Slayer (Band)

Gene Hoglan on The Early Days of L.A. Thrash Metal

Gene Hoglan is one of the most in-demand drummers in metal. The virtuoso is currently juggling duties in animated metal greats Dethklok and Bay Area thrashers Testament, along with pinch-hitting gigs when other metal greats are in a bind. His drumming style is a dizzying blend of maximum speed and p ... More >>

Ten Metal Albums to Hear Before You Die

By Alex Distefano When you're talking about something as all-encompassing as heavy metal, you might as well be talking about something as infinitely complicated as the universe. It's that vast, and the amount of territory to cover is seemingly limitless. From black metal and thrash, death metal to ... More >>

Jeff Hanneman Remembered By Titans of Metal

Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman passed last week. He died of liver failure, at the Hemet Valley Memorial Hospital. He was 49. Although the rhythmic heart and soul of one of the heaviest bands in modern music, Hanneman was known as a soft-spoken, easygoing dude. See also: Our Jeff Hanneman obituar ... More >>

RIP Jeff Hanneman: Slayer Guitarist Is Dead

Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman has died. The cause was liver failure; he passed at an area hospital near his home this morning. He was 49. Hanneman has not been active in Slayer for the last few years, since suffering a flesh-eating bacteria from a spider bite. No word yet if that caused any c ... More >>

Prepping To Shoot Coachella, While Battling Cancer

[Editor's Note: Longtime concert photographer Andrew Youssef found out almost two years ago that he had stage IV colon cancer. In that time, he has continued to shoot tons of music events for outlets including our sister paper OC Weekly, on top of hisday job at a hospital, of all places. As he conti ... More >>

Anthrax's Scott Ian on Why Horror Movies and Metal Go Together

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian is playing songs from the band's 1987 thrash metal masterpiece Among The Living and their new covers record Anthems on tour right now. He's also taken on a second gig hosting Fangoria's Blood and Guts, a YouTube series on The Nerdist Channel in which he meets with masters ... More >>

Five More Iconic Key Club Shows

The Key Club's last day is today! Ever since West Coast Sound broke the story of its impending closure, local music fans have been mourning the place. Personally, we've been to the venue hundreds of times, and worked there as a DJ during Metal Skool's heyday for about two years. We believe the venue ... More >>

The Best L.A. Metal Concerts To See In February

Sat, Feb 2 Testament House of Blues Hollywood Many metal fans think that the Bay Area's Testament belong next to metal's "Big Four" (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax). Indeed, classic albums like The Legacy and newer output like 2012's Dark Roots of Earth provide strong evidence for this arg ... More >>

Random Notebook Dump: The Year In Metal 2012

A lot of monumental things in metal this year. Some of them involved actual music. Many did not. In honor of the year's end, we gave our notebook a good shaking to help us remember the most important stuff. Top 20 L.A. Metal Albums of All Time -Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe was jailed for a mo ... More >>

Metal Blade Records Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary

A look back at the little metal label that could

The Seven Sexiest Guitars

By Christian McPhate If there's one thing that starts a guitarist's heart thumping, it's the heat from the fretboard as his or her fingers slide across the strings. It's a sordid love affair that leaves fans screaming and the guitarist's soul longing for more. In fact, B.B. King loved his $30 gui ... More >>

Top 20 L.A. Metal Albums: The Complete List

When it comes to discussion of the top metal scenes, Los Angeles never gets its due. Maybe it's because we're not known for being pioneers of a single subgenre (Bay Area thrash and Florida death metal for example), but there's still no doubt that the city has been vital in the evolution of metal. ... More >>

Top 20 L.A. Metal Albums: 10 - 1

See also: Top 20 L.A. Metal Albums: 20 - 11 Top 20 Greatest L.A. Punk Albums The Ten Most Unreadable Metal Band Logos 10. Slayer Seasons in the Abyss (1990) Seasons in the Abyss is nothing fancy, just pure, sore-neck, eardrum-stripping metal. Full of brutal drum barrages, massive caliber guitar as ... More >>

Top 20 L.A. Metal Albums: 20 - 11

When it comes to discussion of the top metal scenes, Los Angeles never gets its due. Maybe it's because we're not known for being pioneers of a single subgenre (Bay Area thrash and Florida death metal for example), but there's still no doubt that the city has been vital in the evolution of metal. ... More >>

What Happened to the Reseda Country Club?

