Slayer return to a sunny Cardiff for a triumphant night of metal thrashing mayhem, although it didn’t start out too well. Due to what had been cited as ‘local licensing laws’, gates were scheduled to open at 5:00. Unfortunately, this meant that Danish newcomers NECKBREAKKER have been dropped from tonight’s line-up.
Hatebreed kick off proceedings with a 15-minute set which starts before a lot of people have even made it past security. With the ‘Balls of Death’ bouncing around the pit, ‘I Will Be Heard’ sets the tone for day and gets the crowd fired up.
A short 20 minutes later, Mastodon take to the stage. Opening with ‘Crystal Skull’, the band plow through a set that today seems more tailored to hard hitting heaviness rather than some of their more progressive songs. For the first time in the UK, Nick Johnston covers the spot once taken by founding member Brent Hinds.
Anthrax are slightly late but sounding great. Songs ‘Caught In a Mosh’ and ‘Antisocial’ whip the crowd up and gets the pits moving. The killer B’s (Joey) Belladonna and (Frank) Bello tear up the stage. Probably the best version of Joe Jackson’s ‘Got the Time’ I’ve heard keeps the pits and the crowd surfers moving. They close out an all too short set with ‘Indians’ which sees Belladonna running along the barriers high fiving anyone and everyone.
Swedish Viking metal Gods Amon Amarth are up next, with a massive production including inflatable statues, a gold horned helmet drum riser and a lot of fire. ‘Guardians of Asgaard’ flows into ‘Shield Wall’ which has the crowd screaming. The sight of a few thousand metalheads moving to ‘Put Your Back Into The Oar’ has got to be one of the best, and silliest things I’ve ever seen at a metal gig.
And so, for the first time in the UK in 6 years… Slayer!
A video plays out across the big screens, a showcase of the thrash titans over the last 40 odd years. ‘Delusions of Saviour’ plays out before ‘South of Heaven’ grabs the crowd by the collective throat. The set is both brutal and relentless. In the one brief interlude, Tom Araya announces it was 40 years ago they played their first UK show at the Marquee in London. When the question of who in the crowd saw them at that gig raises a cheer, a grinning Araya asks, “Did YOU spit on me?”
Any fears of their set being cut short were soon forgotten with the band slamming through a 20 song, 100 minute set that saw skull crushing tunes like ‘War Ensemble’, ‘Chemical Warfare’ and ‘Reborn’ and a deliciously over the top pyro show complete with a burning inverted cross of Marshall amps.
Rounding the night off we get ‘Raining Blood’, accompanied by spectacular red pyro, ‘Black Magic’, and ‘Angel of Death’.
As the evening breeze tries, in vain, to blow the smoke away, Araya signs off with “We’ll see you again. Maybe…” Let’s hope so.
All photos by Gareth Nicol
