Slayer / Blackweir Fields / Cardiff

The summer of 2025 surely must go down as one of the bets summers for live music ? On top of the usual array of incredible festivals this country holds from Glastonbury to Download and Bloodstock, this weekend saw the emotional farewell show at Villa Park to Ozzy and Black Sabbath. And then there’s the much anticipated Oasis reunion tour….. Well, each to their own lol.

With so many metal icons in the country to pay tribute to the dark lord of metal himself, it just make sense to hit the stage and deliver a show or two for the UK fans…. So here we are, in Blackweir Fields, a large beautiful park in the heart of Cardiff on a muggy Thursday night, awaiting the arrival of thrash metal icons Slayer !

There’s a very strange mix of people in Cardiff. There are the lively and hung over Alanis Morrisette fans from last nights show at Blackweir, and the bucket hat Oasis fans ready for tomorrow’s show at the Principality Stadium, and hight there tonight, out at the pavement tables around every bar, and the demin and leather clad metalheads.

It was six years ago, Slayer went on the tour for the final time, saying goodbye to their faithful fans. Kerry King took off his chains and defiantly dropped them for the final time, signalling the end of Slayer…… And yet here we are. Making an appearance at the Sabbath farewell show, they’ve put on two shows either side, Cardiff tonight and Finsbury Park in London on Sunday. And what a line up they’ve brought with them.

Tonight’s faithful get to see Hatebreed, Mastadon, Anthrax, Amon Amarth – all on the same bill as Slayer. They should have been joined by Neckbreakker, but I understand there were some issues between organisers and the council in terms of times / curfew, and so Neckbreakker will not be performing tonight (but are on Sunday) and the sets have been reduced to fit everything in.

But who cares…… it’s SSSLLLAAAYYYEEERRR !

The times are tight, and meeting at the box office at 17:00, Hatebreed hit the stage at 17:15 and we’re all wondering if we can get to the stage in time. Luckily, the photographers all got there in time…..

Well, when I say we all got to the stage safely in time, all of us except me apart from me - as one of the sniffer dogs took a liking to me resulting in a tap on the shoulder and a long queue for a thorough search. The result was I missed almost all of the set – ARGH ! I wouldn’t mind, but I don’t even smoke. I have to say though, the PR were incredible and once we were done with the extra checked, I was rushed to the stage and allowed to grab some images. Formed in 1994, and from Bridgeport, Connecticut, Hatebreed are one of the iconic early metalcore / hardcore bands and have a big following in the UK.

But from what I could hear hardcore stalwarts Hatebreed deliver a furious short set, packed with aggressive riffs. As I walk through the crowd, I can see the balls of death bouncing over the crowd as they rip through tracks such as Tear It Down and Destroy Everything. As I get to the front, I see Elmo being carried on a sea of hands for the first time, before being gently lowered into the pit to huge cheers. A regular sight throughout the night ! Despite the tight timing and huge queues to get in, the front rows are packed and the metalheads are lovin’ every beat. As This Is Now comes to t a close, I step into the pit for the final track Driven By Suffering and grab a few shots. The crowd are going wild and the first surfers are coming over already, as Hatebreed unleash utter chaos on then Cardiff faithful.

Setlist

I Will Be Heard

To the Threshold

Tear It Down

Destroy Everything

Looking Down the Barrel of Today

This Is Now

Driven by Suffering

Next up are Atlanta Georgia natives Mastodon, a heavy metal band formed in 2000, and amazingly the lineup of Troy Sanders (bass), Brent Hinds (vocals & guitar), Bill Kelliher (guitar) and Brann Dailor (drums) remained unchanged for 24 years, until Hinds's departure in March 2025. Replacing Hind of vocals/guitar is Nick Johnston.

It’s been some time since Mastadon toured the UK. I think their last tour was back in 2019 and during the set Nick thanked the Cardiff crowd for the amazing welcome and promised they would be back soon, with an album in the works for 2026.

