Gods of Metal Slay Kansas City

August 3, 2017

The unholy trinity of Lamb of God, Behemoth, and Slayer landed on Kansas City last Tuesday. The three acts defiled the city airwaves with a show heavy on nostalgia, but in the best way possible. All three bands are legends among the metal community, and rightfully so, as they continue to perform with levels of skill and energy that make their probably not-cheap concert tickets well worth every penny.

With more than two-and-a-half decades each under their belt, no other band on Earth can summon the crowd to their utmost frenzy (and turn them into an air-punching, air-shredding human mass that at any given moment is lost in some other kind of physical flailing) better than Slayer does. The band’s breakneck riffs and angry rapid-fire chants, mixed with their favorite lyrical topics: war, destruction, and violence; are played at an absolutely relentless speed and volume. Their sound is like a full-on sensory assault, and the effect is actually, in sort of extraneous way, calming -. There is so much going on while Slayer is on stage, so loud and so fast, that everything runs together into a total body experience and it is impossible to think about anything else.

The powerful energy that Slayer brought with their music was only matched by the onstage antics of Randy Bylthe, during Lamb of God’s set. Though they had just played in Kansas City last year with Anthrax, I highly doubt anyone was upset about seeing them again one year later. How Randy manages to sing (or growl) while running across the stage, and leaping from everything more than a foot off the ground is anyone’s guess, but it sure is entertaining.

Though it was weeknight show, it was early enough, and the heat died off, that plenty of people packed Providence Medical Center Amphitheater (or Sandstone to those who have been around), that enough people were there to enjoy crowd surfing, and mosh pits. Go see them on tour, and unleash your inner beast. SLAYER!

Set Lists:

Slayer

The Antichrist / Disciple / Postmortem / Hate Worldwide / War Ensemble / When the Stillness Comes / You Against You / Mandatory Suicide / Hallowed PointDead Skin Mask / Born of Fire / Cast the First Stone / Bloodline / Seasons in the Abyss / Hell Awaits / South of Heaven / Reign in Blood / Chemical Warfare / Angel of Death

Lamb of God

Laid to Rest / Now You’ve Got Something to Die For / 512 / Engage the Fear Machine / Ruin / Descending / Blacken the Cursed Sun / Still / Echoes / Walk With Me in Hell / Redneck

Behemoth

Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer/Conquer All/Messe Noire/Alas, Lord Is Upon Me/Decade of Therion/Ov Fire and the Void/Chant for Eschaton 2000

Slayer