The San Fernando Valley doesn't come to mind when you think "iconic clubs," but in the 1980s the West Valley was the place to see acts like Tom Petty, Merle Haggard, Metallica and U2. See also: What Makes the Hollywood Bowl So Perfect? The Reseda Country Club, located on Sherman Way near Reseda B ... More >>

The 20 Best Albums Not in the Canon: The Complete List

*Top 20 Worst Bands of All Time *Top 20 Musicians of All Time, in Any Genre *Top 20 Sexiest Female Musicians of All Time *Top 20 Sexiest Male Musicians of All Time A few months back Rolling Stone put out their updated 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. (Here's a quickly-scannable version; Sgt. P ... More >>

The 20 Best Albums Not in the Canon: 10-1

See also: The 20 Best Albums Not in the Canon: 20-11 *Top 20 Worst Bands of All Time *Top 20 Musicians of All Time, in Any Genre *Top 20 Sexiest Female Musicians of All Time *Top 20 Sexiest Male Musicians of All Time 10. Built To Spill Perfect From Now On (1997) Not really grunge but not springy ... More >>

RIP Spin Print Edition (Probably): Why We Loved the Magazine

After being purchased by Buzzmedia last week, Spin Magazine looks to be on its last legs -- the magazine part of it, anyway. Though Buzzmedia representatives haven't said it's going digital-only, they haven't committed to maintaining the print edition, either. It seems likely that we won't see much ... More >>

Everything You Wanted to Know About Metal but Were Afraid to Ask

Subgenres explained, from thrash to pornogrind

The Best Supergroups in Metal

Bereft's debut album, Leichenhaus, was released this week. Featuring members of Abysmal Dawn and Intronaut, and an ex-member of The Faceless, the group plays snail-paced doom-metal inspired by 90's U.K. acts like Paradise Lost and Anathema. Since it came out just this week, it is still too early to ... More >>

Ten Rap-Rock Songs That Are Actually Awesome

See also: Crazy Town's Shifty Shellshock Is Out of His Coma! Here's Everything You Need To Know About Him Rap-rock remains the coolest idea ever. You've just been scared off of it by the mountain of terrible rap-rock in existence. Here are ten songs that prove the Woodstock '99-tainted genre could ... More >>

9/11 Changed Everything For The Music Industry

​By Chaz Kangas September 11th brought irrevocable change to our society, and the music industry was no exception. It was also a very strange time; both rap group The Coup and metal band Dream Theater released album covers with the World Trade Center in flames. Radio DJs across the country, m ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Announces 2011 Line-Up: Slayer, Passion Pit, Danzig Legacy, Public Enemy

​The line-ups at Austin's Fun Fun Fun often contain acts that other large scale festival wouldn't, but FFF doesn't shy away from the hardcore along with the soft. This year's just-announced line-up includes not just Passion Pit, Girls, and Cold Cave, but also The Damned, Kid Dynamite, and Flyi ... More >>

Portola Coffee Lab and "The Best Fresh-Roasted Coffee in the World"

T. NguyenPortola's Show No Mercy espresso​ Portola Coffee Lab is not one to shy away from hyperbole. Take, for example, its unabashed declaration that it has "the best fresh-roasted coffee in the world". Or the title of a recent post on its blog: "Our Coffee Roaster is Saving the Planet." C ... More >>

Children Of Bodom and The Top 30 Heavy Metal Songs Inspired By Horrific Acts Committed By Man's Inhumanity To Man

The last time I saw Children of Bodom perform live ended up being one of the strangest nights of my life. That night saw a chain of events that included meeting Rob Lowe, inadvertently being recruited to spend the night caring for a reality-TV star whose drink had been drugged, and spending a 24-hou ... More >>

EXCLUSIVE: Metallica's Lars Ulrich On Surviving the Big 4 and the Roots of Thrash

Warner Bros.Metallica's Lars Ulrich​Months of anticipation came to an explosive finish in the California desert on Saturday night, as Metallica closed their "Big 4" thrash-fest with a thundering "Seek & Destroy" for 50,000 weary headbangers spread across Empire Polo Field in Indio. By acknowle ... More >>

Big 4 Recap: Backstage, Onstage and Caught in a Mosh at Metal's Biggest Event

Paul HebertDesert Thrashers: Metallica's Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield​Thrash has become the music of brotherly love. Backstage at the Big 4 fest on Saturday, all four of the day's speedy metal acts gathered for a quick group portrait with photographer Ross Halfin. And standing tall at the c ... More >>

EXCLUSIVE: Slayer's Kerry King Reveals How Thrash Survives

Photograph by Steve ApplefordSlayer guitarist Kerry King​ Thrash metal musicians are not always the most social of animals. The guys in Anthrax do tend to get along with other bands, but Slayer, Megadeth and Metallica have famously traded insults across the decades over slights big and small. ... More >>

EXCLUSIVE: Megadeth's Dave Mustaine On Embracing the Big 4 and Finally Getting Over Metallica

Stephanie CabralFlame-haired shredder Dave Mustaine and Megadeth​ Of all the musicians onstage at Saturday's epic Big 4 Festival of thrash, Dave Mustaine arrives with the most complicated history. He is an essential figure within this loud-fast genre of metal, and the originator of a certain ... More >>

EXCLUSIVE: Slayer's Tom Araya Talks Moshpits, Spider-bites and the Big 4

Steve ApplefordSlayer's Tom Araya​ For Slayer's singer-bassist Tom Araya, thrash-metal has been a 30-year mission. On Saturday, his band joins Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth in Indio, California, for the Big 4 Fest - invading the site of Coachella while continuing a collaboration that began ... More >>

Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax Play Coachella April 23

Guitar Hero is Dead, Long Live the Top 10 Songs to Play on Guitar Hero!

