After ten years, it happened again: Slayer came to Moscow. And me arrived too, after five years of absence there. The hall of "B1-Maximum" club, almost such capacious as Gorbunova, where Slayer was in 1998, was filled up completely, with three to five thousands people. Every part of hall was crowded much.

Slayer didn't issue the new album "somewhere in fall", just single single, "Psychopathy Red", which was performed there too. In general, they played old "kind" things. Concert was held by solid piece, not "piece by piece", unless this song was also played. 22 songs, virtually without breaks, in hour and half.

There was all about the religion - Cult, Jihad and even Jesus Saves. 1986th album "Raining blood", the fastest of Slayer's music, was played song by song, and the "Raining blood" itself was the final song, conducted with blinking red lamps. After it, it was clear that concert is over. Frankly, I can't imagine what they could play more after such a program.

Show was to be started at 21:00 (or 9pm, if you care; 24-hours time is not only "military" in Russia, but usual way to define the time). But it started an hour later. All these time people warmed up themselves, including very expensive (eight bucks) beer and other. Asides of the scene, two big screen displayed couple of clips of Slipknot and other kind of sort of a commercial post-metal music, muted and in loop, advertising the sponsoring local tv-channel.
The music was another one, like Megadeth and something I didn't recognize. As for me, it was some symbolism of entertainment media essence - no matter what displayed, no matter what played, no matter whether it synchronized. Just a content with no sense.

Unlike 1998, when audience was at least twenty years old, there were people at most thirty and older. That was somehow unreal for me, unless I'm over thirty too. There is some cultural reference to Soviet times, when dancing parties "For those, who are over thirty" was popular. For people who didn't coupled and married yet. Of course, by spirit that was more of "communist" than of "party".

Long haired people were in minority, I didn't find much. Some solid looking uncles, short haired bandit - street junky gangsters (gopniks) - businessmen ravioli-like faces. And a lot of people between twenty-five and thirty too, relatively young. So there was kinda social melting pot. So, I thought there, not all people who listening to Slayer, are equally interesting in person.

Bought up a t-shirt, the skull in Slayer's nazi-like service cap. Ten years ago, when I leaded the cyberunderground virusmakers group Stealth group, I've met one female "concerned birthgiver". She was concerned that her nineteen year old son participating in this kinda illegal and kinda dangerous group...
I've wear the Slayer t-shirt those time. And she asked me ironically "Would you wear such a t-shirts in forty year too?" Definitevely, she attended a brand another "for those who are over thirty" parties. So I will, and so what?
I hope it will not be torn until my forties, in contrast to torn consumerist brains of such a concerned parents and their lives, bited with standards they've been filled with.

However, audience was sort of strict. In the second half-hour of waiting, we chanted "za-e-bA-li" (which means "you're fucking annoy us (to wait)"). And, I must tell you that was fair. Though, there was something psychologically right in such a delay. Something breaking the Russian idiom "for your money - any caprice".

And when Slayer came out, adultness went over. Boiling moshpit, somebody's legs upside down in the crowd, but no stage diving and no bodies piles like usual on crowded concerts. I stood aside of moshpite, because it too much turns attention away from the show.

As for the absence of long haired people, it was even better. No stench from different "Hell'n'Shadows" and other shampoos, spreading poisonous chemical smells.

Some people, who really pissed me off, with journalism syndrome, constantly tried to shoot all the show with portable cameras and phones. It looked like they didn't were there, thinking only about shooting. I didn't even tried with my two megapixels phone. I asked friend, how much megapixels his phone is? Maybe we have some photos. But he answered "It's a phone". So what. I also tried to record sound, but phone recorder caught the white noise only.

The youngest were the Slayer itself. Not by age, but by spirit and energy. Araya looks more older, but only looks. He played and sang at full scale. He entered the stage with such boundless positive good-natured smile, he wasn't just satisfied, he was veeeery satisfied. I don't think I can replicate such a smile, I haven's so much humanism (I haven't it at all) or so much misantropy (but I have some).

Slim aryan-like youth with long blonde hair, Jeff Hannemann from photos of 1980's, now is grown larger uncle, but with the same hair. And I don't remember him from 1998th concert. Just don't remember.

Araya spoke a few, didn't called the hall "shithouse" like did the last time, so, the hall was better. And even learnt one russian word "spasIbo" ("thanks"), spelling it without accent.

The 2008 year concert was not worst than in 1998, but, in subjective perception, the first have left more bright imaginations.

(c)LovinGOD, dooma.ru, 081205; translated for no-shit.org, 081213

Track list:

1. Flesh Storm
2. War Ensemble
3. Chemical Warfare
4. Ghosts of War
5. Jihad
6. Psychopathy Red
7. Seasons in the Abyss
8. Dittohead
9. Live Undead
10. Cult
11. Disciple
12. South of Heaven
13. Angel of Death
14. Piece by Piece
15. Necrophobic
16. Altar of Sacrifice
17. Jesus Saves
18. Criminally Insane
19. Reborn
20. Epidemic
21. Postmortem
22. Raining Blood