John Tabares joined Los Angeles thrash outfit Hirax in 1984, replacing initial drummer Brian Keith after the band's first demo.



The next year, in 1985, Hirax contributed the track “Destruction And Terror” for the compilation "Angelican Scrape Attic" 7” flexi disc, which was Earache Records first release.



Johnny Tabares departed before the recordings of "Hate, Fear, And Power" in 1986. He was replaced with former D.R.I. drummer Eric Brecht. Brecht stayed until the band broke up in 1989.



In 1998, Hirax began to receive a lot of feedback and fan mail, which triggered the reformation of the band. The band reunited in 2000, featuring Johnny Tabares on drums again. In 2003 Tabares was reaplaced by Jorge Iacobellis.



2004 saw John Tabares show up in Weapons of Mass Destruction, along with former Hirax bassist Gary Monardo. In 2005 the band decided to change their name to Weapon 13 to avoid confusion with similarly named acts.