{"id":388,"date":"2026-08-15T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realrockrevival.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/15\/he-said-how-about-slayer-with-special-guests-slayer-we-went-wow-that-could-be-crazy-the-bizarre-story-of-slayer-vs-slayer-the-80s-metal-batt\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T15:00:00","slug":"he-said-how-about-slayer-with-special-guests-slayer-we-went-wow-that-could-be-crazy-the-bizarre-story-of-slayer-vs-slayer-the-80s-metal-batt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realrockrevival.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/15\/he-said-how-about-slayer-with-special-guests-slayer-we-went-wow-that-could-be-crazy-the-bizarre-story-of-slayer-vs-slayer-the-80s-metal-batt\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHe said, \u2018How about Slayer with special guests Slayer?\u2019 We went, \u2018Wow, that could be crazy\u2019\u201d: The bizarre story of Slayer vs Slayer, the 80s metal Battle Of The Bands with only one winner"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On November 30, 1984, Slayer<\/a> played their very first gig in San Antonio, Texas. The up-and-coming LA thrashers been booked in at the Villa Fontana, an old country music dancehall with a wooden balcony and a classic desertscape painted on the wall behind the stage. The band on before them that night were a bunch of local San Antonio kids who had carved out a name for themselves in their hometown\u2019s vibrant metal scene. Their name? Well, that was Slayer too.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t the first time two different bands had used the same name, and it wouldn\u2019t be the last, but it\u2019s the only time identically named bands have shared the same bill. These days, the night Slayer went head-to-head with Slayer at the Villa Fortuna has passed into legend as 80s metal\u2019s ultimate Battle Of The Bands, a fight for the name \u2013 and the soul \u2013 of Slayer. After the dust settled, there was a clear winner: the LA Slayer stood victorious, ready to consign their Texan rivals to obscurity and write their own name in the history books. Except what really happened is a little more complicated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were all sorts of rumours and stories – that we\u2019d got a cease-and-desist letter, that this was a battle for the Slayer name,\u201d Don Van Stavern, bassist with the San Antonio version of Slayer, tells Classic Rock<\/em>. \u201cNone of which was true. But it was a crazy gig.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teenage Van Stavern formed his version of Slayer with 15-year-old drummer Dave McClain<\/a> in 1981. The name was a shortened version of Dragonslayer \u2013 ironically, exactly same thing the other Slayer called themselves at first.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe played backyard parties, community colleges, even this indoor mini-golf place,\u201d Dave McClain tells Classic Rock<\/em>. \u201cThere\u2019s really early footage of us playing For The Future<\/em> by Raven, and Angel Witch\u2019s Dr Phibes<\/em> and Angel Of Death<\/em>, which is kind of ironic given Slayer had a song called Angel Of Death<\/em><\/a> later.\u201d<\/p>\n

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SA Slayer\u2019s Steve Cooper and Don Van Stavern <\/span>(Image credit: Don Van Stavern)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By early 1983, the line-up consisted of Van Stavern, McClain, guitarists Bob Catlin and Art Villareal, plus singer Steve Cooper. \u201cHe was the Rob Halford<\/a> of San Antonio, because he sang super-high,\u201d says McClain of Cooper. \u201cHe was older than the rest of us \u2013 he was 22, 23. He seemed like a grandpa to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas was a hotbed of metal at the time. Houston had Helstar and Austin had future prog-metal trailblazers Watchtower<\/a>, though Van Stavern says his band were bigger than both. They were also the first of the three to put out a record, namely 1983\u2019s Prepare To Die<\/em> EP, six tracks of unpolished but energetic early 80s power metal released via local label Rainforest Records. It was around that time that they heard about another band calling themselves Slayer, 1300 miles away in California.<\/p>\n