It’s hard to tell they’ve been away for so long, as Mastadon deliver a powerful and emotional set of prog metal / stoner rock, with a new energy Starting with Crystal Skull its a full on, intense set with little breaks, as they follow up, right into Black Tongue. The intensity if there for all to see, especially in Mother Puncher which delivers some of the nastiest and dirtiest riffs you could wish for !

Throughout the set, the giant screen at the rear of the stage, displays swirling psychedelic colour-scapes, that melt the mind and as their set closes with Blood and Thunder the crowd are buzzing, with a large circle piut swirling in unison with the visuals and a steady stream of eager and happy surfers.

Mastadon are a great live band, and fingers crossed they do return soon for a headline tour.

Setlist

Crystal Skull

Black Tongue

Megalodon

More Than I Could Chew

Mother Puncher

Blood and Thunder

When you talk of thrash metal, the big four are Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and of course Anthrax. Formed way back in 1981, Anthrax still tour regularly and time after time deliver incredible performances. Led by Joey Belladonna (vocals), and Scott Ian (guitar), they’re joined by Charlie Benante (drums), Frank Bello (bass) and Jon Donais (guitar).

The sound system starts up and the unmistakable tones of the Blues Brothers hits our ears…. It can only mean one thing….. the arrival of Anthrax !

Anthrax are masters of the live performance, with Joey pacing the stage, interacting with the audience at every opportunity, Scott who puts every ounce of emotion into each note and riff he plays, and Frank bouncing round the stage, arms raised egging on the crowd…. It has the desired effect and hypes the crowd up to fever pitch.

The only down side, is the short nature of the set, but any opportunity to see Anthrax is a good opportunity. The energy they send out is matched by the crowd and the waves of surfers intensify and keep the security staff busy. The intro to Among The Living rips right into Caught In A Mosh.

A fan favourite in any Anthrax set, they deliver a rousing performance on the Trust hit Antisocial which has the audience shouting the lyrics back at Joey to his delight. It’s followed by a cover of the Joe Jackson number Got the Time with it’s punk attitude, before they round off their set with one of my favourite Anthrax tracks Indians.

Setlist

Blues Brothers Intro (The Blues Brothers Band song)

Among the Living (Intro only)

Caught in a Mosh

Antisocial (Trust cover)

Got the Time (Joe Jackson cover)

Indians

Before we get to Slayer, we have one more band, and a change in style with the arrival of Swedish titans Amon Amarth. Amon Amarth were formed in 1992 are a melodic death metal band from Tumba, Sweden. Their sound is heavily influenced by Nordic tales and history – tales of the sword and longboat. The current line up consists of Johan Hegg (vocals), Olavi Mikkonen (guitar), Ted Lundström (bass), Johan Söderberg (guitar) and Jocke Wallgren (drums).

The changeover takes a little longer, as I’m (happily) pleased to see they have brought their full stage set used on their last tour to support the release of their “The Great Heathen Army” album. In the centre of the stage is a giant horned Viking helmet and perched on top is Jocke’s drum kit, and either side of the stager stands a giant inflatable statue of a Viking warrior, as is guarding the gates of Valhalla itself.

If the night ended after this, I would have gone home happy. They hit the stage to raucous cheers and chants from the Cardiff crowd. They open with the mighty Guardians of Asgaard and the scene is set for 45mins of raucous Nordic drinking songs about heroes, battle, the sea and drinking of course !

Johan is an impressive and imposing frontman, in all black with his greying hair and beard and drinking horn slung from his hip he beams from ear to ear as he encourages the Cardiff crowd to sing along to each track. Olavi and Johan on guitar deliver some earsplitting riffs as Jocke pounds out a rhythmic oar-pulling beat on the drums. Johan leads the crowd in chants as fists are raised and the pyros unleash fire into the night sky.

The highlight is always when Johan tells the crowd to get involved and prove themselves as true Vikings as he cries out for them to Put You Back Into the Oar. As the track builds, the crowd dutifully sit on the ground, and rows and rows of fans reach forward and pull hard on imaginary oars shouting with each stroke, as Johan punches the air with his fist. Its an impressive sight.

