The Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of History is Profiling Slayer

The Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of History is profiling sonic pioneers as part of their ‘Places of Musical Innovation’ exhibit. And when it comes to metal, their focusing on the Bay Area thrash explosion, and, specifically, Slayer.

Which, if you ask me, is fucking cool as Hell. While plenty of metalheads have heard the Murder In The Front Row story over and over again, lots of outsiders probably don’t know much about the San Francisco thrash scene. The few who do probably know it via Metallica, and that band’s been profiled a million and one times.

And besides, we all know–ready, angry commenters?–that Slayer are the truest band of the Bay Area thrash scene. They were the most successful while being the least compromising. So what if they’re now a huge entity within the metal scene that produces overpriced merch which makes me squirm in my seat–they’re still the best example there is of how thrash came about. I respect the Smithsonian for recognizing that and not just going with the biggest name. Then again, maybe I’m biased.

Watch the Smithsonian’s profile video below. Slayer’s latest, Repentless, comes out on 9/11 via Nuclear Blast.