History Early Days (1981–1982)

Slayer was formed in 1981, when guitarist Kerry King met Jeff Hanneman while auditioning for a band. The two recruited bassist and vocalist Tom Araya, who had played with King before in the band Quits (previously called Tradewinds). Drummer Dave Lombardo was recruited when he met King while delivering a pizza. The band played cover versions of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest songs at clubs and parties in Southern California. Early shows relied on a Satanic image, which featured pentagrams, make-up, spikes, and inverted crosses. Rumors that the band was originally known as Dragonslayer, after the 1981 movie of the same name, were denied by King: "We never were; it's a myth to this day."
The band was offered to open for Bitch at the Woodstock Club in Los Angeles, performing eight songs — six being covers. While performing Iron Maiden's "Phantom of the Opera" the band was spotted by Brian Slagel, a former music journalist who had recently founded Metal Blade Records. Impressed with Slayer's performance, Slagel met with the band backstage and asked them to record an original song, "Aggressive Perfector" for his upcoming Metal Massacre III compilation. The band agreed and the song created underground buzz, which led to Slagel offering the band a recording contract with Metal Blade.