Watch DAVE LOMBARDO, GARY HOLT And PHIL DEMMEL Perform SLAYER 'Reign In Blood' Classics At METAL ALLEGIANCE Concert

January 17, 2020

Former SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo joined Gary Holt (guitar; SLAYER, EXODUS),Phil Demmel (guitar; MACHINE HEAD, VIO-LENCE),Jack Gibson (bass; EXODUS) and Mark Osegueda (vocals; DEATH ANGEL) on stage last night (Thursday, January 16) at the METAL ALLEGIANCE concert at the House Of Blues in Anaheim, Californa to perform three SLAYER "Reign In Blood"-album classics: "Postmortem", "Raining Blood" and "Angel Of Death". Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.

An original member of SLAYER, Lombardo was effectively fired from the band after sitting out the group's Australian tour in February/March 2013 due to a contract dispute with the other members of SLAYER. He was replaced by Paul Bostaph, who was previously SLAYER's drummer from 1992 until 2001 and who had recorded four albums with the band. Lombardo currently splits his time between crossover pioneers SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, horror-punk icons MISFITS and hardcore supergroup DEAD CROSS.

Holt began filling in for SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman at live shows in 2011, and became the band's full-time co-guitarist as of 2013, while remaining a member of EXODUS. Holt played on SLAYER's final album, "Repentless", which came out in 2015. The band's other guitarist, Kerry King, told ArtistDirect how he worked with Holt during the recording of the record. "When I did leads, I probably did half of them," he said. "Gary came in and did his. Then, I probably did the other half of mine. He got to play off of mine on some songs. I got to play off of his on other songs."

Demmel filled in for Holt for four SLAYER European shows in December 2018 after Gary returned home to be with his dying father. Phil, who had only played his last show with MACHINE HEAD the day prior to being asked to join SLAYER on the road, later credited SLAYER with "saving" his musical career. "In under 24 hours, I went from the last day of a tour wondering whether I was even good enough to be bands any more to this mind-blowing text from Kerry King asking if I could play in SLAYER," he said.

Hanneman contracted necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating disease, in January 2011 from a spider bite in his backyard. The infection ravaged the flesh and tissues of Hanneman's arm, leading to numerous surgeries, skin grafts and intense periods of rehab that forced him into semi-retirement and left him near death at several points. Hanneman eventually died in May 2013 from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver. He is credited for writing many of SLAYER's classic songs, including "Angel Of Death" and "South Of Heaven".

SLAYER played its last-ever concert in November at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

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