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While Halloween is undoubtedly the most "metal" American holiday, the knife-wielding, mass avian killing Thanksgiving weekend, along with something called Black Friday, certainly sounds like a black metal soundtrack. With nearly 1/3 of the population traveling, there's no more appropriate one word descriptors than Exodus and/or Slayer. Amazingly, both longstanding 80s pioneers are touring together and on the last day of November stopped by the Tower Theater, in the Philadelphia suburb of Upper Darby. Sort of dismayed that Suicidal Tendencies would play direct support to the headliners, over Exodus, but guess that gives double-duty pulling guitarist Gary Holt some time to recuperate between sets.

Haven't been to that venue in a decade, but pre-gaming next door, at the Waterford Inn (where I last had lunch with Chris Caffery, prior to headlining Trans Siberian Orchestra gig at the Tower) never changes. It's a step back in time: smoking indoors, a pull-handle cigarette vending machine, the wooden non-electric cash registers with mechanical, push buttons and price taps which "pop" up. The sign taped to the door says, "No one under 18 allowed," event though the drinking age was raised more than 30 years ago!

Exodus were afforded a short set, surprising in that, apart from a pair of Blood In Blood Out tracks (the album where singer Steve Souza returned to the band) it featured only one Zetro-era track, the commercially successful "Toxic Waltz", ie nothing off Pleasures Of The Flesh. They did one Rob Dukes era track, "Blacklist" and just a pair off the monumental debut. Hardly the definitive Exodus concert. That said, they were all active, especially Souza, whose lost considerable weight since this past summer's onstage debut, at Bang Your Head, in Germany. Somewhere between encouraging and castigating the crowd, he repeatedly criss-crossed the stage.

Cursed by the opening band dilemma of red stage lights only (photographic suicide, especially without a flash), Exodus opened with back-to-back newbies; "Black 13" and the green lit current title track. The unusually retrained Holt wore a Kill The Kardashians t-shirt. If he put a band logo on it, sure would be a hot seller in the merch booth! During the initial trio of songs, everyone was afforded a photo op, working the stage, matching cannibalistic zombie scrims (depicting album artwork) either side of the drum riser. "Blacklist" was followed by a short time out, during which Tom Hunting stood atop his drum kit (and not for the first time), as the intro to "Bonded By Blood" was cued up. "Did you bring your dancing shoes Philly," asked Souza. Cue "Toxic Waltz", which saw a circle pit ensue, a blitz of flashing lights raining down. Those not moving sang along to the titular chorus. Deep hues of red greet the "Strike Of The Beast" finale, like off kilter pendulums, white search lights scour the fog covered stage.

"SLAYER!" The chant is something between dementia, blood curdling primal scream and orgasmic shout. A white sheet hides the band from the crowd, dropping to reveal the four musicos, and equal number of inverted crosses suspended overhead. In the center is gray bearded bassist/singer Tom Araya, more nimble (actually moving, gingerly around the stage) having recovered from spinal surgery. Apart from the missing wire-rimmed bifocals, he looks like a demented Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead). To his left, bald, tattooed wildman on guitar Kerry King, truck chains dangling from his belt unable to keep him stationary, as he thrashes about in six-string euphoria. The opening trio of "World Painted Blood", "Postmortem" and "Hate Worldwide" flew by, snapping photos in the pit. Old school came next, with a blue tinted "Die By The Sword", right into "Chemical Warfare", with the crucifixes reflecting yellow and green lights, as Holt and King, on opposing sides, trade leads. The backdrop of a demonic ghoul, in Slayer emblazoned military/motorcycle helmet, is soon to be replaced by an equally enormous canvas, sporting the seven-sided sword logo.

Most offerings blend one-into-another. When Garcia attempts to address the crowd, the "Slayer" chant erupts. "Are you ready," the frontman asks, before continuing, "Are you sure you're ready?" and it's off into "War Ensemble". While the 3000 capacity (balcony included) old theater isn't officially sold out, it's packed, especially the non-seated, general admission portion of the floor. Seems the quarter nearest the stage probably contained half the crowd, most of the rest shoehorned into rows of seats, although none were sitting down. A puff of fog accompanied King's solo break. Those looking for the groove in Slayer's music, check out the start to "Mandatory Suicide". Backlit in red, with blue spotlights out front and white spotlights shining straight into the audience's line of sight, but no one complained.    

As the room is bathed in green for "Necrophiliac", the aforementioned classic logo looks like the ornate designs engraved on the American dollar. Machine gun delivery, no segues, sees King alone onstage, under white spots (that quickly turn red) to introduce teh mid-tempo "Spill The Blood", a virtual ballad by Slayer standards, with Holt taking the lead. The well metered gallop of "Hell Awaits" sees a red stage bombarded with fog and strobes. The lead break has King back under white lights, as smoke creeps onstage. When he again approaches the mic, Garcia states, "This ain't no beauty contest. It's not about being pretty. We'll kick your ass. All you trolls need to be aware of this. This is 50 years of living, man. Thanksgiving, I gave thanks for fucking be alive and walking. This one's for all you blood sucking creatures of the night: At Dawn They Sleep". In the course of that tune, Holt made a foray onto King's side of the stage.

"Altar Of Sacrifice" sees the figures backlit, with fog at their feet. Perhaps it was the (older) age of the crowd, but unlike many recent live shows, while watching from the back of the hall, one could literally (on one hand) count the number of video screen down front (mosh pit and Facebook don't mix), People were actually watching what transpired onstage. Blue lights start a multi-colored kaleidoscope that is  "Jesus Saves", yellows flashing against a red background as Araya takes a leisurely stroll from his mic to the drum riser and back during the non-lyrical portion. "Seasons In The Abyss" was all about creating visual effects, with the blackened stage first highlighting just the four crosses. As the jangly melody increases, the band becomes visible, in white, muted green. In fact, compared to the lighting spectrum seen throughout the night, this one is almost devoid of color, just whites. Holt and King actually switch sides of the stage, with Gary venturing out front, beyond the monitors, playing atop one of the amps in the photo pit.

"Snuff", not one of my favorite Slayer options, was deep blue, the smoke and colors nearly obscuring the players, but there was no mistaking from where the sounds were emanating."Dead Skin Mask" sees Araya under white lights talking to the crowd in calm tones. Before it actually begins, he tells everyone that the next song is "a love song", as he goes into spoken word mode, reciting the chorus, line by line, with an increasing intensity in his voice. The song itself is delivered in a hail of white strobes atop flame orange stage, the crowd belting out the words. Plenty of smoke fills the stage as they power right into "Raining Blood", the band with backs to the crowd as King holds out the whammy bar extended chord for a seeming eternity. That telltale, dizzying repetitive guitar rhythm and short bursts of cannonading bass drums, is there a more recognizable intro?

How do you end a Slayer show? How about the one-two punch of "South Of Heaven" and a ripping "Angel Of Death". Swirls of white light, like a star fracturing into supernova, broke the darkness as Araya bellows the crescendo building lyrics. Again, surprisingly sparse lighting, mainly clear visibility. Ultimately, it's the "Angel" that brings things to a close, with a banshee wail and pulsating white strobes over blues. The backdrop has been replaced with a green/white mock-up of the Heineken label, in honor of former guitarist Jeff Hanneman, his surname in place of the beer and "Still Reigning" where it usually says Premium Quality. It's a cacophony of guitars, Holt and King side-by-side for one of the rare moments tonight.

Araya takes off his bass and says a few thank yous to the crowd, as Kings stays longer, flipping picks to teh crowd and holding his fists overhead, in a sign of appreciation. There's only one Slayer.