US thrash gods Slayer are bringing to an end their 'reign in blood' over the world of metal after 37 years with a mammoth world tour that includes Download Festival 2019.
Slayer's Download appearance and accompanying sideshows will be the last chance for Australian fans to witness the unrivalled madness of a live Slayer performance.
Slayer was formed in 1981 by Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo and Tom Araya, and in their time have caused a mighty racket in the ears of fans and concerned special interest groups alike.
To their fans, they are the high-dark priests of metal, to be respected and revered above all others. To their detractors, they are the embodiment of evil and the apprentices of Satan himself.
From the very start, Slayer has caused controversy – from the brash technicality of their sound that rattled the nerves of the music establishment and set the foundations for speed metal, to the graphic imagery of their album artwork, which to this day continues to stir the hackles of societal watchdogs.
Though their first two albums – 'Show No Mercy' [1983] and 'Hell Awaits' [1985] – saw the band achieve moderate notoriety and underground success, it was their third album, the seminal 1986 'Reign In Blood', that saw Slayer garner mainstream attention and remains a defining milestone in the development of thrash.
It has also become a consistent point of controversy, with the band accused of glorifying Nazism with the artwork and lyrical imagery of 'Reign In Blood', particularly opening track 'Angel Of Death', which is explicitly written about the heinous human experimentation carried out by Nazi doctor Josef Mengele in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
The song, along with the use of Nazi imagery, naturally outraged Holocaust survivors and Slayer were accused of being Nazi sympathisers. It also didn't help when people found out Jeff Hanneman (now deceased) was a collector of Nazi war medals and memorabilia.
The band have refuted these claims ad nauseam throughout their career; in a 1987 interview with The Guardian, Jeff stated: "I feel you should be able to write about whatever you want. 'Angel Of Death' is like a history lesson.
"I'd read a lot about the Third Reich and was absolutely fascinated by the extremity of it all, the way Hitler had been able to hypnotise a nation and do whatever he wanted, a situation where Mengele could evolve from being a doctor to being a butcher.”
Yet Slayer have persevered through the slings and arrows to produce 12 studio albums and play countless live shows around the world, amassing an army of headbangers and securing themselves as one of 'The Big Four' bands of metal alongside Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax.
Of the original four members, only vocalist/ bassist Tom Araya and guitarist Kerry King remain active in the band – Jeff Hanneman having died of liver failure in 2013 and replaced by Gary Holt in 2013, while original drummer Dave Lombardo was in and out of the band until being replaced by current drummer Paul Bostaph in 2013.
Awaiting the hour of reprisal, your time slips away as the last ever Australian shows for Slayer bleed their horror from a lacerated sky.
Slayer play Download Festival sideshows at Riverstage (Brisbane) 7 March and AEC Arena (Adelaide) 13 March.
Download Festival 2019
Sat 9 Mar - Parramatta Park (Sydney)Mon 11 Mar - Flemington Racecourse (Melbourne)
