Slayer bid farewell to “Montreal” in epic fashion (photos and review)

Slayer
Place Bell
May 30, 2018
Photos: Jason Hughes

RIP Slayer.

The metal titans are reportedly hanging up the devil horns for good after this farewell tour, which features a stacked lineup including Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament. That great bill landed at Laval’s Place Bell on May 30 for an epic sold-out show, by far the biggest headlining date Slayer has ever played in “Montreal.”

Slayer has truly upped the production on this final tour. While the band’s last few club shows were a fairly minimal affair, they brought out all the stops this time, from a massive backdrop of their Repentless album cover, to a nearly non-stop barrage of pyro flames that criss-crossed over the band for most of the show.

The venue sent out an advance e-mail for fans to arrive early, to ensure the 10,000 strong could get into the venue for the early start time, which they seemed to follow — the arena was nearly packed when Behemoth took the stage before 6:00 pm. It was a bit early in the evening to be worshipping Satan, but a confirmation of just how solid the entire lineup of this package is (I missed Testament unfortunately, who had the disadvantage of starting at 5:00 pm on a weekday).

Behemoth were the outliers on this tour, but the Polish death metal band had a huge reaction during their early slot. With their corpse paint and overtly Satanist slant, they stormed the stage like true headliners, launching into “”Ov Fire and the Void,” from 2009’s Evangelion album. With frontman Adam “Nergal”‘s guttural vocals and the band’s brutal blast beats, Behemoth sounded like no other band on the bill, which made for a tight and refreshing set.

Slayer’s fellow “Big Four” thrash brothers Anthrax were up next, and they wasted no time getting to the hits. Kicking into fan favourite “Caught in a Mosh,” the general admission floor opened up one of the biggest pits of the night, with an old-school circle pit erupting right as the song’s memorable opening riff kicked in. They mostly stuck to the hits throughout their set, including their speedy take on Joe Jackson’s “Got the Time,” “I Am the Law,” and set closer “Indians.” Their set only featured one song released in the past 20-odd years (“Evil Twin” from 2016’s For All Kings) and once again made the case for Anthrax being one of the most entertaining metal bands out there.

Next up were Richmond’s Lamb of God, who received a hero’s welcome when they hit the stage to the spoken-word intro of 2004’s “Omerta.” With their chugging riffs and mosh-ready grooves, Lamb of God presided over one of the largest pits of the night, a huge swirling mass of bodies on the general admission floor that kept up the pace for nearly the entirety of their 50-minute set. Vocalist Randy Blythe took a few moments throughout the set to thank Montreal fans for their loyalty and to praise Slayer and the entire bill. Punctured by Blythe’s numerous Ric Flair “Whoo!”‘s, the band delivered a crushing set that served as a great lead up to what may have been Slayer’s final performance in Montreal.

Nearly five hours after the marathon show had begun, Slayer finally took the stage and launched into the breakneck title track from 2015’s Repentless, as flames repeatedly lept across the stage. For the next 90 minutes, the band ripped through tracks from across their discography, without ever directly addressing the crowd, or their impending break-up. Buoyed by the hellscape visuals of their stage set-up, they simply let their three decades of fan favourites speak for themselves.

The set list touched on hits like “Raining Blood,” “War Ensemble,” and “South of Heaven,” while offering up a few deep cuts for the Slayer loyalists, including the recently resurrected “Dittohead,” from 1994’s Divine Intervention, perhaps the fastest song that Slayer has ever written.

Slayer have absolutely nothing left to prove at this point, and could easily have coasted by on this final tour with the same set-up they’ve been using for their club and theatre shows for years now. Instead, they decided to put together a truly thrilling and elaborate stage show that for once matches the intensity of their sound. If this is truly the end for Slayer, then they are going out in great form. No other metal band has been able to maintain their level of integrity and output for over 30 years — if anything, their latest material sounds just as relevant as anything they pulled out from 1986’s Reign in Blood during their career-spanning set.

There is also something symbolic about wrapping up their career playing in the biggest venues the band has ever headlined. For a band that never chased trends or outwardly seemed too concerned about fame, it was extra rewarding to say goodbye to Slayer amongst a massive gathering of 10,000 fellow fans. If the group of shirtless dudes near the venue exit wildly waving their Slayer shirts in the air during the opening notes of set closer “Angel of Death” were any indication, this was as perfect a send-off as anyone could have hoped for.

Slayer

Lamb of God 

Anthrax

Behemoth

Testament