At the onset, I was looking forward to this year’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Slayer, Trivium, Cannibal Corpse, Killswitch Engage, God Forbid, even Arizona’s own Job For a Cowboy. But then reality set in – 112 in the humid Arizona summer sun all day? Eh, I’ll pass. I did make it to Slayer though, and am always glad I do. Security was telling me that something happened to one of the stages in Seattle, so they were unable to use it in Phoenix, forcing two of the side stages to merge. Glad I missed that mess.
Darkness of Christ came blaring out of the amps as fog rolled off the stage, announcing the arrival of Satan’s house band. The band launched in to Disciple and then what seemed like a heavier version of War Ensemble. Is that even possible? Jihad and their new one, Psychopathy Red, followed.
Tom Araya was his usual jokester self, introducing songs like Dead Skin Mask as a “lullaby”. Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman and Dave Lombardo were the usual powerhouses that flow with Tom’s vocals. For some reason tonight, I noticed the band seemed more ferocious, almost heavier. It seemed to be noticeable first with War Ensemble, but it continued throughout the set. It was brutality at its razor sharp finest.
The band went through their classics for the remainder of the set – Mandatory Suicide, Dead Skin Mask, Angel of Death, South of Heaven, etc. I’m not remembering last year’s setlist, so I am not sure if Born of Fire and Hell Awaits are recent additions, but they still thundered nonetheless. The packed amphitheater roared every second of Slayer’s sweaty set, and you could see the energy die when their set finished, as Manson was up next. A good portion of the crowd decided to call it a night at this point, knowing it couldn’t get any better.
Earlier in the day, Kerry King stopped at Raptor Guitars in Phoenix for a 2 hour meet and greet with fans. The line – as expected – flowed past multiple store fronts as hundreds of people waited in line. Phil Rind from the legendary Sacred Reich was also in attendance. Being the gracious person Kerry is, he didn’t leave until everything was signed. The store has killer prices on everything, and I almost walked out with a new stack myself. Anyone in the Phoenix area should check them out.
