Tom Araya - Bass, Vocals (1982-present)

Paul Bostaph - Drums (1992-1996, 1997-present)

John Dette - Drums (1996)

Dave Lombardo - Drums (1982-1992)

Jeff Hanneman - Guitar (1982-present)

Kerry King - Guitar (1982-present)

Formed in Los Angeles in the early eighties as a cover band playing songs from bands such as Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden (among others), Slayer quickly adapted to a faster paced style of music after hearing another West Coast band; Metallica.

Bassist/Vocalist Tom Araya, Guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman and Drummer Dave Lombardo got their first big break when one of their songs was featured on the Metal Massacre III compilation. They were quickly signed to Metal Blade Records for whom they released their debut album; Show No Mercy in 1983. Their lyrics were filled with images of death, graphic mutilation and satanism, which evidently showed in their live performances as they proudly wore upside down crosses, makeup and spikey leather outfits, they even incorporated an inverted pentagram into their logo.

Their follow up EP entitled Haunting The Chapel (released in 1983) showed improvement over their previous effort and, in 1984 Slayer released their first live album; Live Undead in which they played songs from their two previous albums. Soon after, they entered studios and recorded their fourth album; Hell Awaits, which is considered by many to be one of the most influential albums for the entire metal genre.

Rick Rubin, owner and producer of Def Jam (now American Recording), quickly signed the band to his record label. The band did not disappoint in the least. Reign In Blood is considered by many to be the greatest thrash album of all time and the success of the album propelled the band into big metal act status. The album, however, did not get onto music shelves easily as CBS (who distributed Def Jam albums) refused to distribute the album because they believed the album promoted Satanism. Geffin eventually stepped in and effectively promoted and distributed the album to the masses.

Not wanting to be pigeonholed, Slayer decided to slow things down for their next album, Tom Araya's lyric writing debut, South Of Heaven, released in 1988. Although not as popular as Reign In Blood the band proved themselves to be much more versatile than previously believed.

Slayer quickly helped rebuild their reputation as a top class metal band (after the somewhat disappointing South Of Heaven) with their 1990 album Seasons In The Abyss. Lyrically, musically and vocally this was their most refined album to date. They made two music videos of songs from this album; War Ensemble, which was recorded live at Wembley Stadium in England and Seasons In The Abyss, which was recorded in Egypt during the Gulf War. Soon afterwards, Slayer celebrated their ten year anniversary by releasing a double live CD entitled Decade Of Aggression in 199?. It contained songs from all of their albums up to this point.

Before entering studios to record their ninth album, Slayer had made a lineup change. Longtime drummer Dave Lombardo had quit the band for a brief period until he finally was fired by the band in early 1992 (who has since started his own band; Grip Inc.). Although finding a replacement for one of metal's finest drummers was indeed a difficult task, they found a very suitable candidate in ex-Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph. In 1994, the band released their sixth full length studio album entitled Divine Intervention. The new album was extremely successful, however, not very original.

In 1996, Slayer shocked their fans by releasing a thirteen song (North American version) tribute to punk music's finest bands, entitled Undisputed Attitude. In this album Slayer displays that not only are they not dead, but they do have the ability to play as fast, if not faster than they ever have before. Also included on the album is a song called Gemini, which does not fit in with the punk sound of the album, however, it is there as a sample of what fans should expect from their upcoming yet to be named album to be released in 1997. In mid-1996 Bostaph quit the band and was replaced briefly by former Testament drummer John Dette who toured with the band in support of the 'Undisputed Attitude' album. Unfortunately, he did not last long and was replaced earlier this year by returning Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph.

Since they erupted on the music scene approximately fifteen years ago, Slayer has excited fans around the world with their unique sound and their intense live shows. They have had great success due to the amazing guitar mastery of Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, the brilliant drumming of Dave Lombardo and Paul Bostaph, and Tom Araya's unique singing style. After hearing Gemini, I am very much looking forward to Slayer's next offering and hope it is as great as all of the other albums to come before it, and I'm sure it will.