Show Review: Megadeth and Slayer at the Long Beach Arena, 8/30/10

Megadeth Front-man Dave Mustaine
 

Getting both Megadeth and Slayer to tour together again wasn’t an easy feat to say the least. It had been nearly 19 years since they shared a stage on the “Clash of the Titans” tour and feuds between Megadeth’s front man Dave Mustaine and Slayer guitarist Kerry King deteriorated much of the respect between the bands over the past two decades. Through the animosity and name-calling, both Mustaine and King have buried the hatchet and moved on within the past year, thus giving birth to the “American Carnage” tour.

The tour was initially slated to kick off in January but was postponed due to Slayer bassist/vocalist Tom Araya’s need for back surgery, as the pain was too intense to tour through. The tour was eventually rescheduled in April.

“We canceled two tours, and I don’t feel great about that, but I couldn’t deal with the pain anymore, and that’s now completely gone,” said Araya in a press release. “I know the fans are excited to see the band — the tour is on, we’re keeping our word, there will be no more cancellations.”

As I pulled into the Long Beach Arena parking lot, it was clear Tom’s words were spot on. The fans were beyond excited to see both Slayer and Megadeth team up again for a tour as a 2010 version of Heavy Metal Parking Lot played out before my eyes. Fans young and old partied it up in the expansive parking lot. Taking in the loud music blasting from car stereos (mainly Megadeth and Slayer) and some brews before converging into the arena. I also couldn’t help but notice two older gentlemen holding signs reading “REPENT OF YOUR WICKED HEART OF UNBELIEF,” “YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN,” and “ASK ME WHY YOU DESERVE HELL.” Clearly these men were God-fearing faith-filled individuals who were there to confront the concert-goers of their enjoyment of the evil sounds of heavy metal. As people passed these two men in line, they were randomly flipped off and one young man even dropped his pants and bent over, exposing his bare ass. The consensus was clear: they sold their souls for rock and roll!

Upon entering the arena, I could hear Testament warming up the crowd with their music. Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control, I missed just about all of Testament’s set.

As Megadeth set up for their performance, I strolled along the arena floor taking in the scene. The crowd was still pouring into the arena, filling in the seats on the upper level and taking up space on the standing room only arena floor. Shouts of “Slayer!” could be heard randomly throughout the arena, all while the PA system cranked out “Walk” by Pantera, causing the crowd to chant out the chorus in unison : “RE...SPECT...WALK!”

Eventually the lights turned off and the stage turned blood red as a heavy fog crept across the entire span of the stage. Behind the drum kit, the artwork for the album Rust in Peace was featured predominantly and Jello Biafra’s spoken word piece “Message From Our Sponsor” played as one by one the members of Megadeth took the stage.

Being the 20th anniversary of Rust in Peace, They proceeded to play the album in its entirety. Mustaine dawned a custom Rust in Peace Flying-V guitar and put that guitar good use through solos during songs like “Hangar 18” and “Rust in Peace…Polaris.” Key interaction and communication between Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson, and guitarist Chris Broderick were noticeable as all three played very tight. At times, the vocals were hard to hear over the guitars but for the most part the acoustics were rather impressive, especially for an arena show. Mustaine’s vocals were mostly on point, but it’s clear he doesn’t have the pipes he had 20 years ago (plus, look at what he did to himself over the years…the man is lucky to be alive).

At one point, during the song “Dawn Patrol,” Ellefson and drummer Shawn Drover were the only two people on the stage. As Ellefson drove out the bass line that served as the base of the song, Megadeth’s “mascot” Vic Rattlehead walked out and acted out the lyrics spoken backstage by Mustaine. Dressed in the business suit as he appears on the cover of Rust in Peace, this definitely added a theatrical feel to the show. They finished off the album set with “Rust in Peace…Polaris” and left the stage, only to come back a few minutes later to perform an encore.

As an encore, They played “Trust,” “Headcrusher” (off of their newest album Endgame), “À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)”, “Symphony of Destruction,” and, lastly, “Peace Sells.” After a rousing cheer from the crowd, Dave and crew left the stage…now it was time for Slayer.

I will say this for the record : Slayer has some of the most loyal and hardcore fans ever. Even while watching Megadeth during their encore, this guy stood next to me — clearly enjoying what he was hearing and shouted “Megadeth!” only to back it up with “…but it’s all about Slayer!” You could feel a difference in the crowd once it was time for Slayer to take the stage. Like a calm before a storm, you knew you were going to be witnessing something special. Once the house lights turned down, the music started and the huge white sheet covering the stage dropped to the ground revealing Slayer and all hell broke loose.

They started out with the title cut off of their newest album World Painted Blood and then went into playing Seasons in the Abyss in its entirety, since it also is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Musically, Slayer is about as fast and as brutal as you are going to get when it comes to thrash metal: lighting fast guitar riffs provided by Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, backed up the driving deep bass lines of Tom Araya and insanely fast drumming of Dave Lombardo. These guys have been on top of their game since the ’80s, and tonight’s performance was no exception. Sporting his usual getup of catcher’s knee-pads and a Raiders jersey, Hanneman was simply unstoppable with his screamin’ solos on songs like “War Ensemble” and “Dead Skin Mask.” A few times during their performance, King and Hanneman had dueling solos, one trying to one-up the other. Araya seemed to be feeling fine as he belted out song after song, even allowing the crowd to fill in for him on “Expendable Youth” and “Dead Skin Mask.” Lombardo’s drumming is something amazing to witness live as he pounded out song after song for a good 80 minutes with amazing accuracy and power.

As they finished up with the album set, they continued on playing a few songs as encores including “South of Heaven,” “Raining Blood,” and ending the show with “Angel of Death.” Throughout the show, the crowd sang along almost louder than Araya’s vocals and many let their long locks fly as they banged their heads to the music.

