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Technically, it's The Unholy Alliance: Chapter II, with this reincarnation still being an elaborate name for a Slayer support act. Yet with some quality bands like Children of Bodom, Lamb of God and In Flames doing the support, who's complaining?
The night started out on an ailing Underground system, which really is going to hell in a handbasket, especially on this dark and dreary Sunday, taking us just under an hour to traverse the 7 stops from Kensington to Brixton, where the Carling Academy was drawing thousands of fans to see a night of loud, hard-hitting metal.
We got in early, in time to see Thine Eyes Bleed, a Canadian sub-par death metal group winding down, but it was clear right from the get-go that this was going to be an ear-shatteringly loud night, with the Academy's towers of speakers reaching from the stage to the roof, dwarfing anything else in the room. Unfortunately, we were relegated to the balcony, where some shockingly lacklustre enthusiasm was shown.
After a bit of setting up, Finnish thrash metal pioneers Children of Bodom came on. It was obvious that very few had heard of them, but the moshpit did come to life (briefly) for a well-played "Needled 24/7" and "Angels Don't Kill". To me, the band came off as being a one-man-show, with vocalist Alex Laiho doing nearly all of the solos and in general taking charge of the scene. The overall performance wasn't very awe-inspiring, but with a better set-up and not playing 4th fiddle to some truly great bands, I think they could pull a good show off.
After that, some black veils were pulled off to reveal an absolutely massive set of 22 amps for 3 guitars. This, then, was Lamb of God, a hard, fast and very loud act. I hadn't heard much from the band that proclaimed themselves to be Pure American Metal, and technically, I didn't hear much during the performance either due to the astronomical decibel levels in the arena. The balcony barely flinched during any of their songs, but there was a mumbled sing-along to "Walk With Me In Hell". After a 40-minute set, the band departed, leaving me feeling thankful for any respite that my poor ears could get.
When the massive In Flames banner was unveiled, a cheer erupted from the crowd, with hilarity ensuing when the Knight Rider theme song started blaring as the lights went down. The Swedish band exploded onto the stage with a fast and loud "Pinball Map", following quickly with "Leeches" - a song met with all-around approval. When the frontman of the band stepped up to the mic, it was clear that the show had only just begun. He took the audience by the balls, even persuading the vast majority of the balcony to "stand the fuck up".
The set continued with some massive hits in "Cloud Connected", "Come Clarity", "The Quiet Place" and "Only For The Weak" interspersed with some old mosh hits, most notably "Egonomicon". The stage set-up wasn't ideal for a group of this calibre, but the band showed the perfection of a well-oiled machine. The photographers received some great group pictures of the guitarists shredding together with lead singer and vocalist Anders Fridén using up most of the stage. He also made by far the most use of his intermission speaks during the whole night, making genuinely funny remarks and even taking into account the poor sods stuck to the balconies.
My only complaint would be the notable lack of some songs - "Free Fall" and "Reroute To Remain" were conspicuous in their absence, and I have a creeping suspicion that this was a highly shortened version of their usual tour set. Any doubt in my mind about the musical ability of the group was quickly settled with a mind-blowingly brilliant performance of "My Sweet Shadow" to bring the set to a finish. All-in-all, it was a great set and a band I can highly recommend to anyone, preferably as the main act of a concert.
With the audience having done its fair share of moshing, shouting and crowd-surfing already, I had my doubts if Slayer could get the same degree of response that In Flames had. These doubts were swiftly disposed of as Pantera's "Message In Blood" started playing over the speakers and 5,000 voices joined in to sing the chorus. As the roadies dragged some massive setpieces onto the stage, it truly dawned on me that this was completely Slayer's tour. As 10 minutes dragged onto 30, people started getting bored and the chants of "Slayer! Slayer!" became more and more frequent.
Eventually, the stage went dark and the big screen showed an enormous Slayer crest, and the band emerged in a flash of strobe lights to an overwhelmingly fast and hard "War". The killer riffs came hard and fast, and although the band members looked their age, the guitars were masterfully played and the drums pounded out a frantic beat. The performance was nothing short of frantic, with Slayer pouring out hit after breathless hit, with "Cult", "Jihad", "Die By The Sword" and "South of Heaven" all coming in rapid succession. The performance was punctuated by the slow (by Slayer standards, that is) "Seasons In The Abyss" which was both eerie and powerful.
The most grabbing aspect of the stage setup was without a doubt the big screen, portraying a constant stream of disturbing imagery; from an amputated and blinded Jesus to footage of the 9/11 attacks to WWII era footage of Hitler and thousands of marching soldiers. Slayer certainly wasn't straying away from the sensitive subject matter, and it showed in a spectacular way. Not to be outdone by their warmup act, Slayer had brought on 22 amps of their own - this time arranged in two upside down crosses on both sides of the stage, and the effect was massive. The volume was brutal, but this was truly how heavy metal was meant to be.
For nearly an hour, the whole stadium stood, moshed and headbanged to the aging group, but never more so than during the final 2 songs. As the lights shone blood red, covering everyone in an eerie glow, "Reign In Blood" blasted through the towers of amps and speakers, followed by a pounding "Angel Of Death". As the band said their final goodbyes, my ears were ringing from the sheer chaos of it all.
