Slayer with special guests, Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth, and Testament.
May 22, 2018
Bell MTS Place Although this show may have begun earlier than most shows tend to, the early start time didn't prevent fans from filling the venue as the thrash metal band Testament hit the stage. Testament recently stated in an interview that this Slayer farewell tour is going to act as the band's last run to support their 2016 released album, Brotherhood of the Snake, before starting work on their next full-length album. Having a discography spanning thirty-five years, the band performed songs from throughout their catalogue including, "Brotherhood of the Snake," "Practice What You Preach," "Into The Pit," and a few more songs.
Second to the stage was Behemoth, the blackened death metal band hailing out of Gdańsk, Poland. At first, it did not seem that the vocalist and guitarist, Nergal, was very impressed by the energy given from the Winnipeg audience. But, as the show went on, the crowd became more and more energetic with each song. Behemoth started their set off strong with their songs, "Ov Fire and the Void," "Demigod," and "Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer," and ending their performance with, "O Father O Satan O Sun!"
Following Behemoth was Slayer's "Big Four" brethren, Anthrax. On the heels of the band's newly released two-hour live DVD, Kings Among Scotland, which was released last month on April 27, Anthrax came to have another great time with the famously known Winnipeg crowd. Anthrax was just in Winnipeg this past February at the Burton Cummings Theatre with Killswitch Engage and Havok on The Killthrax Tour.
Anthrax performed all their gems, starting huge with "Caught in a Mosh," which got the Winnipeg crowd riled up right off the bat. Some other songs performed were "I Am The Law," "Indians," and the Joe Jackson cover, "Got the Time." Before the band made their way off stage, they continued to get the Winnipeg audience to sing the Canadian national anthem, O Canada, just as they did the last time they were here in Winnipeg.
The second last was the heavy metal/metalcore band Lamb of God. This marked the band's second time back to Winnipeg since the unfortunate event in 2010 -resulting in the arrest and jail time of vocalist Randy Blythe in Prague in June 2012, which led to the band’s North American tour being cancelled. It's been two years since their performance at the Burton Cummings Theatre with Clutch and Corrosion of Conformity in June 2016.
Lamb of God just released their brand new cover album, Legion: XX, just last Friday, May 18. Legion: XX was released under their old moniker Burn The Priest to mark the band's twentieth anniversary. The band performed a variety of music from their catalogue with such songs as, "Omerta," "Ruin," "Walk With Me in Hell," "512," "Laid to Rest," "Redneck," and more. It’s no secret vocalist Randy Blythe is friends with Winnipeg’s own Chris Jericho. So a shout-out from the band before, "Walk With Me in Hell" made crystal clear sense occurring sometime during the band's time on stage.
Photos by Samuel Stevens Photography.
The final band of the night is the one-act everyone came to see one final time in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. As a band for three years shy of four decades, as well being part of the thrash metal, "Big Four" alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax, and touring the globe countless times over the years, the band has come to terms to retire with one colossal final world tour.
"Slaaaaaayer!" rang throughout Bell MTS Place as "Delusions of Savior" was played over tape. As soon as the curtain dropped, Slayer went right into the songs, "Repentless," "Blood Red," and "Disciple." Performing a hefty nineteen-song farewell set spanning their entire career, the fans were in for quite the treat. Slayer sure wanted to go out with a bang, assembling a powerful lineup of bands for their final world tour and a hell of a setlist to tie it all together. The band performed all the fan favourites including, "Hate Worldwide," "War Ensemble," "Black Magic," "Seasons in the Abyss," and ending the set strong with songs, "South of Heaven," "Raining Blood," "Chemical Warfare," and the appropriately titled, "Angel of Death."