We are uniting the Illuminati of Rock and Metal experts in another Roundtable forum! Slayer will play their first of three reunion shows soon at Riot Fest, Louder Than Life and Aftershock Festival, and we will discuss the bands’ controversial decision to unretire after five years!
We also make a lot of jokes about Foreigner! Continue reading
December 1st 2019.
The first day waking up in a post-Slayer world.
A dark day indeed. Continue reading
Time for our final episode of our Slayer series ! Nik and Keefy are joined by Omar Cordy of #GhostCultMag to discuss the first post-Dave Lombardo era, and the merits of Paul Bostaph! We also rank every album we covered!Continue reading
Covering Slayer is a tricky business. Many bands have tried and failed, and despite displaying obvious reverence to the Californian Thrash legends, only a handful have ever really been able to do real justice to the source material. And of those, it’s the ones who arrive from left field that remain in the memory the most.
From Finnish cellists Apocalyptica to LA rap-metallers Body Count, it’s US singer/pianist Tori Amos who produced arguably the most innovative cross-genre take back in 2001 when she gave the world a very different version of “Raining Blood”. And now it’s the turn of Fu Manchu guitarist Bob Balch, the stoner metal legend getting the idea after teaching a student how to play “South of Heaven” in a different tuning and, well… Slower.Continue reading
Melding their NWOBHM influences with their sinister intentions and hella fast speed Metal, Slayer hit the scene as a band in 1981. After their recorded debut on Metal Blade’s Metal Massacre II, and then later that year – Show No Mercy would arrive on December 3rd, 1983, also via Metal Blade. This was less than a month after being hastily recorded. Few understood how important a debut or band would become.
Whenever an established act loses its frontman, especially one as talismanic as Max Cavalera, fans are usually left choosing sides. Do you go with the musician striking out on their own or do your allegiances remain with the band? Largely dependent on the situation, an amicable split can leave listeners happily following both parties down separate paths to the promise of glory but when open hostility is at the heart of the separation, loyalties are often put to the test.Continue reading
Bay Area thrashers Vio-Lence might have only been around for eight years but what a magnificent near-decade it was. From their classic hyper-aggressive debut Eternal Nightmare (MCA Records) to the controversial lyrics of ‘Torture Tactics’ and a deliciously questionable vegetable soup and vinegar “vomit bag” plastic record sleeve, the band also launched the career of a certain Robb Flynn who went on to form 1990s game-changers Machine Head, eventually to be followed by guitarist Phil Demmel. With three studio albums under their belts, the band went their separate ways in 1993, only becoming a full-time going concern again in 2019.
With only founding guitarist Prika Amaral remaining from their original 2010 line-up, Brazilian thrashers Nervosa return with a much more international look on their fourth full-length studio release, Perpetual Chaos (Napalm Records). Joining Amaral this time is Spanish vocalist Diva Satanica, Greek drummer Eleni Nota, and former Abbath bassist Mia Wallace.
When Reign in Blood (Def Jam) catapulted Californian thrashers Slayer into the big leagues, the 1986 (or 1987 if you lived in the UK) seminal release also created a problem for the band. How exactly do you follow perfection?
The lights came up… and it was all over.
This has been the scenario for thousands of shows I have seen. Maybe 6,000 plus shows that I have attended or performed in since I was a small child. The final bow, thunderous applause, and the blinding lights of the house coming on, our shared experience ending as we gather ourselves to go to the bar, or home. Except this was different. This was the last time I would ever see Slayer. It was definitely hitting me, long before the final notes of ‘Angel of Death’ rang out and the final jets of pyro screamed across the top of the band in a way that would excite Beavis and Butthead to no end. Continue reading