It might sound hard to believe, but there was once a time in the early Eighties when thrash- and hair-metal bands were allies, rather than enemies. With the underground still in its infancy, most metalheads had a laissez-faire musical worldview, consuming (and covering) tunes from across the heavy spectrum — provided, of course, that the riffs were sick, the volume loud and the darkness preeminent.
Which brings us to Slayer's Tom Araya. Shortly before the release of the band's iconic 1983 debut Show No Mercy, the singer was filmed unleashing a powerful cover of Mötley Crüe's "Looks That Kill" at a small club in his native Los Angeles — and by club, we mean his garage. And instead of his Slayer bandmates, Araya was joined by his brother John (lead guitar), Al Messi (bass), Jake Alvarado (drums) and Dimitri Galeos on (rhythm guitar). As an added (albeit brief) bonus, we hear them them kicking into Quiet Riot's "Metal Health" at the end of the clip; granted, it cuts off before the opening riff, but hey — it's something.
Another clip, uploaded by Galeos himself finds Araya and friends tearing through two more classics: Judas Priest's "Breakin' the Law" and Dio's "Rainbow in the Dark." Check that out below.
