[Music] on October the 7th 1986 one of the most iconic records of a generation would send shock waves through the music industry it was such a controversial album radio stations wouldn't play it and Columbia Records refused to release it due to a song called Angel of Death even when the record was released by Geffen they refused to even put their logo on it that album would be called rain in Blood by Slayer arguably the most influential thrash metal band of all time they've been attacked by religious groups accused of being satanic and faced a lawsuit that involved murder yet despite this they are now a household name with 12 Studio albums under their belt millions of records sold worldwide and a legacy that will surely Live On Through the Ages slayer's album covers alone were enough to trigger backlash from labels parents and Christian groups from around the world World some of their song titles and lyrics would even have them pinned as Nazi sympathizers we've seen similar stories about bands having links to Satanism when Black Sabbath arrived in 1968 and kiss in 1973 when people thought it was an acronym for knights in Satan's service Slayer however played this to their advantage they wanted to shock people they wanted to stand out from the crowd that's exactly what they did and this is their story [Music] like are they evil are they satanic we use that more to be different from the Hollywood Community so we did that more for uh more to [ __ ] with people kind of like a lot of reasons why we do a lot of [ __ ] we do is to [ __ ] with people and that was a good way to [ __ ] with the Hollywood crowd because they were all you know there were a bunch of guys looking like you know girls women and we wanted to be the ugly guys you know that didn't look like women they knew how to put makeup on one of the guys that didn't know how to put makeup on but that that was the scene then and we didn't we didn't want anything a part of that we didn't want to be a part of that we did this this different image to just to [ __ ] with everybody in 1969 Tom Araya at the age of eight picked up the bass guitar his older brother was learning to play six string guitar so he wanted to accompany him as a kid Arya would listen to the radio and try to learn songs by The Beatles The Rolling Stones and other popular bands of the time Tom whose full name is Thomas Enrique Aria Diaz was originally from Chile and came to America when his parents relocated he was around five years old Kerry Ray King born in 1964 started to play guitar at the age of 13 and by his own accounts was a very smart kid in school even winning a math award for his entire School in junior high however he does say that after discovering girls his grades dropped significantly in an interview with metal Hammer he said I didn't really know what rebelling was it's funny because I was doing math analysis in 12th grade and the first semester I got an A and in the second semester I got an E I was thinking well that's enough of that Kerry would soon discover the likes of Black Sabbath AC DC Merciful Fate and rainbow with the first riff he ever learned on guitar being Children Of The Seas Venom a group that is now recognized as an influential one to the thrash and extreme metal genres would also leave a lasting impression on him he remembers going to the record store just to read through imported issues of metal forces magazine and karang to discover new music Slayer looked like Venom early on we were impressionable and trying to find ourselves and we were probably across between venom and Merciful Fate maybe a little bit of priest maybe a little bit of punk that's where we came from we're all fun loving guys we we just when it comes to Slayer and when we write stuff it's all about heat like other people who maybe have nine to five jobs stuff like that and they get angry all the time about stuff we get our anger out through our music so once we you know we do the music we get the anger out we just have fun so we have like an outlet where other people may not have an outlet unless they come see Slayer in 1981 a 16 year old Kerry king and a 19 year old Tom Araya were in a band with Kerry's guitar teacher but King was looking for something different a popular newspaper at the time for musicians called the recycler would lead Kerry to audition for a new band called Ledger over the years the recycler has been responsible for bringing the likes of Metallica guns and roses and motley crew together so it was pretty much the go-to place to find other musicians in the 80s although the audition didn't amount to anything this is where Kerry would meet Jeff hanneman he was working at the rehearsal studio and was sat jamming at the reception with his Les Paul after the audition he went and spoke to Jeff they seem to have similar taste in music so decided to have their own little jam session around this same time a young 16 year old Dave Lombardo heard about Kerry and decided to drop by his house and introduce himself as a drummer looking for a band Dave and Kerry played together a few times in Dave's Garage before inviting Jeff to join them they decided they wanted to officially form a band together but were in need of a bass player and seeing as Carrie had already played in a band with Tom it made sense to bring him on board this was the birth of Slayer and they were about to