Slayer Say Goodbye in Vienna
Slayer na poslovilni turneji nastopili v veliki Wiener Stadthalle
Date: Friday, 11/23/2018
Location: Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria
The time has come: the big bands of the eighties are starting to say their goodbyes, and that includes the “Big Four” of thrash metal. The first to announce a farewell tour were the legendary thrash metallers Slayer. After guitarist Jeff Hanneman died, Slayer tried to carry on, even recording one more album, but after a few years they decided they’d rather call it quits while they’re still relatively in good shape. A long farewell tour was announced, and of course it hit Europe too. Slayer brought along some well-respected bands: Lamb of God, Anthrax and Obituary played before them.
The closest the tour got to Slovenia was Vienna, at the huge Stadthalle. While Slayer filled the Gasometer during the promo cycle for their last album, this time the interest was clearly bigger. This was the goodbye of a legendary band, so plenty of people grabbed their last chance. Quite a few buses also rolled out from Slovenia to the show, so Slovenian was heard at every turn in the hall.
Pretty early on, Obituary were the first to hit the stage. The legendary Florida death metal outfit, who started out in the eighties, wrote themselves into the annals of the metal scene with the albums Slowly We Rot and Cause of Death. In half an hour, Obituary served up proper old-school death metal. They played a few new tracks and some older ones, including the evergreens Chopped in Half and Slowly We Rot. Obituary’s form is obviously still the same as in the nineties. It seems like the band just doesn’t age. The sound is consistently the same, John Tardy’s vocals aren’t fading, and the tone is still the same too. The band’s tightness is still free of any noticeable slip-ups. Even in 2018, Obituary prove they’re well worth seeing.
New York thrash metallers Anthrax already toured with Slayer a few years ago, when the band was promoting Repentless. Anthrax delivered an energetic set, and in their short setlist they hit their biggest songs, which meant fewer new tracks and a predictable lineup. Anthrax opened with a snippet of Pantera’s “Cowboys From Hell,” which they stitched into the evergreen Caught in a Mosh. Anthrax are undoubtedly in good form, the banter with the crowd is more than good, and there’s nothing to complain about in terms of tightness either. Ever since the lineup became relatively stable, apart from original drummer Charlie Benante being absent (this time too, with the experienced Jon Dette filling in), the band has been more confident live. After Got The Time, N.F.L., Be All, End All, Fight ‘Em Till You Can’t and Antisocial, Anthrax wrapped up with the evergreen Indians. Definitely a solid warm-up, but for anything more you’ll have to catch Anthrax as the headliner on their next tour.
Next up were Lamb of God, representatives of modern metal, though they’ve been active for about 20 years, so they’re no longer a young band. That experience showed in their performance too. The American five-piece had more time to present the best-known songs of their career. They started slow with Omerta, then things got wilder with Ruin, Walk With Me In Hell and Now You’ve Got Something to Die For. The crowd greeted Lamb of God with a frenzy that peaked on the closing song Redneck, which set off quite a few circle pits. Even though they’re the younger band, it was quickly clear that with their punch and groove they carried on Pantera’s legacy, just repackaged a little differently.
Lamb of God had a different drummer on this tour. Chris Adler was out with an injury, and Art Cruz from Prong stepped into his shoes. Cruz played solidly, but not as confidently as Adler. There were no noticeable mistakes from the other members, and vocalist Randy Blythe’s banter with the crowd has improved over the last few years too, and his voice is surprisingly well preserved. Lamb of God are not to be written off yet, so their shows are still worth catching.
Slayer never went overboard at previous shows. They could boast slightly better stage lighting, but their performances weren’t exactly spectacular. For the farewell tour, they went for a slightly different approach. They also added a few songs to the setlist that hadn’t always been in there before.
Before Slayer started, a curtain dropped over the stage and the opening track from their latest album played while the band got ready for the first song. Then came the title track of the latest album, Repentless, the curtain fell, and special effects in the form of fire appeared on stage. Slayer put a bit more into the stage effects this time, so the fire was there the whole show, and the lights were above and beyond too. The songs got more weight that way.
The setlist touched nearly all their albums, so we got Jihad from Christ Illusion, Black Magic from Show No Mercy, Hate Worldwide from World Painted Blood, and Dittohead from Divine Intervention. Of course there was no skipping the classics, but there were no big surprises. Slayer played their biggest hits, and for a change the show didn’t come off as routine like the gigs during the last album’s promo cycle. Tom Araya, the band’s vocalist and bassist, even said a few more words to the crowd than usual.
Despite their age, you have to give Slayer credit: they were solidly tight. Guitarist Gary Holt (Exodus) deserves praise, as his precise playing impressed the whole way through. Drummer Paul Bostaph is a seasoned guy the band can rely on. He did make a mistake or two, e.g. during Angel of Death the double pedal didn’t work too well at the most crucial moment. Otherwise Bostaph had no major slip-ups that would spoil the overall impression. Kerry King, on the other hand, did allow himself a few, at times chasing after Holt, and his soloing wasn’t exactly precise either. Tom Araya is rather weak too. His voice no longer has real power, and especially on faster vocal lines Araya sounded like he was just speaking the lyrics. Still, you could tell Araya was trying his best.
After more than an hour, Slayer left the scene of the crime for a short while and came back to play a few missing classics. So down came the evergreen South of Heaven, rolling into Raining Blood. Surprisingly, Slayer added Chemical Warfare to their encore, a song that had kind of slipped into oblivion. And for the grand finale, of course, Angel of Death. After it was over, Slayer didn’t leave the stage right away. Tom Araya stayed the longest, taking in the crowd that had gone nuts the whole show, and he even said a few words as a farewell. Unlike at previous shows, Araya seemed more emotional. After all, this is the goodbye of one of the most iconic metal bands, and it’s more than commendable that Slayer gave their fans a little extra time.
Slayer setlist:
- Delusions of Saviour
- 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
- Encore:
- South of Heaven
- Raining Blood
- Chemical Warfare
- Angel of Death
