Watch footage of Slayer’s extremely anticipated Riot Fest headline set – their first present in 5 years Guitar Contact
Thrash metallic legends Slayer performed their first live performance in 5 years on Sunday (22 September) with a hit-packed set at Chicago’s Riot Fest. And as you’d anticipate, fan-filmed footage of the occasion has been posted on-line aplenty.
The band, who beforehand retired in 2019, returned to the stage for the competition’s headline slot, the place they performed 20 songs, together with each hits and shock deep cuts alike.
The setlist leant closely on the classics, with half the tracks performed coming from their two most celebrated albums, 1986’s Reign in Blood and 1990’s Seasons within the Abyss. 1988 anthem South of Heaven kickstarted the present, adopted by Reign rarity Reborn, performed for the primary time since 2014. The band later shuffled even deeper behind the couch and pulled out 213, from divisive 1994 album Divine Intervention, for the primary time in 25 years.
After all, such a setlist means there have been loads of stellar guitar moments. Guitarists Kerry King and Gary Holt exchanged solos all night time, separated by duelling harmonies and a smorgasbord of chugging riffs. Raining Blood, Black Magic, Seasons within the Abyss, Useless Pores and skin Masks and Angel of Dying – every with their iconic guitar components most metallic followers have etched of their heads – all bought busted out.
And it’s Slayer, so such a present wouldn’t be full with no sturdy dose of hell-inspired visuals. As such, the band used their trusted fireball pyro, inverted crosses, amps stacked like inverted crosses, and different evil imagery to make the present a real spectacle.
Slayer shaped in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, bassist/vocalist Tom Araya and drummer Dave Lombardo. The band rapidly turned figureheads of the burgeoning thrash metallic motion and, with the discharge of Reign in Blood, began courting mainstream controversy. Many critics took exception to their lyrical emphasis on blasphemy, serial killers and, on the tune Angel of Dying, the experiments of Nazi scientist Josef Mengele.
Hanneman died of liver failure in 2013 and was changed by Exodus guitarist Gary Holt, whereas Lombardo’s position behind the package has been taken by Paul Bostaph. Slayer’s retirement 5 years in the past got here on the finish of an in depth world tour, with the choice to hold up their guitars and spiky gauntlets later attributed to Araya not having fun with the touring life-style. Their return gig can be adopted by two extra competition performances: Louder Than Life in Louisville, Kentucky, on September 27 and Aftershock in Sacramento, California, on October 10.
Discover out extra about Slayer’s upcoming reveals at slayer.internet.