Van Stavern: \u201cWe got a call: \u2018Hey, do you guys know there\u2019s another Slayer in LA, and they\u2019re about to put out an album too?\u2019 We were totally unfamiliar with them. At first, we thought, \u2018Well, there can be two Slayers \u2013 they\u2019re the LA Slayer, we\u2019re the SA Slayer. Then it started getting a little weird. They called us and said, \u2018Hey, we need to do something about this.\u2019 We said, \u2018We came out first.\u2019 And they said, \u2018Well, we\u2019ve been recording for a year.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Steve Cooper and guitarist Bob \u2018Mad Dog\u2019 Catlin <\/span>(Image credit: Don Van Stavern)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some low-level back and forth between the bands followed, though Van Stavern denies his Slayer were ever sent a cease-and-desist letter by the other Slayer\u2019s label, Metal Blade<\/a>, telling them to stop using the name (in an email to Classic Rock<\/em>, Metal Blade founder Brian Slagel confirms that no cease-and-desist letter was ever sent). Still, Prepare To Die<\/em> would ultimately be overshadowed by the LA Slayer\u2019s debut album, Show No Mercy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMetal Blade had better distribution, so we kind of started getting squashed,\u201d says Van Stavern. \u201cBut we were like, \u2018Well, we wanna keep going.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Except it didn\u2019t quite play out like that. The Prepare To Die<\/em> EP had done well enough for the San Antonio Slayer to go into the studio in early 1984 to record a full-length album, Go For The Throat<\/em> (hotshot guitarist Ron Jarzombek had replaced Art Villareal the previous year).<\/p>\n

There was just one problem. Between starting the album and finishing it, Van Stavern, McClain and Steve Cooper had begun jamming with Mark Reale, guitarist with 80s metal hotshots Riot. There was talk that the pair would join a new band Reale was putting together, named Narita.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other guys from Slayer were saying, \u2018What\u2019s going on? Are we gonna continue this?\u2019\u201d says Van Stavern. \u201cWe were, like, \u2018We wanna jam with Mark, see how this goes.\u2019 So Slayer was kind of put on hiatus.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the band out of action for the foreseeable future, Rainforest Records saw no point in releasing Go For The Throat<\/em> and shelved it. And that was that for San Antonio\u2019s Slayer. Or at least it was until the Fall of 1984, when a local promoter friend approached them with a proposition. He was booking a show at the the Villa Fontana theatre by the Los Angeles Slayer \u2013 and he wanted the San Antonio Slayer to get back together to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018How about Slayer with special guests Slayer?\u2019\u201d says Van Stavern. \u201cWe were like, \u2018Wow, that would be crazy.\u2019 We figured it was a good idea \u2013 we were all in metal together.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Future Sacred Reich\/Machine Head drummer Dave McClain in Slayer <\/span>(Image credit: Don Van Stavern)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen Show No Mercy<\/em><\/a> came out, we were, like, \u2018OK, cool, whatever,\u2019\u201d says McClain \u201cThen when the Haunting The Chapel<\/em> EP came out [in August 1984], we were, like, \u2018Whoah, this is sick.\u2019 We\u2019d drive around in our friend\u2019s car like Beavis & Butt-head, with the windows down, just cranking the EP.\u201d<\/p>\n

A friend in San Antonio made a flyer for the show. Like a home-made boxing poster, it featured the names of the two bands and their respective hometowns (\u201cLos Angeles, CA\u201d and \u201cSan Antonio, TX\u201d) under the none-more-thrash slogan \u201c1000 mph or death!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey played Austin the night before we were playing with them, so we went down to hang out and say hello,\u201d says Dave McClain. \u201cThey weren\u2019t dicks, but we went, \u2018Hi, we\u2019re in the other Slayer\u2019, and they were, [nonchalantly], \u2018Uh, OK, cool\u2026\u2019\u201d (Things couldn\u2019t have been that tense \u2013 Don Van Stavern recalls introducing the Californian band).<\/p>\n

The day of the San Antonio show, the LA Slayer turned up at La Villa Fortuna in drummer Dave Lombardo<\/a>\u2019s Trans-Am, with their equipment in a trailer hooked to the back. \u201cI remember them making fun of us cos we had my mom\u2019s Cadillac with a U-Haul on it,\u201d says McClain.<\/p>\n

Despite the piss-taking, the local Slayer helped the out-of-towners bring their equipment into the venue. \u201cWe shared a dressing room backstage,\u201d says Van Stavern. \u201cWe were hanging out with them. The only one that didn\u2019t talk a lot was [guitarist] Kerry King. The rest of the guys were cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gig had sold out, partly on novelty factor but mostly on the strength of the bill. The LA Slayer had a growing underground buzz around them, while the SA Slayer were genuine hometown heroes, even if they\u2019d been out of action for the past few months.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a sold-out show, there were kids literally hanging off the balcony,\u201d says Van Stavern. \u201cIt was a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

