Walking toward the 9:30 club, one certainly knew what was happening last Monday night. Screams of "SLAYER!" echoed across V St. and announced to D.C. who was in charge for the night. The line stretching all the way around the corner was made up of everyone from old thrashers in biker jackets and cowboy boots to hardcore kids in hoodies and New Balances. Metal was out in all its diverse glory and showed it would not be ignored.
Now 25 years into their career, Slayer is still at the top of the game as a live act. Their performance made a case for their inclusion in the running for best live metal band of all time. There may be bands that are heavier and faster, as well as bands with lyrics much sicker and more depraved, but no other band knows how to command a mass audience the way Slayer can. Taking the stage to clouds of smoke and swirling lights, the band immediately launched into "Disciple" from the album "God Hates Us All." Wasting no time between songs, vocalist Tom Araya announced the next song in his trademark scream: "WAAAAR ENSEMBLE!" One of the band's best-known tracks, it speeds along at a pace that would make even the most extreme headbanger snap his vertebrae.
The set list presented a comprehensive look at the band's illustrious career, ranging from the primitive echoes of venom found in songs like "Captor of Sin" and "Die by the Sword," to the atmospheric heaviness of "Seasons in the Abyss" and "Dead Skin Mask," to tracks from their latest offering of brutality, 2007's "Christ Illusion."
Most importantly, however, was the inclusion of what is considered to be the finest album in thrash metal history, "Reign in Blood." Tracks like "Postmortem," "Raining Blood" and encore "Angel of Death" show the band at its finest. Galloping along at inhuman speed with riffs that ignite sparks of violence inside even the most peaceful human being, Slayer is the sound of Satan's armies marching across the face of the Earth, declaring all-out war with the forces of good.
One could say that the members of Slayer would make fitting Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Bassist/vocalist Araya makes a fitting leader of the pack, whipping his long, graying hair into frenzy and brandishing his bass like a medieval weapon of torture.
Flanked on either side of Araya are guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman. King is one of the more instantly recognizable figures of metal, with his bald, tattooed head, long beard, spiked gauntlet and Flying V guitars. He spent much of the set stalking around the stage like a drill instructor pushing his charges to their limits. Hanneman, on the other hand, spent much of the performance anchored to his position onstage. He was nonetheless intimidating with his long hair waving back and forth and his bizarre choice in stage attire (Raiders football jersey and baseball shin guards).
However, the most intimidating aspect of Hanneman was his guitar playing, which consisted of bludgeoning riffs, lightning-fast rhythms and wildly chaotic soloing. Anchoring it all together was drummer Dave Lombardo, who returned to the fold after almost 15 years away from the band. He is the man who invented extreme metal drumming; there are only a handful of others who do it better than he can. His lightning-fast rolls and pounding double bass sounded more like a death march into Armageddon than a standard rock beat.
The night belonged to Slayer. Every song they played either holds or deserves classic status, and the performance is second to none. Trends in metal will come and go, and as some of their contemporaries lose influence and respect, Slayer stands as the genre's Rock of Gibraltar, forever refusing to change.
