slayer bow out with a bloodbath.
The Repentless Killogy NUCLEAR BLAST/PRIME ZERO
Metal’s evil overlords’ violent and dramatic farewell
Let’s face it: if you’re a fan of Slayer (and you are
a fan of Slayer, aren’t you?) then it’s highly likely that you will also enjoy wildly violent movies. That certainly seems to be the rationale behind The Repentless Killogy, which takes the three videos that Slayer made for their 2016 Repentless album and expands their brief, brutish narratives into a 40-minute film, replete with a cameo from the band themselves. Released in tandem with the full visual document of the band’s show at The Forum in Inglewood, California in August 2017, this is a comprehensive, arresting and enjoyably opulent farewell, aimed squarely at Slayer’s colossal and rabid fanbase.
The movie itself is a straightforward tale of violent revenge, starring Jason Trost (no, us neither) as Wyatt, a monosyllabic psychopath who spends the entire story killing people in the most unpleasant ways possible. To be fair, a bunch of neo-nazis have murdered his pregnant girlfriend, but you may have to take a view on how badly you need to see Wyatt pulling out people’s innards, splitting their skulls with axes and, in one particularly gratuitous and grubby incident, shooting a pregnant woman in the legs and stomach. Yes, Danny Trejo and Jessica Pimentel pop in to do some actual acting, and Slayer’s cameo is magnificent (full marks to Tom Araya, in particular, for some epic face-acting), but nobody’s winning an Oscar for this.
On the plus side, the live footage looks and sounds spectacular. Slayer never stopped growing as a live band and the Repentless tour was an unholy visual feast, obligatory tributes to the late, great Jeff Hannemann included. The setlist draws from the band’s entire career, with all the expected highlights and massive eruptions of (real) fire and (even more real) fury. Frankly, the whole thing will probably make you a bit weepy. They were fucking killer, weren’t they?
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FOR FANS OF: Metallica, Kreator, Lamb Of God
DOM LAWSON