Reviewed on Saturday October 29 (photo by Ashley Mar)
Take a pinch of Lamb Of God and a heap of Slipknot, blend the metal concoction together on an arena stage, et voilà: a substantial serving of blood, sweat and cheers carnage.
As Lamb Of God began ‘512’, the crowd displayed excellent potential for mayhem pending the headliners’ arrival, encouraged by the openers to create the ultimate pit – three colossal circles formed on the floor, one in the front and two in the back, an (un)holy trinity of biblical proportions.
Though a relatively brief set from Lamb Of God, it wasn’t short of energy. Limbs and hair were flailing about from both the band and the crowd, encouraged by the chocker setlist of gnarly favourites like ‘Ruin’, ‘Still Echoes’ and the sublime ‘Redneck’, an homage to Lamb Of God’s rural beginnings in Virginia.
Images of blood, gore, insects and all manner of things typically Slipknot hit the stage in a sensational media production of lights and noise as the band ripped into ‘The Negative One’. While the absence of last remaining original member Clown was felt, fellow custom percussionist Christopher Michael Fehn filled the Clown-sized hole with relentless effort, a force to be reckoned with as he navigated two mechanical sets either side of the stage.
One of the most enigmatic vocalists in metal, Corey Taylor ripped right through an impressive back catalogue of songs for just over two hours; ‘Eyeless’, ‘The Heretic Anthem’ and ‘Psychosocial’ sent the loyal maggots in to a frenzy as Taylor stalked the stage with a punishing presence.
After a three-song encore that closed with the unforgiving ‘Spit It Out’, bloody noses and hands rubbing sore necks were a common sight on exiting the venue – a true telling that Slipknot had been here.
