CityLife

Slayer

Slayer

Slayer
Academy 1
May 30, 2010

“It took a long time to get here, but we made it,” confides Slayer’s long time frontman and bassist, Tom Araya. This Manchester date has been rescheduled twice due to some major back surgery on Araya, but it’s no understatement that this is a gig that most have been itching to see for nearly a year.

As such, the Academy this evening is bursting at the seams with headbangers, this also being the first chance in a long while that most have had to see the thrash titans in a slightly more intimate setting.

Despite more recent tracks from last year's World Painted Blood album (their eleventh) looking back to a more melodic, structured style of speed metal. It’s the group’s classics such as War Ensemble, Seasons In The Abyss, Mandatory Suicide and Disciple that get the packed-in crowd fired up.

However, with the four-piece’s last few visits having been a trawl of the heavy-metal tour-circuit with young pretenders - as part of the Unholy Alliance package - it’s disappointing that with their own headlining status this time around they don’t seem to put in more than a workman-like performance.

And following an encore blitzkrieg of South Of Heaven, Silent Scream and old reliable Angel Of Death, the four-piece are gone.

They may deliver the goods when it comes to close-to-the-bone aggression but the thrash veterans are definitely starting to look and sound less threatening than they once did.