REVIEW: Speed kings still reign atop metal music heap

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Slayer's Kerry King entertains at the MTS Centre. (BORIS.MINKEVICH@FREEPRESS.MB.CA )

 WINNIPEG — Blood loss was minimal, but it was still a slaughterhouse at the MTS Centre Monday night.

The four-city Canadian Carnage tour stopped at the arena Monday with thrash pioneers Slayer and Megadeth bludgeoning the crowd with more than a quarter-century of riff after bloody riff.

Tales about war, death, destruction, Satan, aliens and serial killers have never been so much fun.

Slayer and Megadeth have been trading off headline duties throughout the short Western Canadian jaunt, and Monday night it was Slayer’s turn to mop up.

The Los Angeles quartet is one of the best metal bands of all time and they proved their status as the kings of speed metal still stands with a set that proved they aren’t ready to relinquish that title to any of the newer bands that have sprung up since they made their debut in 1983 with Show No Mercy.

Vocalist-bassist Tom Araya was in prime demonic form as he spit out more than 25 years’ worth of lyrics about the horrors of war, organized religion and other unholy topics that the faithful sang along to with devil horns in the air, or beat into each other in the sizeable mosh pit.

He is a surprisingly soft-spoken man between songs, and sometimes he just stood at the front of the stage grinning. (He did mistakenly say the last time Slayer was here was 25 years ago. Actually Tom, it was in 2006).

Guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman are one of the best guitar teams of all time and they didn’t miss a single detuned note as they traded off lighting-fast leads and solos in front of two giant stacks of Marshalls, while drum God Dave Lombardo was a blur behind the kit. Precision be thy name.

The group delivered a cross-section of material from their career, pulling out classic favourites like War Ensemble, Chemical Warfare and Hell Awaits and equally heavy latter-day material like Jihad and Disciple, with its message that, "God hates us all." They showcased only one new song from their forthcoming album, World Painted Blood, the punked-up Psychopathy Red, which is as brutally heavy as anything they’ve ever recorded.

They may be getting older, but they’re not getting slower.

Press time hit before their planned 13-song set finished, but they were scheduled to end with the one-two punch of the anthems, South of Heaven and Raining Blood, the latter off arguably the best metal album of all time, 1986’s Reign in Blood.

Prior to Slayer’s set, Megadeth got the crowd warmed up with an hour-long quasi-greatest hits set.

Frontman Dave Mustaine has taken his fair share of shots and criticism over the years for his outspoken Republican views and his religious conversion, but there’s no denying he’s a master at what he does and one of metal’s all time greatest riffmiesters.

Slayer has always preferred to deal in the dark side of human nature, while Mustaine has focused more on politics, government interference and conspiracies and personal conflicts.

 He was in fine form tearing through classics like Wake Up Dead, Hangar 18 and power ballad In My Darkest Hour. He dusted off Rattlehead from the band’s 1985 debut, Killing is My Business... And Business is Good, and performed a new song, Headcrusher, from the group’s forthcoming release Endgame. His instantly recognizable nasally whine was in full force and hasn’t changed over the years.

Fans of thrash guitar workouts had plenty to get excited about as Mustaine, guitarist Chris Broderick and bassist James Lomenzo stood at the front of the stage, heads down, whipping their long hair while delivering a quarter-century of monster riffs.

After a 50-minute main set that ended with the anthem Peace Sells the band returned for an encore of Holy Wars... the Punishment Due.

"You’ve been great, we’ve been Megadeth, good night," Mustaine said after the band took a bow.

Oakland thrash quartet Machine Head have been around 17 years themselves and have a decent fanbase in this city, as evidenced by the small, anarchic pit that going as they ripped through a no-nonsense 40-minute set that ranged from songs off their 1994 debut, Burn My Eyes, to their latest offering, 2007’s The Blackening.

rob.williams@freepress.mb.ca