Show Review & Photo Gallery: Slayer, Lamb of God & Behemoth

Slayer – Blue Hills Bank Pavilion – Boston, MA – July 25, 2017

Nearly four decades into their existence Slayer are playing to as many sold out crowds these days as they ever did back in the golden age of metal, the 80’s.

The heavy metal community should consider themselves lucky that classic thrash and speed metal bands such as Slayer are still touring, let alone taking into account the band continues to perform at such a high level.

They probably should also take solace in the fact that behind the Slayer’s of the world there are a handful of metal acts that at least have the possibility of carrying the metal torch the band lit in the 80’s into the next millennium.

Acts such as Behemoth and Lamb of God, both of whom pulled up their tour buses alongside Slayer to the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in Boston, Massachusetts this past week, may very well one day establish the kind of legacies Slayer has built.

The evening of metal mayhem in Boston began with an abbreviated but dynamic set by Polish death metal stalwarts Behemoth. Taking to the stage behind mic stands in the form of wrought iron snakes and demonic symbols while dressed in black leather and chainmail armor, Nergal, Seth, Orion and Inferno immediately drew the Beantown metal crazies into their web of dark metal madness.

What clearly separates Behemoth from many of their contemporaries in the world of death metal is the fact that not only is their musical acumen beyond reproach, the band’s presence on stage as well their ability to connect with any audience makes them of all things, likeable.

Behemoth would go on to crank out resplendent versions of tracks such as “Ov Fire and the Void”, “Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer” and “Alas, Lord is upon me.”

The biggest takeaways from Behemoth’s time on stage, however, had to be less about what songs they played and more about the sheer force of their musical performance as well as the instant connections they seamlessly made with the Boston audience.

It’s rare for an opening act playing in the daylight hours to invigorate a crowd to the degree that Behemoth was able to. By the time Behemoth had started to play the opening chords of their second song on the night, “Conquer All,” the vast majority of those in attendance were no longer milling around at the merchandise booths or grabbing a slice of over priced pizza.

Instead most of the crowd had already been entranced by the evil metal spell the band had cast over them, and rightfully so. The one negative in terms of the Behometh’s performance in Boston could only be tied to the simple fact that they only played for a mere thirty minutes.

Next up were Richmond, Virginia metal heroes Lamb of God. It’s worth tipping the cap to Behemoth once again as their set more than primed the Boston audience for what was to come on the evening.

From the opening chords of “Laid to Rest” Randy Blythe and Lamb of God had the entirety of the audience wrapped around their proverbial metal fingers.

LoG have never and likely will never be an outfit that relies on too many bells and whistles in terms of their live stage production. Beyond some post apocalyptic imagery playing on a few video screens behind the band, Lamb of God let their music speak for itself and boy did it ever.

The band’s set was fiery, captivating and soul crushing while also offering up countless moments of metal intensity the Boston crowd eagerly ate up throughout the duration of the band’s time on stage.

When Blythe turned to the audience signaling them to sing the lyric, “Now You’ve Got Something To Die For”, their ensuing reaction was nothing short of spine tingling, as nearly every last one of them in unison repeated those very words back to Blythe.

One of the elements that any metal fan has to admire about Lamb of God is there’s not a single act out that there today that even remotely sounds like them. LoG is their own genre of metal. They’re like this evil metal unicorn or devilish forest Leprechaun that has to been seen live and in the flesh on stage to be believed.

The band’s performance in Boston turned out to be nothing short of brutally beautiful. Their set surely had to have inspire some of the younger audience members to go home and pick up the guitar or at very least crank up a Lamb of God record and mosh unapologetically in their bedrooms while their family’s cat or dog looks on in bewilderment.

It would be difficult to single out any one specific song or moment that served as the primary highlight from Lamb of God’s set. That fact alone speaks volumes about the overall quality of any LoG live performance.

If forced to single out a few choice moments from the band’s time on stage in Beantown tracks such as the old school “Ruin” and more modern day favorites including “Walk With Me in Hell” as well as set closer “Redneck” had to be considered high points of the evening.

Prior to launching into “Redneck” Blythe made reference for the second time on the night how it was unusual to be at a metal show that had seats, this time commenting,

“Normally we call for a circle pit on this one but that’s not going to happen so do something weird, just freak the fuck out. Go crazy, get naked, stick your cell phones up your asses, do something freaky Boston. Let’s get bizarre mother fuckers.”

Based on the crowd’s vocal and physical response to the front man’s request, anyone in attendance would have to admit the audience reacted in ways Blythe and company surely must have been impressed by.

