UNITED STATES – JANUARY 01: Photo of SLAYER (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns)
The International Day of Slayer (IDOS) began in 2006 when a group of Slayer fans decided to commemorate the spirit of metal through Slayer, and to make that compete with other ad hoc and natural cultures, groups and tribes demanding attention in our modern plural society. In their view, each group was claiming social real estate by advocating itself as a cause, and metalheads should do the same through the band that defined what it was to be metal: beyond all rules, too intense for normals, combining both hard literal truths and mythological apocalypticism.
“The original idea of the National Day of Slayer, as it was called back then, was to address the ‘National Day of Prayer’ that was popular among Christians,” said Dag Hansen, publicist for the group. “If they get their day, we get our day. Every other group gets a holiday for their religion, history, ethnic group, or culture. The Irish have St. Patty’s Day, there are days for the birth of Martin Luther King and Jesus Christ, and it seems that every other possible group is declaring unofficial holidays for its cause. It is time metalheads do the same. Firmly, loudly and with the horns thrown high.”
The first National Day of Slayer was marked by loud celebrations, church desecrations, and much blasting of Slayer. In the intervening years, the band have nodded to the holiday by releasing videos and statements commemorating the event. With the death of Slayer founder and guitarist Jeff Hanneman in 2013, the holiday has taken on a sense of preservation of his memory through keeping an active legacy alive. “Hanneman lives through his music, especially the founding years of Slayer from 1983-1991,” said Hansen. “Our goal is to ensure that appreciation and enjoyment of his music is renewed, preferably at 110db.”
This year, fans are encouraged to celebrate Slayer through a year-by-year retrospective of Slayer during its most formative period, and MP3 downloads of live Slayer recordings from 1985. The organizers have created an event page for people to comment on their own participation. But mainly, as the site has encouraged for nearly a decade now, “Listen to Slayer at full blast in any public place you prefer.”
Tags: jeff hanneman, National Day of Slayer, NDOS, slayer
Hey David Rosales:
Symphony X just released their new album, could you please review it ?
Thanks.
http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Symphony_X/Underworld/511791
Send me a promo. I don’t have it so I can’t listen to it.
Funny, I’ve been blasting Show No Mercy and Decade of Aggression all day without even remembering of this anniversary.
Dag Hansen, lel.
Does anyone know why Slayer shares so many fans with Pantera and similar bands? Did they sell out like Metallica or what is the deal there?
I am not being passive-aggressive or facetious, I know relatively little about the band so I am genuinely wondering.
I believe they did sell out starting with Seasons in the Abyss, which was arguably their last decent album.
Is “Rupert Pupkin” an analog of “John Doe” (substitute for “anonymous” or “anyone”)?
In xUSSR, “Vasya Pupkin” (“Vasya” ~ “Basil”) is used the same way as “John Doe”, only with a touch of irony.
Rupert Pupkin is a DeNiro character from the movie King of Comedy.
Slayer’s sound has many layers to it. The Pantera fans listen to Slayer on the first layer, which is: fast, aggressive, evil-sounding. They don’t hit the lower layers, like the neoclassical composition, or the mythic symbolism going on in the lyrics.