This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Slayer are one of the earliest thrash bands and part of the big four. They are known for their more extreme sound compared to others of the time. Their core line up consisted of guitarists Kerry King and the late Jeff Hanneman. Vocal and bass was handled by Tom Araya. Dave Lambardo was on drums for the early and most important albums. Paul Bostaph took his place through much of the 90’s. Dave Returned for two albums and Paul once again returned for their last release which also had Exodus guitarist, Gary Holt in the place of Jeff. All music writing credit is shared between Jeff and Kerry. Tom has occasionally contributed to lyrics.

Deep Purple were a very important and influential hard rock and early metal band. Kerry named them as an influence on him and thrash in general. He named Ritchie as one of his early influences. Dave named Ian Paice as one of his heroes.

Led Zeppelin are fathers of hard rock and one of the biggest most important bands. They were an early influence on Jeff, Tom also named them as an influence. Dave named Bonham as one of his heroes.

Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. Kerry and Tom named them as an influence. Dave named Bill Ward as one of his heroes.

UFO are an influential hard rock band. Tom said they were an influence on the band. Jeff said Michael Schenker was an influence at one time.

Montrose were a hard rock band now mostly remembered as Sammy Hagar’s first band. Kerry named Ronnie Montrose as an early influence.

Judas Priest are known as the metal gods for good reason, being one of the most influential metal bands and had a large hand in defining metal. Kerry named them as an influence. He said both Glenn and K.K were influence but more so Glenn who he says is one of the most underrated guitarists. When asked about influences, Judas Priest is consistently one of the bands Kerry talks about the most and names them as his favorite band. Priest were one of Jeff’s early influences.

Rainbow combined Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio in and incredible band. Kerry named Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll as a favorite album being both a huge fan of Ritchie and Dio. — Rainbow combined Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio in and incredible band. Kerry named *Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll* as a favorite album being both a huge fan of Ritchie and Dio.

AC/DC are the quintessential hard rock band. Kerry is a huge fan.

Ted Nugent was a big hard rock player in the days before people only cared about his politics. Kerry named him as an early influence.

Dead Kennedys were an important punk / hardcore punk band. Jeff named them as an influence.

Van Halen had a huge impact on the music scene when they emerged. Kerry was a huge fan before discovering proper metal with Judas Priest. He said he saw them live around six times when VH were supporting their first three albums.

Yngwie Malmsteen is considered one of the most talented guitarists around and had a huge impact bring a neo-classical style to the forefront. Jeff named him as an influence at one time.

Iron Maiden are one of the most influential metal bands and the biggest of the NWOBHM movement. Kerry named them as an influence, particularly naming Dave and Adrian. Maiden were one of Jeff’s early influences. Tom is also a fan.

Venom are one of the most important bands when it comes to pushing metal into a more extreme direction. Kerry named them as an influence and talks about how their early look was Venom inspired. He said they were “the best shitty band ever”.

Ozzy was blessed with some amazing players when he went solo. Kerry is a huge fan of Randy Rhoads and also thinks Zakk is great. He has said Randy was a huge early influence were as Zakk has become a bigger influence in more recent years.

Black Flag are one of the most important bands for hardcore punk. Jeff named them as an influence.

Mercyful Fate were cramming in tons of riffs and changes in their songs. Kerry said this was something they would also do and were influenced by them.

T.S.O.L. were a hardcore punk band venturing into some gothic. Jeff named them as an influence.

Wasted Youth were a popular LA hardcore punk band. Jeff named them as an influence.

MInor Threat were a hardcore punk band from DC. Jeff named them as an influence.

Metallica are the fathers of thrash. Kerry said himself they deserve the credit for starting it. He remembers him and Jeff seeing them in their early days when Dave Mustaine was still on guitar. In an early unpublished interview from Brian Lew do… — Metallica are the fathers of thrash. Kerry said himself they deserve the credit for starting it. He remembers him and Jeff seeing them in their early days when Dave Mustaine was still on guitar. In an early unpublished interview from Brian Lew done in 1983 prior to *Show No Mercy*, Jeff named Metallica as an influence stating that along with Venom and Mercyful Fate they were the only bands they listened to at the time. Dave also said they were inspired by them.

