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| GUITAR WORLD'S METAL HEROES |
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| Metal Masters |
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| How the Legends of Metal Rose to Power |
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| SLAYER Twenty years since their groundbreaking and massively influential third album Reign in Blood obliterated the metal world, Slayer shows no signs of slowing down. These proto thrashers continue to release landmark albums and tour relentlessly well into their third decade as a band. Formed in Huntington Beach, California, in 1982 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, the duo soon hooked up with bassist/vocalist Tom Araya and drummer Dave Lombardo--a lineup that stayed together through 1990’s breakthrough Seasons in the Abyss. Former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph replaced Lombardo for the band’s next three studio albums, but eventually bowed out after 2001’s God Hates Us All, to make way for Lombardo’s return. It’s that classic foursome that has come together once again for the band’s upcoming Rick Rubin-produced American Records release and subsequent Unholy Alliance tour (which will also feature Lamb of God, Children of Bodom, Mastodon, and Thine Eyes Bleed). The fact that Slayer continues to headline over some of the most highly regarded upcoming metal bands is a testament to the band’s vast influence. Reign in Blood is frequently singled out by bands and critics alike as a defining moment in extreme music, when the thrash metal started by the likes of Anthrax and Metallica became something more intense, complex, and wicked. Cited as prime influence by both death metal, hardcore, and modern metalcore bands alike, the album’s vicious riffs, hyper-technical drumming, and violent lyrics provided a blueprint that many still refer to today. But Slayer have never rested on the reputation of that landmark album. Subsequent releases have shown the band continuing to progress--much in the same way they evolved from the simplistic thrash of early Metal Blade albums like Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits to the unmatched brutality of Reign. Hanneman and King still write some of the most uncompromising metal out there, continually redefining the outer limits of the band’s always brutal, but never impenetrable, sound. Albums like South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss, and Diabolus in Musica each offer a lesson in musical violence that’s true to the Slayer sound, but somehow more evolved--with Hanneman and King always providing insanely fast and increasingly demented solos. Never a band to simply crank out a new release each year just to have something out there, every Slayer album reflects the band’s dedication to maintaining its dominance in the thrash realm. And every album is followed up with the kind of intense touring schedule that would crush other bands. Over the years Slayer has headlined (or been part of) some of the most brutal packages making the rounds--from the Clash of the Titans with Anthrax and Megadeth in the early Nineties to their latest endeavor, the Unholy Alliance, which the band plans to turn into a regular Ozzfest-style package, with an ever-changing lineup of similar-minded bands. And with the classic lineup solidified once again, Slayer could still be making the rounds in another twenty years. ROB ZOMBIE Rob Zombie is a man of many talents--graphic artist, filmmaker and, most notably, one helluva badass musician and songwriter. This dreadlock-sporting freakshow grew up on the carnival circuit in the Seventies, where his parents worked as carnies, and it no doubt shaped his creative mind into one of the most twisted and talented in underground metal. Zombie’s musical career began with his New York City-based band White Zombie in the mid Eighties. Though known as Rob Straker back then, he was already sporting the gnarly dreads and scummy image that has become his calling card. Early White Zombie releases were equally ugly, a caustic mess of noise and blues played by barely competent musicians. By the time the band signed to Geffen in the early Nineties it had cleaned up its act somewhat musically and embraced a campy B-movie horror show-meets-strip-club image and sound that was as groovy as it was ghoulish. That Geffen debut, La Sexorcisto : Devil’s Music, Vol. 1, turned into a sleeper hit that kept the band on the road for an extended period while the momentum of the funky, lurching “Thunder Kiss ’65” built and built. The band’s follow-up, Astro-Creep: 2000--a sample-heavy bruiser that further improved on its predecessor’s club appeal--would be its last, but Rob Zombie was nowhere near ready to call it quits. Emerging as a solo artist in 1998 with Hellbilly Deluxe, Zombie further refined his ass-shaking, industrial-influenced groove metal into a thunderous assault on the senses. Buoyed by the hit “Dragula,” Hellbilly was an immediate hit and immediately established what most had assumed: that Zombie was, in fact, the driving force behind his previous band. This success as a solo artist not only afforded him the ability to put on ever bigger and better live performances, it also offered him entrance to the world of filmmaking, a longtime obsession. His first feature effort, the splatterific House of 1000 Corpses, not surprisingly was rejected by the studio that financed it but eventually saw a limited Halloween release and quickly developed a cult following. More importantly, though it was impressive enough to get a second project, The Devil’s Rejects financed. Even though he continued to have a successful solo music career during this period, the stress of trying to keep a band together that wasn’t getting along took its toll and while doing publicity for The Devil’s Rejects, Zombie announced that he was through making music and was dedicating himself to writing and directing movies. However, an offer to play Ozzfest in 2005 and a revamped lineup changed all that. His new band--featuring guitarist John5 (ex-Marilyn Manson), bassist Rob Nicholson, and drummer Tommy Clufetos (ex-Alice Cooper)--even stuck around after Ozzfest to record his latest, Educated Horses (a carnie term for an animal attraction). Though it’s a relatively subdued affair image-wise, musically it pays homage to Rob Zombie’s Seventies glam-rock heroes, such as Slade, T. Rex, Gary Glitter, and Alice Cooper, while still maintaining his unrelenting intensity. ADEM TEPEDELEN |