Special report by Mark Gromen

OK, there’s actually a tour within a tour, when it comes to the Rockstar Energy Mayhem fest: SLAYER, CANNIBAL CORPSE, BEHEMOTH comprising a true metallic core, and all the rest. Of the three, the Poles are up first, opening with a blistering ‘Slaves Shall Serve’ before settling into a grinding ‘On The Left Hand Of God’. It must be sweltering in those get-ups, but Nergal and crew make no bones about it. Trumpets herald ‘Demigod’, the black on black embossed guitars feature the double headed war eagle on the frets. Somehow, a family of four (obviously kids’ first gig) has dad asking, “Do you know which band this is?” Of all the non-descript acts which have taken the alternating Hot Top and Jägermeister stages, this is the ONLY one with corpse-paint! New (already banned) video/single ‘Ov Fire And The Void’ came next, then ‘Chant For Ezkaton’. An hour later, it was CANNIBAL CORPSE, opening with the title track from the newbie, Evisceration Plague. The entire song saw the band, minus singer George Fischer, heads down, apparently a photo-op solely for Corpsegrinder. ‘Time To Kill’, ‘Unleashing The Bloodthirsty’, ‘Fucked With A Knife’, ‘Make Them Suffer’, ‘Priests Of Sodom’ and the classic ‘Hammer-Smashed Face’ closed not only their set, but the side-stages overall. Over on the main stage, eventually it was time for SLAYER. Lots of smoke, even some fire, with ‘War Ensemble’ up second. Aqua green/blue lighting for ‘Mandatory Suicide’ then ‘Chemical Warfare’, with the stage bathed in Over Kill green, apart from alternating spotlighted solos by Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman (his name replicated on a beer label across his guitar). ‘Hell Awaits’ saw the stage go red, a line of flames behind drummer Dave Lombardo. The foursome are relatively stationary, Tom Araya covered in smoke, but never wandering far from the mic. Despite the listing posting on the stage, they ended with ‘Angel Of Death’, ‘South Of Heaven’ and (naturally) Reign In Blood’. An unmatched ending trio!

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