A couple of local bands, Syrus and Militia, opened up the show before the San Antonio Slayer came on. \u201cWe went out there and said, \u2018Let\u2019s play the heaviest show we can play, the best show we can play,\u2019\u201d says Van Stavern. \u201cWhen you\u2019re playing a show like that, you\u2019re gonna give it your all. Plus we had the hometown advantage, so all our people were going nuts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe show was crazy,\u201d says McClain. \u201cIt was mayhem – there was stage diving, screaming, everything. We felt like we owned the town.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other Slayer were no slackers when it came to serving up a spectacle of their own. \u201cThey had a great reaction too,\u201d says Van Stavern. \u201cBut it was a different style \u2013 power metal against thrash metal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The San Antonio Slayer onstage at the Villa Fortuna during the \u2018Slayer vs Slayer\u2019 show <\/span>(Image credit: Don Van Stavern)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Amid the heat and flailing bodies, any potential rivalry between the namesake bands failed to materialise. \u201cWe hung out after, maybe even helped them pack up,\u201d says McClain. \u201cI think Lombardo may have even taken off with a couple of my cymbal stands. I\u2019ve never asked him about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what of the whole \u2018Battle Of The Bands\u2019 angle? It wasn\u2019t even a consideration, according to Don Van Stavern. \u201cThe whole \u2018versus\u2019 thing came out afterwards, about how it was a contest for the name. It was nothing like that. It wasn\u2019t a battle for the name – we were already on our way out.\u201d<\/p>\n

That much is true. The San Antonio version of Slayer played one more show before going their separate ways. Van Stavern reconnected with Mark Reale and helped get a relaunched version of Riot off the ground; the bassist is on his third stint with the band, now rechristened Riot V, with new album Mean Streets<\/em><\/a> out on February 16, 2024 (Reale died in 2012). McClain is currently on his second run with Arizona thrashers Sacred Reich, with a 23-year stretch in groove metallers Machine Head<\/a> in between (he crossed paths with the other Slayer many times over the years, but says he\u2019s never brought up the San Antonio show). Guitarist Ron Jarzombek went on to join Watchtower, while Bob Catlin stayed active in the Texas metal scene. Singer Steve Cooper passed away in 2006 at the age of 47.<\/p>\n

Go For The Throat<\/em>, the debut album they recorded and shelved in 1984, was finally released in 1988. It was credited to S.A. Slayer. \u201cSome guy put it out independently,\u201d says Van Stavern. \u201cWe just said, Put \u2018S.A.\u2019 in front of it so they know it\u2019s not the other Slayer. But the original artwork just said \u2018Slayer\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

That album would become a cult favourite among underground metal afficionados. \u201cI get people coming up to me all the time and asking me to sign it,\u201d says McClain.<\/p>\n

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Tom Araya of the \u2018other\u2019 Slayer onstage in San Antonio in 2018 \u2013 note the \u2018Slayer vs Slayer\u2019 T-shirt <\/span>(Image credit: Gary Miller\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Van Stavern and McClain briefly regrouped with Catlin, Jarzombek and ex-Watchtower singer Jason McMaster in 2022 to re-record a couple of old songs, though they have yet to be released. When Classic Rock<\/em> speaks to Van Stavern at the end of 2023, he says there has been interest in a potential full reunion from festivals. \u201cIt\u2019s not out of the question to see the band reform again and go out with a bang,\u201d says the bassist. \u201cThe way we should have gone out first time around.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one more amusing wrinkle in the story. On August 15, 2018, the LA Slayer played San Antonio as part of their farewell tour. Frontman Tom Araya took to the stage that night wearing a T-shirt featuring the original \u2018Slayer vs Slayer\u2019 flyer \u2013 a sweet nod to their shared history.<\/p>\n

\u201cAm I jealous of the other Slayer? That\u2019s a no-brainer,\u201d says Van Stavern with a laugh. \u201cEven though I\u2019m in Riot and the other guys have gone on to do other things, I\u2019d love to have had their career.\u201d<\/p>\n

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