Much like Megadeth’s set, Slayer played very tight and the guitar solos were nearly flawless, but one thing set Slayer’s performance aside from Megadeth’s was their relentlessness. Slayer’s ability to relentlessly manhandle the crowd with their music and energy proved to be the highlight of the evening. Honestly speaking, Slayer’s set proved to be one of the most energetic musical experience I have witnessed. Don’t get me wrong, Megadeth put on one hell of a show as well, but when you factor in Slayer’s rabid fans and the excitement instilled by Slayer’s music, there’s no doubt about it that Slayer stole the show!

Seeing one half of the “Big Four” in thrash metal was an amazing experience. As I was leaving the arena, some random guy slaps me on the back and says, “That was one hell of a show, wasn’t it?” Yes, my friend, yes it was!

THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD – Skepsis

What good are lyrics when you can’t understand them? Within the genre of metal and hardcore, it’s an all too common problem these days: musically talented groups releasing well-played music that’s fast and furious but spoiling the sound with gut-wrenching vocals that sound like utter crap. This is the case of Through the Eyes of the Dead’s new album, Skepsis. The 10 tracks featured are brutal and hard-hitting but the vocals provided by Danny Rodriguez are a bit too much.

According to their Myspace page, Skepsis is a concept album : “The story is a first-person view through the main character who has a strong, skeptical view on humanity and reality.” Look, if you are going to make a concept album revolving around lyrics, maybe it would be wise to present those lyrics to the listener in way that it is comprehensible. I hate nothing more than having to sit down and go line-by-line, reading the lyrics as I listen to an album. I did enjoy the double-bass drumming of Mike Rame, and the guitar breakdowns and synchronized riffs are impressive but I can’t get with this inaudible vocal nonsense. Then again, I know that many of you out there dig this kind of music, so don’t listen to me…if I was an angry 15 year old kid who hated the world, I might like this…but I’m not. I’m just saying…

(Prosthetic Records, 11664 National Blvd. #413, Los Angeles, CA 90064)

TOXIC HOLOCAUST – Hell On Earth

With the reissue of their sophomore release Hell on Earth, Toxic Holocaust returns with their brand of fast paced thrash metal. Like on their debut album, Joel Grind and his band of metal misfits jam out 10-plus tracks dealing with dark and morbid subjects like death, war and hell. Reflecting on their debut album Evil Never Dies, it appears the band took on some subtle changes within the confines of this album. There’s a noticeable difference between how a majority of the songs start. Some start with guitars exclusively or even a bass guitar riff at the beginning of “Time to Die,” giving the album a less repetitive feel. There’s also a noticeable attempt to incorporate more guitar solos, especially during the song “Time to Die.” While it’s clear the band is looking to progress musically, lyrically it still feels essentially cliché and overall unbearable. I definitely applaud their attempts to expand their musical boundaries but in the midst of doing so I feel they lost a lot of that raw energy that made Evil Never Dies so fun to listen to. The potential is there…it’s now just a matter of finding what really works.

(Relapse Records, PO Box 2060, Upper Darby, PA 19082)

TOXIC HOLOCAUST – Evil Never Dies

I must make a confession. As I do with most albums I review, I listen to them while doing various things around the house. Maybe do a little cleaning, wash some dishes, or partake in some online poker. I noticed that while taking in the sounds of Evil Never Dies, I would stop what I was doing and sporadically bang my head, play some mean metal air guitar, and throw up the horns in a fit of rage.

This is the beauty Toxic Holocaust’s audio assault of super-fast beats and blistering guitars. Originally released back in 2003, this reissue pays homage to the thrash metal of yesteryear. The speed doesn’t stop through the 12 featured tracks, making it a pretty much nonstop head-banging experience. Unfortunately, not everything here comes up stellar. While the tracks are fast and well played, they all seem to have a repetitive beat and vocal structure. This makes the tracks pretty much run all together, leaving the listener wondering, “Didn’t I just hear this song?” Joel Grind’s vocals are subpar to say the least. Understanding a majority of the lyrics is nearly impossible as he mumbles throughout the effort. I also felt the subject matter for the songs were a bit too cliché of thrash legends like Megadeth and Slayer. Can we get a little deeper than war and death? I understand what they were attempting to do (pay homage while trying to have their own sound) but it felt more of a rip off than an inspiration. What beauty lies in this album lies in its unrelenting attempt to blow the listener away with ripping guitars backed by a lightning-fast beat. It’s not a masterpiece, but it does its job.

(Relapse Records, PO Box 2060, Upper Darby, PA 19082)

STYGIAN – Fury Rising

Fury Rising is the second full-length album from these hard rockers from Philadelphia. Playing off a sound that can only be described as a mix of James Hetfield-inspired vocals with Disturbed-like guitar breakdowns, Fury Rising’s 10 tracks play it safe for the most part. The album is well produced and the music is well played, but it lacks heart. Sometimes when an album is over-produced, it loses that rawness that draws the listener in.

As mentioned, Frank Leary’s vocals attempt to mimic Metallica’s James Hetfield, especially noticeable in the slowed down acoustic song “My Regret.” Stygian seems to pull inspiration from all over the rock spectrum. “Last Redemption” and “The Fear” come across with an Alice in Chains sound. One of the bright spots with this album is Patrick Hayden’s guitar work, as he’s featured throughout the album on several solos. The guy can seriously shred! While there’s nothing terrible with Fury Rising, there’s nothing really special here, minus Hayden’s solos. It feels like nothing is original or unique to Stygian’s sound. As I said, musically and lyrically they play it safe. Nothing I can’t find on any ClearChannel radio station.

(Mortal Music Group, PO Box 661, Lake Zurich, IL 60047)