It was only in 2010 that I saw Slayer headline a three quarters full Academy, just eight short years later they pretty much filled the Arena. But this is no bog standard Slayer gig, this is, apparently, the end and everyone wants to get one last look at Slayer before its all over. Because the truth is at some point over the last decade Slayer replaced Black Sabbath as being the officially recognised dictionary definition of Metal. They have become metal's spirit and essence distilled into one band. And now they are going away.

The other reason for such an impressive turnout is that they have pulled together a bill that most festivals would be proud of. True Floridian Death Metallers Obituary are first on at the ungodly time of ten past six, meaning that most people watch them from the queue to enter the standing area. Obituary are from the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" school of Metal and have been plying the same brand of crunchy Death metal for the last thirty years. Tonight they get a paltry thirty minutes but still manage to throw out eight slices of spiky brutality. They are highly unlikely to win over any new fans, but I suspect that was never the plan.

It is rather perverse to call a band that produces music as heavy and fast as Anthrax a nostalgia act, but the throng of middle-aged slightly out of shape men loosing their collective shit to a set that is (with one exception) made up of tracks at least thirty years old seems to prove my point. Whilst Slayer are relevant in 2018 by simply being Slayer, Anthrax have to work hard to try and prove there is more to them than simply an energetic mosh down memory lane. The set list choices tonight may leave something to be desired (‘I am the Law' is sacrificed in favour of ‘State of Euphoria's’ clunky opening track ‘Be all End all’) but a spirited performance means that Anthrax just about hold their own against the two juggernauts to come. Special mention though has to go to Scott Ian's seven year old daughter Revel (who trivia fans is also Meatloaf's granddaughter) who spends the entire set air guitaring and mouth lyrics at the side of stage and manages to melt the heart of even the meanest metalhead.

Lamb of God occupy the 'we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Slayer' slot but if truth be told they owe as much to punk as to metal, as Randy's shout out to Stoke crust heroes Discharge proves. Lamb of God are always a tightly wound live act, but tonight they are on incendiary form even if they are missing power house drummer Chris Adler. The fact that the place is now bursting at the seams and the size of the pit that opens up at the front would fool a casual observer into thinking Lamb of God were tonight's main attraction and the ease that they take command of such a vast auditorium makes me wonder whether that they still might make the jump to arena headliner.

But whilst we have had three of the biggest names in Metal this all pales into insignificance as we await the real reason we are all here, Slayer. And tonight they are nothing short of magnificent. The staging is fantastically over the top with pillars of flames pirouetting in almost every track and two Slayer logos that are literally engulfed in a blaze of fire. Musically the band are as tight and alive as I have ever seen them, it is like upon finally having nothing left to prove they have decided to show that they are still the greatest live act on the planet. As when Sabbath passed through here on their farewell lap last year, the very fact that a sell by date was introduced has visibly relaxed and rejunivated the band. Tom Araya and Kerry King maybe the only two originals band members left, but for the first time in a long while, they seem to be really enjoying the whole experience. Tom no longer resembles Santa's evil twin and in-fact he seems to look a good twenty years younger than last time out. The prospect of retirement must be good for both the body and the soul. 

But pyros and hi-jinks aside Slayer gigs have always been about the songs and tonight we get as near to a greatest Hits set that you are going to get from an evil satanic thrash band. 'Dead Skin Mask’, 'Mandatory Suicide' and 'Hell Awaits' are all present and correct and the four pronged attack of encore 'South of Heaven’, 'Reign in Blood’, 'Chemical Warfare' and 'Angel of Death‘ is a masterclass in extreme songwriting. In fact it's only when you consider the peerless nature of those four tracks that you realise how much our genre is actually loosing with the end of Slayer. 

Appropriately emotions are pretty high as those notes of Angel of Death ring out and Tom lays down his bass for what could be the last time on English or at least Mancunian soil. The adoration from around the arena is deafening and as a very emotional Tom silently stands in front of the vast crowd, it is not clear who is worshiping who.