Wacken painted blood!

Even though we had rushed over from another stage, skipping that band halfway through, to be able to get to Slayer, we couldn’t get anywhere near the Black Stage where they were playing. It was as though all of Wacken was here at the same time to watch these masters of thrash do their thing.
And of course we were given a show above the normal, and I’m glad to report, above their resent Sweden Rock Festival disaster, although I must also admit that what I saw, I saw with the aid of the large video-screen, as there was no way in hell I would be able to see anything of the band directly from the distance I was standing at…
Still, there were other things to keep an eye on than the stage; I have already mentioned the video-screen which helped bring the band out into the crowd, but there were also some effects which had been moved away from the stage. All of a sudden, giant flames shot out from the sound-tower, effectively expanding the normal show area by far, and even though it was the top of the tower which shot the flames, and I was standing some way away from them, I could still clearly feel the heat on my skin.

Slayer themselves kicked off with the title track off of their latest album, World Painted Blood, and kick-ass as this may be, it was still nothing compared to when they later on blew our living daylights out with War Ensemble, Expendable Youth, Dead Skin Mask and Seasons In The Abyss, all played in one delightful go.
Other classics like Raining Blood and Angel Of Death (which ended the show) had their more or less untouchable positions on the set, which gave some old and something new, but not really any surprises.

I was glad to see that Slayer had pulled it together compared to last time I saw them, but due to distance and some other minor things, this will still not go down in the history-books as the greatest Slayer show ever. I’m glad I saw it, but it won’t stay with me for long…