One of the highly-revered ‘big four’ of the thrash metal genre, alongside their contemporaries Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, Slayer have always been defined by two thing; the ferocity and speed with which they play, and the deeply dark nature of their thematic approach and lyricism, where pretty much nothing has been off limits - everything from Satanism to necrophilia has cropped up over the course of their ten records to date. The group is currently comprised of King on guitar, bass-playing frontman Tom Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph and guitarist Gary Holt; founding guitar player Hannemann passed away last year. The band made their name with their third album, “Reign in Blood”, in 1986; that record’s kind-of title track “Raining Blood” is effectively their signature song.
They’ve continued to both entertain, influence and provoke in equal measure ever since; from (albeit inadvertently) managing to release a record entitled “God Hates Us All” on September 11th, 2001 to routinely being accused of Nazi sympathies, Slayer have certainly earned more than their fair share of notoriety, but it’s perhaps in terms of their huge influence on the genre of metal in general that they’ll be best remembered over time; everybody from System of a Down to Slipknot to Darkthrone have attributed some of their style to Slayer over the years, proving their towering stature within the metal community.
Slayer is frighteningly intense live. You could either get your skull cracked open in a mosh pit or from the sheer amplitude of Kerry King’s guitar. But that’s the thrill of attending a Slayer concert.
It is impossible to be anything other than fully engaged at a Slayer show with red lights of doom blaring on the stage, pentagrams and World War II imagery depicted in the background, and stacks of guitar amps blaring in your face at full volume all while trying to avoid getting beat to a pulp in a mosh pit. Slayer’s performance is fast and loud with their songs relying on fast tremolo picking, booming double bass pedals pounding away at the bass drums, and dueling guitars playing chaotic melodies in irregular scales creating dissonant sounds.
Slayer has a unique style of performing by playing at rapidly fast tempos and tuning their guitars to very low pitches getting deeper, heavier sounds. Slayer has gained critical acclaim already being nominated for five grammys, and are considered one of the most influential metal bands having directly inspired the genres of death metal and black metal. The singer, Tom Araya, adds much charisma to Slayer’s style with his death-like screams, and the violent imagery depicted in Slayer’s lyrics puts Slayer in a hardcore level of their own.
It is unpredictable what one might see at a Slayer concert. You might see a fan carving an upside down cross in their skin or you might see someone in a wheelchair crowd surfing, as I saw at my first Slayer concert. One thing you can predict is a mind-blowing thrill of a ride.
Power trip put on a great show, it absolutely exceeded my expectations,it RIPPED. THANK YOU RILEY FOR PERFORMING EVEN THOUGH YOU WEREN'T FEELING 100%.I will definitely see them again when they come back to Detroit.