Dimebag Darrel

Dime is considered one of the greatest metal guitarists by many. With Pantera he became the father of groove metal and would go on to do albums with Rebel Meets Rebel and Damage Plan before his untimely death. Kerry named him as one of his modern … — Dime is considered one of the greatest metal guitarists by many. With Pantera he became the father of groove metal and would go on to do albums with Rebel Meets Rebel and Damage Plan before his untimely death. Kerry named him as one of his modern influences.

Kerry described early Slayer as a cross between Venom, Mercyful Fate, with a bit of Judas Priest and a bit of punk.

Kerry talked about Exodus being like brothers to them, both very similar bands. He names Bonded by Blood as one of his favorite albums. He also gives credit as Metallica being the first thrash band and names Master of Puppets as a favorite album. He remembers him and Jeff seeing them in their early days when Dave Mustaine was still on guitar. Besides his metal influences he also mentions listening to Boston and Elton John.

Kerry named favorite singers as Halford, Dio, and Bruce Dickinson, in that order.

Jeff has earlier influences that are hard rock and heavy metal, his hardcore punk influences started after. He said that is where Slayer’s speed and aggression come from. On the other hand though, Kerry has stated that much of the moody or slow stuff from Slayer is written by Jeff where Kerry tends to write the faster stuff.

Tom was first inspired to play music through what his older brother was listening to and learning to play. This was 60’s rock like The Beatles and Rolling Stones. He say his big influences early on came from the radio in the 60’s stuff from Motown and pop and rock music of the time including: Jefferson Airplane, The Turtles, Steppen Wolf, Janis Joplin. He names The Doors as a big influence. He named Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin as big influences growing up/ Tom says he listens to a large array of music including Chilean folk, old country. He his a big fan of Elvis and Simon and Garfunkle, Iron Maiden, The Police.

Dave named drum heroes as Bill Ward, John Bonham, Ian Paice, Mitch Mitchell, and Ginger Baker. He was first inspired to drum through his brother who was listening to stuff like Cream, Janis Joplin and Led Zeppelin. He said he would play on boxes before having a drum set. He also says as a kid he was into Kiss, Ram Jam, Stevie Wonder, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and Doobie Brothers. Dave said that in the early days he was into punk which influenced him to play faster.

Because Paul was not part of the original line up or have writing credit with the band I won’t cover his influences here. Eventually Forbidden will probably get a family tree and his influences will be covered there.

Obviously Gary will be covered with Exodus.

Bands influenced by Slayer!

As this project advances, bands will be added here… there are many!

Considered Fathers of Death Metal by many

Classic Death Metal

Taking Black Metal into a progressive direction

One of the biggest of New Wave Thrash

Sources:

https://geocities.restorativland.org/SoHo/Study/9077/slayer.html
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/slayers-kerry-king-my-10-favorite-metal-albums-197333/venom-black-metal-1982-197516/
https://guitar.com/features/kerry-king-interview-good-king/
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/kerry_king_explains_what_he_did_at_final_slayer_shows_that_some_fans_didnt_notice_comments_on_people_saying_band_was_going_to_fold_after_hannemans_death.html
http://www.knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=3153
https://www.revolvermag.com/music/raining-blood-jeff-hanneman-origin-legacy-slayers-defining-song
https://www.facebook.com/MITFR/photos/a.247331665301618.63511.194273063940812/376624455705671
https://web.archive.org/web/20081208043348/http://www.midwestmetalmagazine.com/interviewslayer.html
https://bravewords.com/news/slayer-guitarist-jeff-hanneman-im-in-a-weird-mood-right-now-with-music
https://web.archive.org/web/20150417081113/http://knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=3456
https://www.fuse.tv/videos/2013/12/slayer-music-influences
https://www.wikimetal.com.br/interview-with-tom-araya-slayer/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GNCGLPWxw8
http://myglobalmind.com/2014/03/09/exclusive-interview-thrash-drum-legend-dave-lombardo-former-slayer/
https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/slayer-s-dave-lombardo-talks-about-his-early-musical-influences-with-exploremusic/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Urf29ac9bA
https://metaladdicts.com/dave-lombardo-how-dave-mustaine-behaved-in-metallica/