Tom Araya & Kerry King - SLAYER
PHOTOGRAPHED FOR EXCLAIM.CA
Slayer graced Edmonton's Shaw Conference Centre for one last time on Sunday night, bringing with them one of the heaviest tours of the year, featuring heavy-hitters in the metal community such as Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament.
AMPSANDGREENSCREENS.COM OFFICIAL CONCERT REVIEW
It's Friday the 13th - A night in which the local Edmonton metalheads are out for one hell of a party and a ritualistic experience; Union Hall concert goers received both, a hefty dose of Poland's blackened death metal demigods, Behemoth, and American death metal heavy-weights, Cannibal Corpse.
As fans were let into the venue, supporters of blackened-rockers, Tribulation, and death metallers, Aeon, began to fill the Hall; As these two Swedish based bands powered through their energetic sets, their authentic music amped up the crowd in preparation for what was yet to come.
25-year-strong death metal icons Cannibal Corpse were next up on the bill. The party was about to start! Fans began pressing towards the barricades and throwing beer cans in the air as the time for Cannibal Corpse drew nearer. As each member of the band filled their place on the dimly lit stage, the roars of the crowd consecutively grew louder and louder. With the whipping of George 'Corpsegrinder' Fisher's incredibly muscular neck, the band thundered into 'Scourge of Iron' from 2012's album 'Torture'. Between songs, Corpsegrinder called upon their guitar tech, Baby Face, gesturing to him to come onto the stage. Thinking something was horribly wrong, Baby Face hurried over, only to be surprised with a birthday cake, lit with candles and held by a fellow tech friend from the tour. Smiles cracked through the stone-like faces on each member of Cannibal Corpse as Baby Face hugged and thanked them all for wishing him a happy birthday. As the set continued on, CC rolled through some of their old-school, gut-wrenching and gruesome tracks such as 'I Cum Blood', 'Make Them Suffer', 'Skull Full Of Maggots' and 'Hammer Smashed Face' each errupting into the most aggressive and chaotic of mosh pits that the Union Hall has ever, and probably will ever see.
Eagerly waiting for Behemoth's appearance, the strong scent of incense filled the room as a few sticks of Nag Champa slowly burnt off of frontman and guitarist, Adam 'Nergal' Darski's microphone alter. The Hall began to fill with smoke, as spotlights beemed down through the haze upon the microphone stands with steel cobras coiled around them, creating a very ritualistic image throughout the room - the Hall went black as bassist Orion, drummer Inferno and guitarist Seth took place on stage, followed by frontman Nergal, who bowed to the audience with flaming posts in both hands. As Nergal rose to his feet, he threw down his fiery posts, and the band boomed into 'Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer' - a track from 2014's album 'The Satanist'. On the receiving end of the piercing glares that Nergal would frequently give the crowd, you couldn't help by feel like he was staring into your soul, followed by yelling into his ambient microphone "How does it feel to be alive?!" then, proceeding into 'Ben Sahar' (The Satanist, 2014). After a victorious battle with leukemia a few years prior, a new found appreciation for life was awakened within Nergal, which has inspired many songs on 2014's album The Satanist. Behemoth performed a series of hit tracks from over the years, such as 'Conquer All', 'At The Left Hand Ov God' and 'Of Fire and The Void', each highlighting the incredible talents of the musicians on stage. Though excluding 2014's single 'Blow Your Trumpets, Gabriel', which left many Behemoth supporters disappointed. Closing the night off with Nergal's incantation of 'Ojcze Nasz', the 4 demigods appeared through beems of white light peering down through the hazey air, wearing cloaks and black horned masks, casting silhouettes upon the audience, making Friday the 13th at Union Hall, a truly haunting, spiritual experience that wont soon be forgotten.
