{"id":611,"date":"2002-02-21T02:12:00","date_gmt":"2002-02-21T02:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=611"},"modified":"2024-03-26T02:13:55","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T02:13:55","slug":"slayer-in-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=611","title":{"rendered":"Slayer in the city"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Opening for Slayer must be the pinnacle of any self-respecting hardcore or metal band. Unfortunately, a Slayer<\/strong><\/strong> audience is extremely hard on bands that don\u2019t cut the mustard. An endless barrage of expletives and middle-finger salutes usually follows until the poor band\u2019s only saving grace\u2014its final song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diecast<\/strong>, a five-piece hardcore\/metal combo from Boston, handled the task during a recent show at San Francisco\u2019s Warfield Theatre<\/strong> with considerable ease. Showcasing material off its latest CD, Day of Reckoning<\/em>, Diecast plowed through 30 minutes of well-calculated mayhem. The band\u2019s subject matter\u2014apathy, inner persecution, perseverance, unification\u2014worked well with the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singer Colin Schleifer<\/strong> commanded the stage with considerable bravado. Such tracks as the bludgeoning \u201cDisrepair\u201d and \u201cSingled Out\u201d sounded larger than life; unlike most opening bands, Diecast was treated to an extraordinarily good house mix. Drummer Jason Costa<\/strong>, the only long-haired boy of the bunch, looked like a shoe-in for the vacated Slayer drum throne rather than the drummer for an East Coast hardcore outfit. Costa\u2019s warp-speed double-bass patterns and\u2014get this\u2014traditional-style drumming (e.g., Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Art Blakey) were bludgeoning to say the least. Diecast\u2019s dual-guitar assault set the Warfield Theatre ablaze and rocked the house into submission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This show signaled the temporary return of Slayer\u2019s original skinsman, Dave Lombardo<\/strong>, who\u2019s been busy with spazzcore heavyweight group Fantomas. Opening with \u201cDisciple,\u201d a track from last year\u2019s God Hates Us All<\/em>, L.A.\u2019s original spawn of Beelzebub and hell\u2019s house band, Slayer, proved that it\u2019s still the progenitor of death metal. Guitarists Jeff Hanneman<\/strong> and Kerry King<\/strong>, aided by a wall of Marshall stacks, traded leads during such staples as \u201cSouth of Heaven,\u201d \u201cMandatory Suicide,\u201d \u201cHell Awaits\u201d and \u201cAngel of Death,\u201d the night\u2019s closer. Even such obscure tracks from an early EP as \u201cCaptor of Sin\u201d and \u201cChemical Warfare\u201d sounded fresh and alarmingly updated in the live setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the only disquieting factor was singer Tom Araya<\/strong>\u2019s lack of enthusiasm. Sadly, his father passed away during the tour; the band postponed several dates before its Warfield show. Although Araya didn\u2019t make mention of his recent loss, it was apparent than he wasn\u2019t ready to partake in his usual between-song banter. Fortunately, the enthusiasm of the crowd and the performance of the entire band\u2014Lombardo in particular\u2014more than made up for any of Araya\u2019s facial expressions and sparse rapport with the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this longtime Slayer fan, the band\u2019s work ethic and ability to carry on was impressive\u2014as was Araya, who didn\u2019t hide his emotional pain under a death-metal guise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(SN&R)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opening for Slayer must be the pinnacle of any self-respecting hardcore or metal band. Unfortunately, a Slayer audience is extremely hard on bands that don\u2019t cut the mustard. An endless barrage of expletives and middle-finger salutes usually follows until the poor band\u2019s only saving grace\u2014its final song. Diecast, a five-piece hardcore\/metal combo from Boston, handled the task […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=611"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":612,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611\/revisions\/612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}