shock the world and the metal scene with their unique brand of thrash their main stance would be simple in terms of what they were about the early 80s was Rife with hair and glam metal from Motley Crew and rat to poison and Dokken Slayer would do everything they could to avoid following the same path Carrie king would say Motley Crew rat bands like that I can't take anything away from them it's great music and it sold a lot of Records but it wasn't for me and I wanted to be the ante of that we knew what we didn't want to be and we went on from there a lot of people I mean I've heard people say this to my face because they know I've been associated with with rock music for such a long time bands like Slayer yeah let's just play fast they just play fast they don't have any skill I'd like to see them do what we do especially in the slower bands I like to see them get up on stage and come on try this we'll show you how it goes Jeff hanneman born in 1964 in California seemed like a natural fit for Slayer after meeting Carrie King back in 81. although he was working as a telemarketer at the time he had already been introduced to the music of Black Sabbath by his older sister whilst Jeff was a fan of the same bands as Kerry he also brought more of a hardcore and punk influence to Slayer something Lombardo also claims speared him on to play faster after all he started out playing the Bongos to Santana records in third grade around eight years old before progressing to the drums in the school marching band Dave Lombardo was born in Havana Cuba 1965 with his parents moving to the U.S a couple of years later placing him in a Catholic private school in the south gate area of California considering he became the drummer for Slayer one of the heaviest bands in the world you would never guess that some of his early musical influences would be kiss and disco before discovering Punk a more aggressive music foreign he would of course also soon become mesmerized by the playing style of John Bonham after discovering Led Zeppelin 2 released in 1969. I was aware of Led Zeppelin but exposing myself to the record Led Zeppelin II showed me a side of music that I wasn't too familiar with the blues John Bonham played with so much emotion that I felt I learned that element and took it with me through my career it seemed that all four members of Slayer had lived relatively similar easy-going childhoods none of them were very rebellious or had gotten into trouble on a regular basis they were all influenced by a wide variety of genres and musical tastes and all started playing instruments at a relatively young age either by chance or just for something to do it seems strange to think that over the next few years Slayer would become well Slayer the heaviest band on the planet known for their apparent Satan worship and other dealings with the occult tomaraya was even enrolled on a two-year course to become a trained respiratory therapist at the recommendation of his older sister maybe this normal mundane upbringing experienced by all four of them is exactly what led them down such a unique musical path they would soon release their debut album and this record would certainly show no mercy foreign [Music] Hendrix the animals Jefferson Airplane how does your music fit in with that what's that how does your music fit in with them it's as far away as possible right it doesn't fit into that those are my influences those are what that's what I grew up with yeah Slayer would start playing local high schools covering songs like Lights Out by UFO [Music] a maiden's wrath child and somebody get me a Doctor by Van Halen [Music] this is also when Kerry started to make his own outfits which included those menacing studded arm coverings they would start to promote their band furiously going from school to school jumping the fences and shoving flyers in every Locker they could it wouldn't be long before they started working on their own material Slayer couldn't get any gigs to begin with so they'd rent their own spaces in buildings and arcades and put on their own shows the combination of flyering in schools and literally walking around neighborhoods with a megaphone screaming to people about the show was enough to Garner some attention after the boys now had around 10 songs and built up a small audience they would soon be spotted by Brian Slagle the founder of Metal Blade records the same label that in 1982 released metal Massacre the compilation album that featured Hit the Lights by Metallica in 1983 Metal Blade records released metal Massacre 3 and the opening song was aggressive perfecta by Slayer a few months later the same label would release their debut LP show no mercy on December the 3rd thrash was becoming a serious underground movement that was on the verge of breaking into the mainstream Metallica had released Kill Em All In 83 and Ride the Lightning in 84. whilst Megadeth were just about to release their debut record killing is my business and business is good Slayer kept growing and gaining more and more attention and even embarked on a national tour with Venom in 85. the same year they would release their second brutally demonic album Hal awaits the mid-80s however could be characterized as the worst time a musical history for a band like Slayer to emerge and their rise to success was about to be met by a constant uphill struggle