As I rounded the corner from the tube I was met with an impressive line of black clad souls decorated in shirts ranging from the proudly worn decades old greyed out shirts to newer designs worn with just as much pride, a cacophony of shirts emblazoned with Thrash bands, although the Slayer moniker was without doubt the logo being adorned by the vast majority of the eager ticket holders.
The doors to The Electric Ballroom then flung open and the impressive queue started to file in politely and fill the infamous venue with atmosphere and volume, this was an evening which was to be savoured and as much as the headliners sat under the name of just one legend, the whole band was built around legends from all corners of the Thrash globe, this was a tantalising prospect and one which saw the hordes of Thrashers come out in their droves.
The evening opened with English Death Metal courtesy of Celestial Sanctuary, and they didn’t waste any time in pummelling us with their brand of uncompromising Death. From the moment we were carved open from the opening chords, Cronin was demanding walls of death and mosh pits, which the crowd duly obliged with. As the set progressed, Rutterford and Adnett were beasts on the strings, which accompanied Cronin’s fretwork on the right.
The band seemed to grow into their set and exuded more and more swagger and confidence while the kit, back and centre, was being pounded to within an inch of its life. The well represented crowd also became more animated and more violent as the set progressed, the movement and sway on the main floor was almost tsunami esque and the band simply seemed to feed of this energy.
As the set came to a close, it was obvious that the band were overwhelmed with the response they had been shown by the capital tonight, they exuded a visible endearing gratitude which was replicated by pretty much everyone stood before them in the Ballroom. This had been a set of great success and one that may just take a while to recover from, they well and truly left us battered and audibly bruised.
The stage then received a rapid makeover and it was set for the main event, a true lesson in brutal Thrash Metal courtesy of the absolute legend that is Kerry King and his assembled comrades and their artistry and pedigree, which included roots in likes of Slayer, Death Angel, Machine Head and Hellyeah, this new spearhead had success written all over it. With ‘From Hell I Rise’ being aired in full this evening, albeit deviating slightly from the order of tracks on the album itself, along with select tracks from the Slayer history books this was going to be a true masterclass in how Thrash Metal should be delivered.
As Kerry et al. stormed the stage, it was evident that they were ravenous, and they simply radiated a true polished Thrash attack; the opening double header of ‘Where I Reign’ and ‘Trophies Of The Tyrant’ were blistering, technical and intricate yet still barbaric and caustic in their deliverance. As per process, Kerry managed stage left with his usual endearing attitude and presence while Osegueda stalked the stage like a maniacal carnivore stalking its next prey.
‘Toxic’ was up next which led us into the first Slayer offering of the evening, the phenomenal and brutal ‘Repentless’ which seemed to ignite the crowd and shift them up another gear and throw them back to the familiar days gone by. The set then just built and built with each track that passed, Demmel was a master on the other six strings, manipulating and working the fretboard with dexterity and intricate perfection while Sanders was a rampant beast on the thicker strings, crushing and pummelling his way through the tracks with muscle and overflowing passion. Bostaph on the kit was his usual majestic and frenetic machine like workhorse, his limbs all working in unison to create a drum score which was almost beyond human yet each beat delivered in perfect time to the rest of the band, never missing a beat regardless of the speed or complexity which was demanded of him.
The set was constructed around the entirety of the new opus as well as being peppered and accentuated with familiar classics such as the incredible ‘Chemical Warfare’, the monstrous ‘At Dawn They Sleep’, the brutal ‘Hate Worldwide’ and the savagely addictive ‘Disciple’. Just when you thought perfection couldn’t be outdone, the set was injected with an absolutely blistering pairing of the formidable and unmistakable ‘Raining Blood’ and the infamous and majestic ‘Black Magic’, which saw the whole venue just erupt, beer flying everywhere and pits breaking out randomly throughout the whole floor. Kerry was the orchestrator and conductor, while Osegueda seemed to pour every inch of his soul and lung capacity into the anthems, which in turn seemed to motivate the other factions of the band to jump on board and turn their effort and work rate up to a solid eleven.
As the band signed off with a solid and robust ‘From Hell I Rise’ it was clearly evident that this was more than just a reincarnation. This was a solid birth of a Thrash juggernaut and one where it is clearly evident that this is just the beginning; this is a band who were obviously having fun and enjoying every moment on stage, unleashing their art onto the worshippers in front of them, and an event that I simply cannot wait to be a part of again.