Slayer may be going to Hell (with a capital H) for their music, but my bit of heaven will certainly contain a whole lot of Slayer. A brilliant gig, and a worthy close to a spectacular tour.
The night started out on an ailing Underground system, which really is going to hell in a handbasket, especially on this dark and dreary Sunday, taking us just under an hour to traverse the 7 stops from Kensington to Brixton, where the Carling Academy was drawing thousands of fans to see a night of loud, hard-hitting metal.
We got in early, in time to see Thine Eyes Bleed, a Canadian sub-par death metal group winding down, but it was clear right from the get-go that this was going to be an ear-shatteringly loud night, with the Academy's towers of speakers reaching from the stage to the roof, dwarfing anything else in the room. Unfortunately, we were relegated to the balcony, where some shockingly lacklustre enthusiasm was shown.
After a bit of setting up, Finnish thrash metal pioneers Children of Bodom came on. It was obvious that very few had heard of them, but the moshpit did come to life (briefly) for a well-played "Needled 24/7" and "Angels Don't Kill". To me, the band came off as being a one-man-show, with vocalist Alex Laiho doing nearly all of the solos and in general taking charge of the scene. The overall performance wasn't very awe-inspiring, but with a better set-up and not playing 4th fiddle to some truly great bands, I think they could pull a good show off.
After that, some black veils were pulled off to reveal an absolutely massive set of 22 amps for 3 guitars. This, then, was Lamb of God, a hard, fast and very loud act. I hadn't heard much from the band that proclaimed themselves to be Pure American Metal, and technically, I didn't hear much during the performance either due to the astronomical decibel levels in the arena. The balcony barely flinched during any of their songs, but there was a mumbled sing-along to "Walk With Me In Hell". After a 40-minute set, the band departed, leaving me feeling thankful for any respite that my poor ears could get.
When the massive In Flames banner was unveiled, a cheer erupted from the crowd, with hilarity ensuing when the Knight Rider theme song started blaring as the lights went down. The Swedish band exploded onto the stage with a fast and loud "Pinball Map", following quickly with "Leeches" - a song met with all-around approval. When the frontman of the band stepped up to the mic, it was clear that the show had only just begun. He took the audience by the balls, even persuading the vast majority of the balcony to "stand the fuck up".
The set continued with some massive hits in "Cloud Connected", "Come Clarity", "The Quiet Place" and "Only For The Weak" interspersed with some old mosh hits, most notably "Egonomicon". The stage set-up wasn't ideal for a group of this calibre, but the band showed the perfection of a well-oiled machine. The photographers received some great group pictures of the guitarists shredding together with lead singer and vocalist Anders Fridén using up most of the stage. He also made by far the most use of his intermission speaks during the whole night, making genuinely funny remarks and even taking into account the poor sods stuck to the balconies.
My only complaint would be the notable lack of some songs - "Free Fall" and "Reroute To Remain" were conspicuous in their absence, and I have a creeping suspicion that this was a highly shortened version of their usual tour set. Any doubt in my mind about the musical ability of the group was quickly settled with a mind-blowingly brilliant performance of "My Sweet Shadow" to bring the set to a finish. All-in-all, it was a great set and a band I can highly recommend to anyone, preferably as the main act of a concert.
With the audience having done its fair share of moshing, shouting and crowd-surfing already, I had my doubts if Slayer could get the same degree of response that In Flames had. These doubts were swiftly disposed of as Pantera's "Message In Blood" started playing over the speakers and 5,000 voices joined in to sing the chorus. As the roadies dragged some massive setpieces onto the stage, it truly dawned on me that this was completely Slayer's tour. As 10 minutes dragged onto 30, people started getting bored and the chants of "Slayer! Slayer!" became more and more frequent.
Eventually, the stage went dark and the big screen showed an enormous Slayer crest, and the band emerged in a flash of strobe lights to an overwhelmingly fast and hard "War". The killer riffs came hard and fast, and although the band members looked their age, the guitars were masterfully played and the drums pounded out a frantic beat. The performance was nothing short of frantic, with Slayer pouring out hit after breathless hit, with "Cult", "Jihad", "Die By The Sword" and "South of Heaven" all coming in rapid succession. The performance was punctuated by the slow (by Slayer standards, that is) "Seasons In The Abyss" which was both eerie and powerful.
The most grabbing aspect of the stage setup was without a doubt the big screen, portraying a constant stream of disturbing imagery; from an amputated and blinded Jesus to footage of the 9/11 attacks to WWII era footage of Hitler and thousands of marching soldiers. Slayer certainly wasn't straying away from the sensitive subject matter, and it showed in a spectacular way. Not to be outdone by their warmup act, Slayer had brought on 22 amps of their own - this time arranged in two upside down crosses on both sides of the stage, and the effect was massive. The volume was brutal, but this was truly how heavy metal was meant to be.
For nearly an hour, the whole stadium stood, moshed and headbanged to the aging group, but never more so than during the final 2 songs. As the lights shone blood red, covering everyone in an eerie glow, "Reign In Blood" blasted through the towers of amps and speakers, followed by a pounding "Angel Of Death". As the band said their final goodbyes, my ears were ringing from the sheer chaos of it all.
Slayer may be going to Hell (with a capital H) for their music, but my bit of heaven will certainly contain a whole lot of Slayer. A brilliant gig, and a worthy close to a spectacular tour.
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