NYS Music 20​18

Tag: Slayer

  • Slayer’s Farewell Tour Pays Syracuse a Curtain Call

    News of a Slayer farewell tour hit many in the metal community hard, but in a year of farewell tours, it’s not surprising that this Huntington Park, CA band, created in 1981, would call it a day.

    Joining Slayer on this final trek across North America were fellow thrash metal veterans Anthrax and Testament, current thrash flag-bearers Lamb of God, and British grindcore pioneers Napalm Death.

    Slayer Farewell Tour
    Mark ‘Barney’ Greenway of Napalm Death

    It would be easy to say that this lineup of veteran thrash legends is a cash grab nostalgia tour, but nothing could be further from the truth. All five bands are touring on current releases. Critics have proclaimed the latest Anthrax and Testament releases among the best of their respective careers. This was a lineup of bands still fresh, despite several decades of headbanging that left fans of each band wanting more.

    New York-based Anthrax had an especially strong contingent of fans in attendance, as lead vocalist Joey Belladonna is a native of Oswego, a short drive from the St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater. Anthrax, always the historians, opened and closed their set with a tribute to the recently deceased Pantera drummer, Vinnie Paul. The band opened with the riff from the Pantera classic, “Cowboys From Hell” and closed with the same, sending those in attendance into a headbanging frenzy. Anthrax, particularly bassist Frankie Bello, is one fun band to watch perform.

    Slayer Farewell Tour

    While most of the show was an exercise in headbanging for the largely 40-something crowd, Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe added some acrobatics to his band’s set, invariably leaping from the riser at the front of the stage.

    Napalm Death performed a career-spanning set, including a slightly extended version of their song, “You Suffer.” This track, from Napalm Death’s debut album Scum, has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the World’s Shortest Recorded Song at 1.316 seconds long. Make some time to hear that below:

    Slayer bid a fond farewell to a standing ovation following a raucous “Angel of Death” from the band’s classic Reign in Blood album. Their setlist was dotted with songs covering their entire career, including the opener, the title song from their latest album, Repentless.

    Setlists

    Slayer: Repentless, Blood Red, Disciple, Mandatory Suicide, Hate Worldwide, War Ensemble, Jihad, When the Stillness Comes, Postmortem, Black Magic, Payback, Seasons in the Abyss, Dittohead, Dead Skin Mask, Hell Awaits, South of Heaven, Raining Blood, Chemical Warfare, Angel of Death

    Lamb of God: Omerta, Ruin, Walk With Me in Hell, Now You’ve Got Something to Die For, 512, Engage the Fear Machine, Blacken the Cursed Sun, Laid to Rest, Redneck

    Anthrax: Cowboys From Hell (Pantera cover) (Jam), Caught in a Mosh, Got the Time (Joe Jackson cover), Madhouse, Be All, End All, Evil Twin, Antisocial (Trust cover), Indians

    Testament: Brotherhood of the Snake, Rise Up, Dog Faced Gods, The Preacher, Practice What You Preach, The New Order, Into the Pit, Over the Wall

    Napalm Death: Multinational Corporations, Instinct of Survival, When All Is Said and Done, Smash a Single Digit, Standardization, Suffer the Children, Silence Is Deafening, How the Years Condemn, Scum, You Suffer, Dead, Nazi Punks Fuck Off (Dead Kennedys cover)

  • Slayer Brings Their Farewell Tour To Albany

    Slayer brought their Farewell Tour to the Times Union Center in Albany, NY on August 1, along with a handful of some of the metal genre’s best acts. Lamb of God, Anthrax, Testament and Napalm Death joined the legendary thrash metal band’s going away party. In January, Slayer announced that they would be embarking on a farewell tour, playing concerts all across the United States along with select dates in Canada. The show started right around 5 pm with Napalm Death taking the stage. Following a short set by Napalm Death, Testament was up next. The band played many fan favorites among music off their latest album, Brotherhood of the Snake. Anthrax took the stage next playing fan favorites such as “Indians.” The thrash metal band out of New York City also delivered a tribute to Pantera.

    slayer farewell

    Slayer opened the show with guns blazing, courtesy of one of their newer songs, “Repentless.” Next, they played “Blood Red” followed by “Disciple.” For the rest of the show, Slayer treated fans to career-spanning songs ranging from the early days up to their latest album. The line up featured Gary Holt from Exodus on lead guitar who has been with the band since the passing of the great Jeff Hanneman, along with Paul Bastoff on drums who has been in and out of the band throughout their career. Slayer’s legacy began when they formed in 1981. What made them stand out is that they pushed metal to its limits. The group out of Huntington Park, California is known to be one of the heaviest and most influential bands in the metal music community. They have produced many of the most important albums in the scene including their third album, Reign In Blood. They are also part of the “Big Four” of thrash metal which also includes Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth who all toured together between 2011-2012 all over the world, including a special concert at Yankee Stadium. Slayer has released 12 studio albums over their career and will always be known as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Fans will truly miss them.

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