Slayer + Anthrax + Kingdom of Sorrow
Big Top, Luna Park, Sydney
Monday 25th February, 2013
One day after the massive Soundwave festival and half of the Big Four bands of thrash metal were to deliver a blistering battering ram on the remains of many eardrums. The two bands being Slayer and Anthrax. The diehards were out in force so any mainstream Metallica fans were nowhere to be seen this evening. This show was about appreciation of the long serving, hard core thrash contingent. One of the few bands to hit it hard enough as a support this evening was Kingdom of Sorrow which grew out of co-headlining touring chats between Kirk Windstein of Down and also of Crowbar with Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed fame.
Opening to wallop the masses with ‘Begging for the Truth’, Jamey and Kirk [no pun intended, Metallifans] hammered out driving, low end rumble. Pushing the crowd to bang heads, raise fists and just go off in general, their second track ‘Behind the Blackest Tears’ had Jamey pushing vocal cords with skill to bring a guttural vocal perfectly matched to some fast paced doom and stoner rock stylings.
The song ‘Enlightened to Extinction’ was a perfect example of that doom and sludge like wall of sound delivery. Plodding with groove, the band hit their stride and Jamey launched into banter over the riffage with good natured baggings of Kirk before the double time onslaught. On rhythm guitar, Charlie Bellmore keep the rhythm section in place which included Nick Bellmore from Toxic Holocaust on drums and a member of Nightbitch on bass guitar. Kirk’s soloing turned up several songs into the set but only briefly.
At the onset of ‘Free the Fallen’, the circle pit requests were repeated. More humourous Kirk and Jamey banter ensued before ‘Monuments of Ash’ ripped past and segued into the ramped up fire of ‘Lead the Ghosts Astray’. Their set closed with a blinding rendition of ‘Buried in Black’ complete with Steven Gibb of Crowbar fame making a guest appearance on bass guitar.
Anthrax had their work cut out for them being sandwiched between some powering doom metal and the most uncompromising thrash metal band of the Big Four known as Slayer. Borrowing Jon Dette on drums from that camp to fill in for an absent Charlie Benante had the risk to wear him out for Slayer but the man was a pure machine throughout both sets. Anthrax were also using the highly capable shredder Jon Donais from Shadows Fall as touring lead guitarist filling in for a since departed Rob Caggiano.
Before the Anthrax set, the crowd milled about lagering up as the amplifier screen covers were put in place and the huge drum riser revealed itself as well as vocalist Joey Belladonna’s mini ramp at the front of stage for the keen eyed. The lights dimmed and Anthrax wandered onstage and hit with the massive classic song ‘Caught in a Mosh’, followed by new zombie inspired track ‘Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t’ and another ripping oldie ‘Antisocial’. They were almost half an hour in when the rollicking ‘Indians’ completed and that was only four songs down.
Solos from Jon were wild demonstrations of musicianship with Joey egging him on to wail which seemed apt with Joey’s falsetto in full swing. ‘In The End’ served as a fitting tribute to Dio and Dimebag with relevant cloth portrait baffles in place for the song. Jon’s drumming was spot on with most elements of Charlie’s playing virtually down pat. Their very first song ‘Deathrider’ was metal thrashing madness and the pit subsequently went off at this point.
Core guitarist Scott Ian’s rhythm sound was clear, cutting and did not let up throughout, including when the band launched into a cover of AC/DC’s ‘T.N.T.’. If you’re going to cover AC/DC, you need a tight rhythm guitar sound which Scott certainly does have so the crowd appreciated it. Anthrax nailed it. ‘I Am The Law’ concluded the set with a maelstrom of pummeling thrash metal. As the band walked off to huge applause, the PA cranked some Rainbow so Joey sang along with a couple of lines of ‘Long Live Rock’n’Roll’ as a mark of respect.
Slayer were on next. Toning down their stage set of the usual multiple rows of stacks of Marshall cabinets or hung configurations, the Slayer stage set revealed single cabinet height wall backline with the drums perched in the middle. However, a huge lighting truss was lowered during changeover to no doubt install the full light show to match the innards altering amplification. At the sound desk, a couple more huge multi-core cables were plugged in. This was going to be loud. Recent troubles in the Slayer camp have sidelined Dave Lombardo being replaced by prior fill in Slayer drummer Jon Dette. Also, Jeff Hanneman’s slow recovery from injury meant that Exodus mainman and lead guitarist Gary Holt was still taking up duties alongside the battle hardened Tom Araya and the intimidating persona of thrash metal’s most brutal guitarist, Kerry King.
On walked Slayer and with a cheeky, devilish grin from Tom, the dominating Kerry let rip into ‘World Painted Blood’ from his side of the stage. His right hand riffing strength on his signature BC Rich guitars did not let up throughout the set except for when he would inflict whammy bar abuse on his unsuspecting instruments. Gary Holt, occupying the other side of stage, generally sported a white, blood spattered flying V on which his fluid aggression and fiery scalar runs matched the intensity of Jeff’s original solos to a tee. He even held the guitar aloft by the whammy bar at one point, shaking the hell out of a screaming harmonic.
As the set progressed, Jon was clearly feeling the lactic acid build up and would jump off the riser between songs to get the blood flowing then resume his drummer chair. The rest of the band would gather in, let him count in the next song and return to their stage positions. Brilliant team work. Highlights included hammering classics ‘Mandatory Suicide’, ‘War Ensemble’ and ‘Seasons in the Abyss’. Dusting off ‘Die by the Sword’ and following it with ‘Chemical Warfare’ was just pure, top quality thrash brutality. Similarly, ‘Hell Awaits’ and ‘Post Mortem’ perfectly bled into ‘Angel of Death’.
Allowing Jon a short break, the harmony riffs of ‘South of Heaven’ started as both Kerry and King stood side by side whilst Jon locked down more double kick bursts. Tom stood at the microphone, pounding his bass effortlessly, grinning from ear to ear. Slayer were hitting the mark this evening. ‘Dead Skin Mask’ partially teased the ear drums with some respite before the ninety minute set was closed with the climactic bombast of ‘Raining Blood’.
Jon Dette’s feat of drumming athleticism is incredible. Filling in on double duty for two of the biggest names in drumming on the same night is nothing short of astonishing. Slayer remains punishing, menacing, ferocious and ridiculously loud. Anthrax has stuck to their guns in a similar fashion and their unrelenting approach to delivering a tight set is hard to beat. This was a night of some seriously brutal thrash metal chock full of classics.
Setlists:
Kingdom of Sorrow
Begging for the Truth
Behind the Blackest Tears
Led into Demise
Enlightened to Extinction
Free the Fallen
Monuments of Ash
Lead the Ghosts Astray
Buried in Black
Anthrax
Caught in a Mosh
Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t
Antisocial
Indians
In the End
Deathrider
T.N.T.
I Am The Law
Slayer
World Painted Blood
War Ensemble
Die by the Sword
Chemical Warfare
Spirit in Black
Bloodline
Disciple
Payback
Mandatory Suicide
Altar of Sacrifice
Jesus Saves
Seasons in the Abyss
Hell Awaits
Postmortem
Angel of Death
South of Heaven
Hate Worldwide
Dead Skin Mask
Raining Blood