with parents Across America trying to suppress their music this was the era of Parental Guidance and censorship and in the eyes of millions of upstanding citizens across the country Slayer were nothing more than the captors of sin in 1985 a group of American wives mainly those of politicians formed a committee called the pmrc or parents music Resource Center it was co-founded by the wife of Senator Al Gore after she observed her 11 year old daughter listening to a song by Prince called darling Mickey [Music] would stand before Congress urging them to introduce parental warning labels on certain records in order to apparently protect children from obscene and violent song lyrics the pmrc took it upon themselves to compile list of 15 songs that they deemed not fit for miners to be exposed to some of those songs included eat me alive by Judas Priest possessed by Venom Animal by wasp and We're Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister [Applause] the list also included songs by Madonna and Cindy Lauper on September the 19th 1985 a senate hearing was held after record labels agreed to put warning labels on certain albums the pmrc was there to express their stance and recommendations and three musicians were also given the opportunity to speak John Denver Frank Zappa and D Schneider of Twisted Sister it was clear from the start that the pmrc were on a Witch Hunt and had completely misunderstood many of the song's lyrics and meanings most famously was that of Under the Blade by Twisted Sister the pmrc said this song was about bondage and that we're not going to take it was a song about promoting violence in his testimony D Snyder rightly pointed out the true meanings of the songs which both had completely innocent ones behind them they were misinterpreted by the committee however his now historic statement seemed to fall on deaf ears whilst for sure some of the songs on The pmrc's Hit List may have had sexual themes or addressed drug abuse the artists weren't exactly telling kids to go and copy the behavior and as Snyder pointed out it was the responsibility of parents to decide what their kids should and shouldn't listen to not a committee too many things that look like hidden agendas involved with this and I am a parent I've got four children two of them are here I want them to grow up in a country where they can think what they want to think and be what they want to be and not what somebody's wife or somebody in government makes them be I don't want I don't want to have that and I don't think you do either regardless of the outcome the pmrc had now told millions of American parents that they should be censoring what their children listen to which would have a huge impact on slayer's next record rain in blood Slayer would part ways with Metal Blade records and sign to Def Jam records a label formed by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin which you could easily argue was a strange Choice considering it was a hip-hop label and Reuben hadn't yet earned his status of being one of the world's most prolific producers however Def Jam did have the support of a major label Columbia Records rain and blood would deal with a variety of disturbing events but none more so than the topic of World War II specifically a very brutal aspect of it Slayer had already been labeled as satanists and now they were about to be accused of being neo-nazis all because of one song from the record Angel of Death the lyrics for the song were panned by Jeff hanneman and the idea came from a very innocent place I collect medals and other Nazi stuff that my dad got me started on because he gave me all this stuff he got from dead Nazis I remember stopping someplace when I bought two books on Joseph Mengele I thought this has got to be some sick [ __ ] so when it came time to do the record that stuff was still in my head that's where the lyrics to Angel of Death came from next thing I know we're neo-nazis Carrie King added and of course we got the most Flack for it in German read the lyrics and tell me what's offensive about it can you see it as a documentary or do you think Slayers preaching World War II people get this thought in their heads especially in Europe and you'll never talk them out of it there's no argument here the song was indeed about Joseph mangala a German SS officer that performed horrific human experiments on the prisoners of Auschwitz during World War II earning him the nickname angel of death but as always people took the lyrics at face value they didn't stop for one second to ask why Slayer had written this song they just accused them of being Nazis as a result of this Columbia Records refused to release slayer's third studio album Reign in Blood and even when Geffen Records stepped in to release it they refused to even put their logo on the cover they didn't want to be associated with the release but were more than happy to take the profit from it despite the controversy surrounding the record it would Peak at number 94 on the U.S billboard 200 charts and become one of the most influential extreme thrash metal LPS of all time Slayer then went on to support wasp on a U.S tour when Dave Lombardo decided he was done with the band and quit he said I wasn't making any money I figured if we were going to be doing this professionally on a major label I wanted my rent and utilities paid