Kerry King: “There was a camaraderie between the thrash bands at the time.

Eventually he started like it – if you get hit in the head with something enough, eventually you start liking it.” Tom Araya: “The last one on the wagon was Kerry – he was more of a metalhead. Then he’d bring it in and play it all the time.”ĭave Lombardo: “TSOL, Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks… Jeff was discovering new bands all the time. He figured the cooler the cover, the better the band.

There was this record store where he’d go a lot and look for album covers. Tom Araya: “Jeff had become a fan of a lot of West Coast punk. It was awesome, because it gave us a clear picture of where he was going.” And then he would present us with cassettes. But Jeff had invested in recording equipment and he started recording his own demos complete with the basic drum pattern, guitar riffs, some arrangements. Tom Araya: “Right at the end of the Hell Awaits period, Jeff and Kerry were constantly putting ideas together, coming up with new stuff.”ĭave Lombardo: “Before, we would all sit together and bang out the songs. We had already released two albums and been on tour.” They were on friendly terms with their contemporaries in the thrash scene, but they knew they had it in them to deliver something that would leave every other trailing in their wake.ĭave Lombardo: “We were getting cocky. The Hell Awaits campaign hadn’t finished, but Slayer were already planning their next move. Tom Araya: “The only thing that we knew about the next album was that it was gonna be faster than Hell Awaits.” We thought, ‘We can do that.’ But were growing all the time.”ĭave Lombardo: “We knew Hell Awaits was good, but we were itching to get onto the next thing.” At the time, that’s what everybody was doing. Tom Araya: “Songwise, we were writing material that was really heavy – long but heavy. Especially Dave – he was a phenomenal drummer, and he really upped his game big-time on Hell Awaits.”

Everybody was flipping out over them.”īrian Slagel (owner, Metal Blade): “By the time they got to Hell Awaits, you could see how much better they were. It was the only time I got a big head.”ĭon Kaye (US metal journalist): “The first two Slayer albums and the EP came out on Metal Blade.

You’d walk down the street and people would know your face and name. Kerry King: “I look back on that time just before Reign In Blood, and it was totally exciting being a member of Slayer.

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