Top 10 Songs to Play on Guitar Hero

Who Is the Biggest of the Big Four?: Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax in Size Standoff at Post-Coachella Thrash Metal Fest

zme music​So the Coachella organizers had an empty slot between the Coachella festival itself and the much more chill Stagecoach "Americana" festival and, as everyone knows by now, they offered it to Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer for the first American version of the Big Four festiva ... More >>

Top 10 Songs For the Apocalypse (Bird Death? Crabicide? Snooki's Book? Signs of the Endtimes!)

TK 10 Songs For the Apocalypse

Top 10 Metal Shows in LA in 2010 (with Bonus Video Evidence!)

Timothy NorrisThe 2010 LA Weekly poster children for LA Metal posing at Sunset Strip Music Festival​ "THE" 10 best LA Metal shows of the year? How dare we? Alright--we're gonna go there. It wasn't easy but after a few hours rummaging through the desk drawer that finds my old drunkenly discard ... More >>

Whatever Happened to Chet Thompson?

Amazing LA Bus Rants: "What Ever Happened to Chet Thompson?" (With ridiculous video)

​Ranter: Shaved-headed white dude, in his mid-forties, wearing black hoodie and beret Location: West Sunset bus stop and then the 2 bus Time: Eleven p.m., Saturday, October 16 Topics Covered: Whether buses can be proven to exist; the possibility that this is a duplicate earth; time travel; Sl ... More >>

Tonight: Slayer, Megadeth, Film School, Los Enanitos Verdes, Wiz Khalifa, Born Ruffians, Frank Fairfield

Slayer​If the current "Clash of Titans" tour featuring Slayer, Medageth and Anthrax has reinforced one notion, it's that anger never goes out of style. The tour, with Slayer and Megadeth co-headlining, has been raging, drawing metal fans young and old to the music of bands that, along with Me ... More >>

Music Picks: Laurie Anderson, Onibaba, Superchunk

Also, Hoodoo Gurus, Die Antwoord, Jonsi and others

Do Not Adjust Your iPod

Sleigh Bells, the band everyone's talking about, is meant to sound messed up. Roll with it

Top 10 Country Radio Songs to Open Your Mind (Even if You Think You Hate Country Music)

Eazylanish/Flickr​We've seen it over and over on Facebook profiles. Music: "I like just about anything...except COUNTRY, of course!" As if admitting to liking mainstream country music (because, sure, everyone likes Johnny Cash) is like admitting to having a Beanie Babies collection. It's sham ... More >>

Q&A: The FYF Fest

Live Review: Slayer, Megadeth and Testament Hit Long Beach for American Carnage (and a Couple of Christians Are Not Amused)

Evil AlexWarning thrash metal fans about Hell​ A tall skinny man in all black shouted, "FUCK YOU JESUS FREAK! SATAN SATAN!" as he stood in line to be frisked at the Long Beach Arena Monday evening, for the American Carnage Tour, a thrash metal epiphany type event, featuring Testament, Megade ... More >>

Exclusive Interview: Megadeth's David Ellefson on Thrash Metal, his Favorite Bible Story and the Status of That Elusive American "Big Four" Tour (Yes You, Metallica. We're Waiting.)

Valerie McRobertsDavid Ellefson enjoying a stiff Starbucks before Megadeth's set​Megadeth are undoubtedly one of the biggest thrash metal bands of all time. Fronted by Dave Mustaine, founder, guitarist and vocalist, the band was formed in the early '80s after Mustaine was kicked out of Metalli ... More >>

PUT A BID ON IT

John 5: Malice Man

Slayer’s Bloody Template

More tales of serial murder and psychosis, state oppression, snuff films and endless war over oil

Slayer Signs Guitars, Kids, Shark-Eaten Feet at Hot Topic

Slayer Signs Guitars, Kids and Shark-Eaten Feet at Hot Topic

Slayer to Appear at ... Hot Topic at Hollywood & Highland? Really? Yes.

It has come to our attention that next Tuesday Slayer will be meeting its fans not in Hell, Hades, or even some burning lake of fire. Nope, Rather, they will appear at HOT TOPIC at Hollywood and Highland. Details, and reactions, after the jump.

The Coffin Kitchen: Other uses for caskets. Plus Coffin Bath Cabinet, Bookshelves, Coffee Table, and Carry-on Luggage

Well, hello crazy! Can you spot the coffins in this kitchen? Kind of hard to miss them. This is a kitchen done by "Coffin It Up," an interior design and construction company. "If you have a specific coffin need or idea, it can and will be created, if you desire," says their website. "Prices will v ... More >>