The Slayer Drum Throne: What the Chair Demands of Whoever Sits In It

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 17:24:33 +0000

Dave Lombardo founded the sound. Paul Bostaph learned it note for note, played the last show, and is the one sitting there now. The chair outlasted the legend.

Pull up “Angel of Death” and listen to the kick drum.

That pattern is the entrance exam. In 1992, when Paul Bostaph auditioned for Slayer, he played nine songs and made exactly one mistake, and it happened in “Angel of Death” (Wikipedia). Thirty-four years later people still bring it up, because it is the job description.

God Hates Us All at 25: Slayer's nailed Bible cover, the September 11, 2001 street date, and the same date on Repentless in 2015

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 22:14:48 +0000

Twenty-five years ago this week, Slayer put out the record with the nails through the Bible, on the one Tuesday in 2001 nobody remembers for a record. Fourteen years later they put out another one on the same date.

The street date was a Tuesday. That is all it was supposed to be.

Slayer released God Hates Us All on September 11, 2001. In the US that was a normal Tuesday street date, the day new records went on the shelf. The album had already been pushed back once because of the cover, as Loudwire’s anniversary piece notes, so the date was not chosen for anything. It was where the schedule landed after the delay.

Paul Bostaph on Real Rock Lab

The Slayer Drum Throne: What the Chair Demands of Whoever Sits In It

God Hates Us All at 25: Slayer's nailed Bible cover, the September 11, 2001 street date, and the same date on Repentless in 2015

The street date was a Tuesday. That is all it was supposed to be.