Slayer kills at farewell show in Edmonton

Springtime in Edmonton. The trees are blooming, grass is growing, birds are singing, and the locals have shed the many layers to hit the great sunny outdoors. What better circumstances for this year’s metal juggernaut tour to roll through town?

The four bands on stage at the Shaw Conference Centre on Sunday night have all toured together over the years, in some packaged format, and again, the mighty titans of the thrash metal genre have joined up to give Slayer the send off they so rightfully deserve.

Also known as “FUCKING SLAYER!,” in case you don’t know, they are the monolith thrash metal progenitors out of California. For 37 years, these guys have been thrilling (and terrifying) audiences with a pummeling, ferocious breed of music focusing on frenetic up tempo numbers about murder, genocide, hell, serial killers and, of course, SATAN!

This is the final assault from these old timers. The last hurrah, and what a line up to help send the old boys off.

Opening the night at 5 pm sharp to an already packed room, fellow California thrash giants Testament tore into the audience fast and furious with Brotherhood of the Snake, and played a succinct set focusing on material from their last two releases, with a couple of chestnuts for the old school.

With a giant grin, Chuck Billy air-guitared the hell out of his mic stand when he wasn’t growling the lyrics. This guy was having fun. Guitar freak show Alex Skolnick was mesmerizing; original guitarist Eric Perterson attacked his solos with fantastic energy; Gene Hoglan once again showed Edmonton what metal drums are about; and fretless bassist Steve Di Giorgio held it all together like the boss he is. It almost seemed criminal to put Testament on first.

After a smooth 20 min changeover, Behemoth took a moody, quasi-satanic dressed stage to much drama. Hailing from Poland, this extreme metal band (corpse paint and all) delivered a quick, blistering set of furious riffs and screams: A very theatrical production, full of satanic references and moody, ambient interludes. Singer and guitarist Adam Darski has studied his King Diamond. They clearly had a large fan base in the crowd, and owned the audience from the first note.

The third act, for the second time in Edmonton in three months, New York legends Anthrax brought a much-needed dose of light and fun to the sold-out crowd. Their inclusion to this bill is a no brainer, but oddly enough they definitely stood out like a sore thumb in one huge way – MELODY. Singer Joey Belladonna was in ridiculously good form the whole set. His soaring Steve Perry- influenced vocals were spot on, and delivered with that manic grin and enthusiasm of a 20-year-old. This guy owns a crown.

Guitarist and founding member Scott Ian held down the set with jackhammer precision while “new guy,” Jonathan Donais delivered those iconic leads (with his own flair). Bassist Frank Bello gave the songs that bounce that sets them apart from the rest of the thrash giants, and it was fantastic to see founding drummer Charlie Benante back behind the drive’s seat after wrist surgery. The guy just grooves, and is constantly adding embellishments to the arrangements, which is important when your setlist remains as static as an Anthrax set. They basically played an abridged version (in a different order) of the last set they did in February. Belladonna’s impromptu audience sing along of O Canada closed with a bang.

At around 8:15, after more than three hours of metal so far, Lamb of God marched onto an elaborately dressed stage, all in black and white, with the drum riser flanked by two American(ish) flags: black and white stripes and one white star. Someone is saying something here.

This heavy group from Richmond Virginia is a strange blend of trigonometric rhythms, bizarre riffing and shrieking vocals that sounded pretty politically charged (from what I could make out in the murky mix).

Singer Randy Blythe bounced across the stage like a lunatic to the complex polyrhythmic bass drum patterns, while howling and swinging his mop of dreads (not those “whiteboy variety”) while octopus Chris Adler delivered a non-stop barrage of just plain bonkers double kick-driven rhythms. The guy is inhuman. Bassist John Campbell kept everything in the pocket, while guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Alder wove a hypnotic web of almost-but-not-quite-there King Crimson-style interlocking.

This night, without a shade of doubt, was for Slayer.

The second the houselights went down for the headliner, to the sounds of Delusions of Savior coming from the P.A, every lineup (bathrooms, food, beer,) flooded into the room.

This is what the crowd came for.

Drawing a set from 11 albums over 37 years, Slayer gave the fans the going-away party they deserved. You see, Slayer fans are … shall we say, a different breed. The band has pretty much remained unchanged for the bulk of their career: consistent in their sound, business model and image from day one. While that approach pretty much buried the entire metal genre in the ‘90s, for some reason, it worked magic (maybe black magic … you see the connection) for Slayer. They’re probably the only band that maintained a consistent fan base throughout the dark ‘90s.

The fog spilling over and around the iconic Eagle-Pentagram statues flanking the giant drum kit provided the perfect mood as the true titans of thrash stalked to their respective stage positions. High drama.

Tearing into the more recent track, Repentless, Tom, Kerry and company unleashed an almost two-hour set of ferocious, brutal intensity that did not let up for a second.

Not ones for good-time chatty banter, the band powered straight through five songs before bassist-vocalist Tom Araya clumsily addressed the crowd – stage patter apparently isn’t his strong point – inviting the ravenous fans to scream the War Ensemble beginning howl.

Song after song, with either a two second break or dramatic blacked out stage pause, they seamlessly blended newer material like Jihad and When the Stillness Comes with chestnuts like Hell Awaits and Black Magic. Somehow, these songs all fit, without sounding the same, while all sounding the same, if that makes sense. Somehow, the Slayer sound is … dare i say timeless?

With the exception of a couple short audience acknowledgments, Araya stuck to barking out the songs from his position center stage. He definitely isn’t wasn’t as banging as back in the day.

Guitarist and founding member Kerry King stalked between stage right and left, banging his tattooed bald head while flawlessly executing the spooky riffs and histrionic solos that has made this group legend. Drummer Paul Bostaph not only delivered his parts with precision, he stayed faithful to many of original drummer Dave Lombardo’s iconic fills, and flawlessly stayed true to the vibe of the back catalog. Lombardo was not missed. The highlight was the late Jeff Hannemen’s replacement, Gary Holt, from Exodus. The sheer intensity of his playing was mind blowing. He was a fantastic, flamboyant stage presence, with solos that were just mind boggling. He plays so well against Kerry King, and faithfully represents the mighty Hanneman.

It was very well behaved, and bizarre mixture of a crowd. Every group’s fan base was well represented, from the original late 40s crowd to the younger goth-ish, to the now-numerous under 10 crowd. Fantastic to see six-year-old kids thrashing out with mom and dad. Countless smiles, and chants of “FUCKING SLAYER!” all night.

A note on the overall production: It was a wonder that every group managed to have a fully-dressed stage, complete with props and backdrops, and they somehow managed to seamlessly change over equipment and stage dressing in 20-25 minutes each. The sound was shockingly great for every group, considering the room, and the crowd was jammed in for every band. The metal community is like that when it comes to support.

Best line overheard: “I’m trying to find my buddy … he’s got long hair and in a black T-shirt.”

A fantastic end to a glorious reign.