As the set draws to a close Johan raises his drinking horn and cries “Skol” as the intro to Raise Your Horns encourages pints to be sunk in return in the crowd. A rabble rousing Nordic drinking song, its infectious and packed with energy.

Amon Amarth round off their set with fan favourite Twilight Of The Thunder Gods. A mesmerising set that has the crowd wound up to max - the perfect appetiser for the mayhem to come.

Setlist

Guardians of Asgaard

Shield Wall

Deceiver of the Gods

Crack the Sky

Find a Way or Make One

Put Your Back Into the Oar

First Kill

Raise Your Horns

Twilight of the Thunder God

As the stage is readied for tonights headliner, I think back to that retirement 6 years ago and how I thought I’d never get to see Slayer again, or photograph them. I watch as the Amon Amarth statues are deflated and the huge banks of lights are raised to the rafters for Slayer….. You can just feel it in the Cardiff air…. This is going to be monumental.

The stage is hidden by a large black curtain with the word Slayer written on it in huge white letters. As we see the smoke machines start to fire up on the stage, the side screens light up and show a short video with a countdown clock, a journey through the history of Slayer, as the clock counts down the last few seconds, the crowd join in and then bang ! The curtains flutters to the ground and Kerry King (guitar), Tom Araya (bass & vocals), Paul Bostaph (drums) and Gary Holt (guitar) step out to a wall of noise. This is what we’ve been waiting for – a masterclass in thrash metal from the masters…..

They kick things off with South Of Heaven which is momentous and sets the scene for the resat of the set. Its fast, furious and loud and the crowd are right there, screaming back the lyrics to the band from the pit. The surfers go into overdrive and the atmosphere is pure electric.

Kerry King with his iconic long beard and large chains hanging from his hip rips out monstrous riff after monstrous riff. And is joined by Gary Holt (Exodus) to deliver the power behind their iconic sound. Paul bashes out some fast beats and the sound is incredible.

The setlist is just wall to wall fan favourites with the likes of Repentless, War Ensemble, Die By The Sword from “Show No Mercy” and Chemical Warfare all making an appearance. This is classic power Slayer, each track punching the ears with brutal force. There is just no let hp on the eardrums as the wall of thrash hits us full on again, and again and again – And its incredible.

It was great to see the oft overlooked Disciple making an appearance from the album “God Hates Us All”. Tom’s vocals are spot on, with that edge of hatred and anger in his delivery which gives Slayer their iconic sound. He’s seen frequently smiling from out behind his mic stand. No such smiles from Kerry King, just a wall of intensity and power as he smashes out riff after brutal riff.

As the set draws to a close Paul’s thunderous toms echo like thunder round the park as the guitars squeal and whine to the tribal beats, before THAT iconic guitar section rings out….. The lights all turn red, and the screen displays red rain as fire descends from the rafters as their iconic hit Raining Blood bursts into life. The crowd go mental as the horns are raised and heads bang to the beat. Its as good as ever and on eoif the all time best live songs anywhere. The crowd are mesmerised by the display in front of them.

The set concludes the only way it could, with Angel of Death. It Raining Blood was iconic, then Angel of Death takes the mayhem to the next level, as somewhere between 20 and 30,000 metal fans all scream along with Tom for the tracks opening. Fists pump the air and the energy levels are off the scale.

And it seems that as soon as it started, its over. Slayer were everything I thought they would be…. And more. Its hard to believe that after a performance like that, we may never see them live again.

For me, there is no doubt and Slayer are the kings of Thrash, and they showed why again tonight.

We’ve experienced five incredible sets by five of the best tonight. What an incredible night, and if that is adios…. Then what a way to say goodbye.

Setlist

South of Heaven

Repentless

Disciple

Die by the Sword

Jihad

War Ensemble

Chemical Warfare

Reborn

Mandatory Suicide