Writing and Style
Early works were praised for their "breakneck speed and instrumental prowess," combining the structure of hardcore tempos and speed metal the band released fast, aggressive material. The album Reign in Blood is the band's fastest, performed at an average of 220 beats per minute. The album Diabolus in Musica was the band's first with drop D tuning, God Hates Us All the first with C# tuning. Allmusic cited the album as "abandoning the extravagances and accessibility of their late-'80s/early-'90s work and returning to perfect the raw approach," with some fans labeling it nu metal.
Hanneman and King's dual guitar solos have been called "wildly chaotic," and "twisted genius." Drummer Lombardo uses two bass drums, instead of the double kick which is used on a single bass drum. Lombardo's speed and aggression earned him the title of the "godfather of double bass" by Drummerworld. Lombardo states his reasons for using two bass drums: "When you hit the bass drum the head is still resonating. When you hit it in the same place right after that you kinda get a 'slapback' from the bass drum head hitting the other pedal. You're not letting them breathe." When playing the double bass Lombardo uses the "heel-up" technique.
In an interview with Modern Drummer, Lombardo has stated that he always starts playing drum beats with his left foot.
Hanneman, King and Araya contribute to the band's lyrics, and King and Hanneman create and arrange the music with additional arrangement from Lombardo and sometimes Araya. Final Six (from Christ Illusion) is the only song by Slayer which Araya co-wrote the music for, whereas Lombardo has not received any writing credits in Slayer's history. Araya has formed a lyric writing partnership with Hanneman, which can overshadow the creative input of King. Hanneman states writing lyrics and music is a "free for all"; "It's all just whoever comes up with what. Sometimes I'll be more on a roll and I'll have more stuff, same with Kerry— it's whoever's hot, really. Anybody can write anything; if it's good we use it, if not we don't."
When writing new material, the band writes the music before incorporating lyrics. King or Hanneman will use a 24-track and drum machine to show band members the riff they have created, and to get their opinion. Either King, Hanneman or Lombardo will mention if any alterations can be made. The band will play the riff to get the basic song structure, and figure out where the lyrics and solos will be placed. Hanneman, King and Araya tend to have different lyrical influences. Hanneman's lyrics deal with Nazis, religion, warfare and similar topics. King's lyrics are generally anti-religious. Araya's lyrics usually deal with less controversial topics than Hanneman's and King's, such as serial killers and warfare.
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