although he would return just a few months later the last thing Slayer needed was having to look for a new band member after all they thought they would have to replace Kerry King when he very briefly joined Megadeth in 1984 but King left just after five shows with them Reign in Blood would also see a lawsuit brought against the band three teenage boys who just so happened to be Slayer fans took the life of a teenage girl some years later the parents of the victim claimed that slayer's lyrics directly instructed the boys to perform a satanic sacrifice to please the devil although this was a truly tragic event Again slayer's lyrics had been completely misinterpreted for Slayer though no matter how tragic this type of publicity was it simply helped to push their music further and further [Music] thrash to us at the time and apparently to most everyone else since then because you see it in every reader's poll is the top thrash record of all time so I guess we did something right with that one I guess what inspired me most about writing this kind of music was the people that inspired me the least like the poisons from Southern California the uh other kind of bands were popping out around then all the the Glam thing was huge and I wanted to be as far away from that as possible you know I wanted I thought if those guys were selling records being women we should be able to do something good being men we just made up 10 songs and it was over you know done recording and says well there's 28 minutes you got any more song who said nope it's ten songs you know it's it's complete it doesn't need any more for what it was Slayer had become a very reputable name during the 80s and had already established themselves as an influential metal band so much so that Pantera probably wouldn't have become who they were if it wasn't for slayer's influence Pantera it started out as a glam metal band the same year Slayer formed in 1981. however they were basically trying to mimic Van Halen they were certainly not producing the groove metal riffs that they had they are not so widely known for after Phil and Salmo joined Pantera he would convince the guys to start listening to Slayer and this had a drastic impact on their musical Direction at one point Kerry King even became close friends with Phil and Dimebag Darrell and would even visit Pantera to jam with them King even sat down with dime to have one-on-one guitar sessions to show him the power of the thrash riff foreign so if it wasn't for Slayer existing in the first place Pantera probably never would have changed their sound and that incredible record Cowboys from Hell would never have happened there was there was gigantic respect between me and Dime in so many ways I mean he was probably the best player if not the best one of the best of this generation by far and he was just a natural man he didn't have to try he was just good you know you just watch diamond God damn it you're so [ __ ] good but he you know he was he was a party guy me and him and Zach always joked about doing something together and it would have been fun more than anything it I don't know what it would have sounded like but and it would have been insane as [ __ ] for sure but um you know that didn't happen there's one point I called up dime and I said dude I think I got the song You and Me should do just you and me and he's like white king what's it for I'm like I don't know what it's for I just know it's a perfect song for me and you to do now snorting whiskey and drinking cocaine over the years Slayer have influenced an unimaginable number of musicians and bands to continue spreading the thrash metal Legacy all over the globe and whilst Metallica and Megadeth experimented with hard rock during the 90s Slayer continued to release Relentless heavy metal records throughout their career they had no desire to please the critics or to try and fit in with the latest musical Trend they were Slayer and nothing would change that during that time Slayer released 12 Studio albums in total although they initially planned to release a 13th record it was canceled sadly on May the 2nd 2013 founding member and guitarist Jeff hanneman would lose his life the official cause of death would be noted as liver failure due to an alcoholic related illness just a few months prior to animan's death Dave Lombardo was fired from the band The reason why is still unclear to this day Lombardo said he proposed a new Financial agreement so that everyone got paid fairly so it seemed as if he wasn't happy with his compensation and also made claims that he hadn't been paid in full Tom Ariah stated this simply wasn't the case and that Lombardo's claims were not true Ariah said like all things like that you have to have agreements so nobody feels cheated we had ongoing issues and finally he put us in a position where we had to find somebody to replace him he wasn't happy so he decided to have a rant and told the world about a lot of issues going on with the band that are legally binding and private I thought that was wrong and it was upsetting a lot of the claims made were untrue as we all know Slayer officially disbanded after embarking on a farewell tour that started in 2018. slayer's final show took place at the Forum in California on November the 30th 2019 and what a ride it was [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music]