The final act of the evening of course were southern California speed and thrash founding fathers Slayer. Again without sounding like a broken record, nods have to be given to both Behemoth and Lamb of God for delivering sublime performances as well as for drawing the audience that much furhter into the show.

Both opening acts got the crowd’s metal blood boiling for what would turn out to be an awe inspiring performance by Tom Arya, Kerry King, Gary Holt and Paul Bostaph.

A funny thing has happened along the course of Slayer’s career in terms of their live performance, they’ve become showman. Yes, the music itself is still the glue and the burning ember that powers the Slayer machine. However, the band has made strides in terms of their live show as it pertains to creating show pace, building anticipation and even their stage production.

For decades Slayer would just hit the stage with nothing more than a curtain donning their name behind them and without anything besides their instruments that could even remotely be considered a prop.

These days the thrash and speed metal kings are touring with somewhat of an elaborate light and laser visual production that also includes its fair share of blinding pyrotechnics.

Slayer has never needed and never will need anything beyond their music to bond with their metal brethren but it’s kind of cool to go to one of their concerts these days and be taken aback by their shows’ production values.

The band began their set in Boston with only a gargantuan white curtain spanning from stage end to stage end as the Repentless track “Delusions of Saviour” built an organic dark swell of anticipation that slowly washed over the Boston crowd.

Not exactly the U2’s Zoo TV tour set up by any means but sometimes the old ways are the best ways. The pale drapery slowly began to become awash in a sea of blood red with huge white crosses spinning aimlessly until coming to rest in their familiar upside position.

As the instrumental track made its way to conclusion the cross imagery morphed into four pentagrams that would eventually come together to form Slayer’s iconic symbol. The band’s symbol quickly gave way to the four shadowy figures that comprise Slayer taking the stage before the curtain would fall and the band would launch into “Repentless.”

Again Slayer has evolved their live show in terms of set pacing over the years. They seemingly have taken into account that not only what they choose to play but when, can have a profound effect on how any audience reacts to a show. Has Slayer actually become thoughtful or gasp, introspective? Oh the horror!

The front end of Slayer’s set focused on balancing classics such as “Post Mortem” and “War Ensemble” with more recent material that included tracks like “Disciple” and “Hate Worldwide.”

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It’s worth nothing how much Slayer’s more recent material was embraced by the audience. It was next to impossible not to notice that many of those in attendance were singing the lyrics to the new material word for word.

That’s not only a testament to the power of Slayer as a band, it also speaks to the fact that the band is still cranking out records that their core fan base continues to connect with.

After the pitching and swaying between the new and the old, the metal engine that is Slayer really began to purr as the band annihilated the audience with a crushing salvo of fan favorites “Mandatory Suicide,” “Hallowed Point,” “Dead Skin Mask” and “Born of Fire.”

It would almost be a crime not to mention the camaraderie shared by many of Slayer’s fans throughout the evening. A shining example of this metal brotherhood would come during the performance of “Dead Skin Mask,” as something quite unexpected happened.

One wouldn’t think thrash and speed metal would present too many opportunities, if any, for crowd wide sing-a-longs but 80% or more of the crowd sang the lyrics,

“Dance with the dead in my dreams. Listen to the hallowed screams. The dead have taken my soul. Temptation lost all control.”

Fans of Seasons in the Abyss certainly must have been elated as Slayer would end up playing five of the record’s ten tracks. Super old school Slayer fans, however, may have walked away wishing the band played a bit more early 80’s material as “Hell Awaits” and “Chemical Warfare” wound up being the only pre Reign in Blood songs performed on the night.

Speaking of “Hell Awaits” it may be one of Slayer’s classics but visually the band has brought the track into the modern age. No song performed on the evening, outside of “Reign in Blood” was more visually inspired as the pyrotechnics and blinding visuals that accompanied the song’s performance created a surreal evil metal fueled sensory overload.

Who knows how much longer Slayer will continue to tour or for that matter even record. Both Araya and King have made some rather cryptic comments lately about the band’s future, which I’m sure have many fans feeling as though the end may very well be near.

Fortunately there are some acts such as Behemoth and Lamb of God that give both old and new school metal fans hope that transcendent metal music will carry on for generations to come even should Slayer call it quits one day in the near or distant future.

Regardless of how many days, weeks, months or years fans have left to enjoy Slayer on the lighted stage I’m guessing this sentiment will always reign true, On and on, south of heaven! On and on, south of heaven!