Metal Rules!! Concert Review:
Slayer (with Fear Factory & Noise therapy)
PNE Forum Vancouver, August 4, 1998

What can I say about Slayer that hasn't already been written. They are the  gods period! No other band has maintained their substance and integrity like Slayer. The fans that paid $35.00 to see their heroes were not disappointed. After seeing the band face to face at a record signing event at Sam the Record Man, where hundreds of followers lined up for 2  hours, the anticipation for the show was indescribable.

The seating was general admission and basically you could get as close as you dare to the band while they played. However, the sea of moshing lunatics kept the more mature Slayer fans in their seats. Have you ever looked at microorganisms crawling at a furious pace on a slide? Well that's what the crowd looked like, shaking heads, shaking bodies, my eyes could not adjust fast enough.

Behind a wall of dry ice and spooky lights the band erupted into Bitter Peace followed by Death's Head from their new CD - Diabolus In Musica.  The gods were in awesome form, deafening the crowd so that the there were no longer 5 senses but one: Slayer.

The band followed with Hell Awaits, perhaps the greatest most evilest Slayer tune of all time. Reign in Blood was next. Tom then said to the  crowd, I'm going to take you back...Evil Has No Boundaries. Yes the band selected and exhumed this classic tune from side 1, song one, of their debut Show No Mercy. Paul Bostoph had a way of making the drums even more resounding and complex than his godly predecessor, playing like Satan himself. From Divine intervention, the band played their hit single Dittohead followed by South of Heaven in which a few stupid chicks flicked their lighters on thinking it was some kind of ballad. The band spared their followers from any punk selections from their CD Undisputed Attitude and instead played Gemini. The band looked positively wicked, banging their heads liked they loved every minute. Kerry King and Jeff Haneman, the bookends of the devil, played like it was their first and last show. As Tom Araya politely thanked the audience, the band erupted again into several more selections from Diabolis including Stain of Mind, In the Name of God and Scrum. Following a brief pause, Tom screamed "they say the pen is mightier than the sword, well I say fuck the pen, cause u can DIE BY THE SWORD!!" Another classic intro followed in which Tom exclaimed: "tits and clits, clits and tits, I'm gonna get me some clits and tits....here's a song for all of those cunts who like to spread their legs in the night. This is captor of sin."

And the gods played on. Mandatory Suicide was next. Fuck "Saving Private Ryan", this auditory nightmare puts the graphic nightmare of the #1 movie to shame. Finally a tune from Seasons in the Abyss made an appearance, Dead Skin Mask. Tom then thanked the crowd and said goodnight. The crowd was crazy and I was crazy myself. A stiff neck, bleeding ears and the urge to vomit from the strong stench of pot and sweat that filled the arena. But the gods returned!!!....The second coming. Seasons in the Abyss, the godly hypnotizing epic was played to perfection. The crowd swayed to the song back and forth, back and forth into the abyss. If hell is only this beautiful when we see it ourselves. Oh well..... The band ended their 80 minute show with Angel of Death and Chemical Warfare. The crowd went berserk!. Heads rolled on the floor as  necks spurted blood in all directions. The gods promised to return in '99, but this fan didn't care....his dream was realized.

 

Thanks to Darrin Pope
For submitting this review.