Images: Slayer, Gorija, 4ARM October 25, 2013 at The Joint

The Joint was packed on Friday, October 25th for the return of Slayer. The cries of “Slayer! Slaaaaaayyyyer!” were nearly deafening as the legendary thrash metal band took the stage to play an awesome throwback set, reaching far into their extensive catalogue.

The curtain dropped and Slayer started off with “World Painted Blood,” the single from their 2009 record of the same name. It’s just a massive, indescribable sound, an uncompromising assault to the senses. If you’re a fan, you’re just in heaven or hell hearing it. From the photo pit you could hear guitarist Kerry King’s massive chain belt rattle as he played. The old school set kicked in next, with “Necrophiliac” from Hell Awaits. It’s old – older than me even – and I’ve never heard it live. So dark, such a classic Slayer sound that makes your jaw drop. We were treated to plenty of songs from the band’s debut LP Show No Mercy and other classic standards such as “Dead Skin Mask,” “Post-Mortem” and “Seasons in the Abyss.”

The greatness of this show can’t be mentioned without talking about the great man that was noticeably absent. Before Slayer took the stage, I peaked in through the curtain only to see a lonely guitar sitting stage right on a stand being hit by a single light. Stage right was the place guitarist Jeff Hanneman occupied in his time with the band. The Slayer founding member, who vocalist Tom Araya stated was “90 percent of Slayer” sadly passed away this May due to liver failure. This was my first time seeing Slayer without Jeff and he will always be missed. At one point in their set, Araya addressed the crowd, calmly asking “Do you want to die? Well why? Nobody comes up with a reason they only come up with excuses. Nobody wants to die. Dying is a part of life, you should let it happen. Let it be. This is Post-Mortem.” It was the most somber moment in an otherwise uncompromising set, but even in death it’s nice to see Hanneman’s legacy live on through live performances of the band’s songs.

Opening the show were French metal band Gojira and Australian thrash metal band 4ARM. I’ve been waiting a quarter of my life to see Gojira. They play a menacing mix of thrash, technical and death metal. Very rhythm based, it felt like war in there when they kicked things off with “The Zxe.” Lots of double bass filled their manic set, while frontman Joe Duplantier’s intelligible lyrics brought back memories of Remission era Mastadon. Their set was kept short to give Slayer a big time slot – only 6 songs – ending with the nearly 8 minute epic “Flying Whales.”

4ARM is extremely tight live, and they really got the whole crowd excited with their great melodic guitar solos and vocal delivery highly reminiscent of Slayer’s Araya. Hands down though, the best part of this band is their aggressive rhythm section with Michael Vafiotis on drums and Andy Hinterreiter on bass. They play so hard, and Vafiotis really plays a lot off the guitars, much in the vein of Lamb of God. If you’re a fan of Machine Head, Lamb of God or Slayer then you owe it to yourself to give these guys a listen.

My neck actually hurt the next day from an overabundance of reckless headbanging. I’m clearly out of headbanging shape. It was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, and I can’t wait to see these bands roll through town again.

-Tyler Newton | http://500px.com/spottedlens