Every weekday during this quarantine, we have posted five amazing live videos from YouTube as no live broadcasts are taking place. Our daily posts are not genre specific, but every Friday we also post an all-metal edition. Here is the one for this week, which goes from reign in blood Slayer era at Oceanic Isis with lots of other cool stuff in between.
Slayer @ The Ritz (aka Webster Hall) in New York, NY – 12/06/1986
Shortly before the lockdown started, Slayer called him out for good. Their last tour was so good, but the Slayer that just shot only included half of the Slayer who played that ass-whipping show at New York’s Ritz (now called Webster Hall) the year reign in blood came out of. With fire shredding Jeff Hanneman and bestial Dave Lombardo presumably shaking the whole room with his double kick, Slayer was truly monstrous at this show. Even looking at the blurry images on a laptop in 2020, it’s impossible to stop smiling and you can seriously feel that Lombardo is playing in your bones.
Godflesh in Schorndorf, Germany – 03/31/1990
As far as music that really sounds like total dirt, it doesn’t get much dirtier than Godflesh’s 1989 album. Garbage collector. It’s as dark as the most apocalyptic films, and in the dark times we live in right now, it (unfortunately) really resonates right now. Here is Godflesh playing Germany a few months later Garbage collector came out, and they sound just as vicious in this video as they do on the album. Even without a drummer (in case you didn’t know, Godflesh uses a drum machine), they still know how to bring the house down, as evidenced by the non-stop moshing you see every time the camera focuses on the crowd. It’s a very grainy, VHS-looking video, but that only adds to the charm. Watching this now is like witnessing history in the making.
Alcest @ Wacken Open Air 2016
It has been a decade since Alcest Moon scales spark the black eye craze and they released a great album last year, so they’ve been on our minds lately. Here they are at Wacken Open Air 2016, and this very professional video really immerses you in the middle of their live show. Like on the album, it’s all about creating atmosphere, and when the live band Alcest really lock themselves in and build their post-rock, shoegazy highs, it really takes you there.
Danzig at Sheffield, England – 09/30/1988
This video quality is terrible, but if you want a glimpse of the Elvis Danzig impersonator and his classic Eerie Von/Chuck Biscuits/John Christ lineup when their now-classic debut album was fresh off the presses, it’s still great. ‘case. The sound is pretty good, and Glenn’s voice was soaring at this show. The debut album came out exactly a month earlier, so “Mother” wasn’t an overplayed hit yet (they played it second at that show), and it’s pretty amazing to see Danzig play their biggest song ever. when he was still trying to present it to the world. Featuring other debut album favorites like “Twist of Cain”, “Am I Demon”, “She Rides”, “The Hunter”, “Not of this World” and more, the setlist is unbeatable (I just wish they played “Soul On Fire”), and the band was at the top of their game throughout the gig.
Isis @ Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT – 06/23/2002
With the exception of a reunion show in 2018 (as Celestial) to pay tribute to the late Caleb Scofield, Isis has been apart for a decade, and this video makes me really miss them. Filmed with close and personal shots a few months before Oceanic came out, you really feel like you’re there and this video really shows how larger than life Isis looked on stage. The riffs are gargantuan, the post-rock parts are haunting, and the band is as tight as it gets.
Check out some photos from Slayer’s latest tour at Madison Square Garden and Riot Fest:
