Slayer at The Forum

Slayer – The Forum – 2 June 2010

Words by Brendan Monteiro / Photo’s by Marcus Maschwitz

I’m not going to try and swindle you into thinking I’m a huge Slayer fan, I once owned Divine Intervention and that is about as far as my knowledge of the band goes back. It is a known thing, to me at least, that Slayer fans don’t take crap and with that in mind I was a bit nervous about reviewing them. But the chance to see such a legendary band play could not be missed. I walk into The Forum and instantly I’m greeted by the musky smell of man sweat, it looms over the crowd like day old beer and filters all the way to the entrance. It’s a smell that immediately reminds me of swirling pits, thrashing arms and jangly legs atop a sea of windmilling metalheads and tonight is not going to be any different. The Forum is packed and the collage of varied metal shirts littered throughout the venue nudges more to old school bands with an array of different ages wearing them.

I make my way to a good viewing post with ample ground to move away from any swelling and out of control pits. The mass that has congregated here are fired up and rearing for a show. With chants of “SLAYER, SLAYER” whisking by ever so often I do a count of how many Marshall cabs litter the stage, by the end of my count I see 30 cabs all together and am pretty grateful I have my earplugs. Finally the lights dim and the crowd goes wild and then the lights quickly go back on, a few seconds later the same thing occurs again and is repeated again and again. By the third time I think many people were wondering if maybe the lighting man had a death wish. So 5 misguided cheers later and the house lights fade away for real this time, the smoke machines bellow big puffs of cloud onto the stage and out comes Slayer, this time the roar is bigger and stretches on for some time. The effect of the smoke machines and red lights gives the stage a bloody feel as they dive-bomb straight into World Painted Blood, what comes next is a total annihilation of any unprotected ears. Tom stands dead centre stage, he doesn’t move about too much but you can understand why not with his recent bout of back problems.

With smoke engulfing half his body he looks like a portrait of grizzly devilish man ready to tear the meat off of any fans that come within striking distance. Kerry and Jeff stand on either side of him, Kerry shreds away with his trademark chains and “I will kill you” look in his eyes while Jeff tears it up on the other side of the stage under the canopy of his long locks. Then there’s Mr Lombardo in the background, you can barely see him behind the mass of cymbals, drums and haze of drumsticks moving at 100 miles per second.

They literally bombed the senses with the biggest sound that I have ever heard since Motorhead; and they don’t just stop there, there visual impact is just as hard felt as the pounding rhythms and screeching solo’s. The backdrop is a giant lcd type screen, first showing a massive Slayer logo but later filtering through album covers and other visual treats. The setlist is a mammoth selection that incorporates both old and new – Hell Awaits, Chemical Warfare (Haunting The Chapel EP), Aggressive Perfector (Metal Massacre lll compilation), Hate Worldwide as well as Raining Blood, War Ensemble and Jihad which are like a staple to their sets. The audience is torn into people raging in the pit or echoing Toms lyrics, in particular the crowd really gives it their all during the chorus line of Disciple which would probably freak non Slayer fans or the Catholic Secular Forum in India.

The music is heavy as hell, the lyrical content is even heavier but what you don’t expect from Slayer is the humbleness that they bring with them, after seeing them live and seeing how grateful they are to their fans for coming out and seeing them I can finally see why their fans are so loyal. It’s not about how much hair you have to windmill or how many of the words you know that makes you feel like you should be here, rather peculiarly it’s the band on stage that make me feel so welcome tonight, I may be an outsider and I may not agree with everything Slayer do or have done but I totally commend them on their attitudes and the type of show they put on. They throw everything they have into giving the fans what they want, from smoldering solo’s and bludgeoning rhythms. Although I speak as a minority for the crowd, I am sure that everyone at this show walked out with the biggest smile ever, for myself personally it’s a show I will never forget.

Setlist:

World Painted Blood
Hate Worldwide
Cult
Disciple
Expendable Youth
War Ensemble
Jihad
Beauty Through Order
Payback
Seasons in the Abyss
Hell Awaits
Mandatory Suicide
Chemical Warfare
Raining Blood
Aggressive Perfector

Encore:

South of Heaven
Silent Scream
Angel of Death

Posted on Wednesday, 2 June 2010 in Live Reviews, Mainarticles | 2 Comments »
Tagged as American Records, Columbia Records, Dave Lombardo, Jeff Hannerman, Kerry King, Sony Music, Tom Araya