS ON THE BACK OF MY NECK STAND UP,” SAYS THE DRUMMER, WHO DESCRIBES HIS DETERMINATION TO MAKE HIS PARTS SOUND HUMAN AND NATURAL, RATHER THAN LIKE THE PRODUCT OF A MACHINE. “IT DOES IT FOR ME THE SAME WAY THOSE OLDER RECORDS DID.” KING AGREES: “I THINK IT HAS KIND OF A RETRO VIBE TO IT,” HE SAYS. “IT SOUNDS LIKE THE STUFF WE WROTE IN THE ’80S.”

DID THIS RENEWED ENTHUSIASM BRIGHTEN SLAYER’S WORLDVIEW? NOT EXACTLY. “WE HAVE A TENDENCY TO FOLLOW A THEME, AND I THINK ON THIS RECORD THE THEME IS MORE APOCALYPTIC THAN USUAL,” SAYS ARAYA, POINTING TO SONGS LIKE THE TITLE TRACK, A MEDITATION ON WHAT THE YEAR 2012 HAS IN STORE FOR HUMANITY, AND “PUBLIC DISPLAY OF DISMEMBERMENT,” WHICH KING SAYS IS ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT CERTAIN “VULGAR BUT EFFECTIVE” LAW-ENFORCEMENT MEASURES MIGHT WORK AS WELL IN AMERICA AS THEY HAVE ELSEWHERE. “THAT’S KIND OF THE RUNNING CONCEPT HERE,” ARAYA ADDS, “BUT ASIDE FROM THAT IT’S THE USUAL SLAYER TOPICS OF DEATH, MURDER AND SERIAL KILLERS.”

USUAL, PERHAPS, BUT FAR FROM ORDINARY, WORLD PAINTED BLOOD IS ONE OF SLAYER’S MOST IMPRESSIVE EFFORTS YET—A VICIOUS, UNCOMPROMISING LOOK AT WHAT’S BROKEN IN OUR SOCIETY AND HOW FRIGHTENINGLY POWERLESS WE ARE TO FIX IT. KING SAYS WORLD IS “MORE WELL-ROUNDED THAN THE LAST COUPLE OF ALBUMS.” LOMBARDO CALLS IT “A SPEED METAL RECORD WITH EMOTION.” ANYONE WITH EARS WILL THINK IT’S AN ACCOMPLISHMENT OF A MAJOR KIND.