A review of the Unholy Alliance Sunday London show on October 10th, from Andy Bartlett! “Whilst waiting in the queue, there was a certain buzz going around the fans. There was some what of a friendly rivalry between the Slipknot and Slayer fans. The Slayer fans had clearly been on the booze already as they were throwing beer cans and glass bottles at each other as the queue wound down the alley way. MASTADON only had the opportunity to play about 4 or 5 songs as they were the first band. They were a great band to open this show. Brutally heavy and killer vocals are one way I would describe this band, the crowd was already moving to them with anticipation for who they really came to see. HATEBREED had a much longer set than Mastadon and they showed the crowd why they were second on stage. Hatebreed were clearly in well working order as their part in the Unholy tour was to come to an end. This band was obviously on this tour to get the mosh pit in full working order just before Slayer. The fans loved Hatebreed and they showed it to them by getting in the first circle pit of the night. I was sitting in the stands, so I could get a good look of how fast this pit was. It was very fast. When Hatebreed ordered a circle pit, all of us in the seating stands immediately stood up to watch the circle pit more than anything. Hatebreed left us with even more excitement and anticipation for the gods of metal who were to come on next. So far, it had been a good show, so SLAYER would have to work hard to please us. All through the interval, there was a long, loud Slayer chant that was creating the atmosphere for the evening. The lights went out and Slayer come on stage, with their instruments at full volume and heaviness, ready to blow the shit out of the Hammersmith Apollo. All through the stands, everyone was standing rather than seating. I was in Block 6, Row N, seat 11 and the whole of my row was moshing in this confined space to the sound of the Apocalypse. Out of the 2 Slayer guitarist, Jeff was performing better than Kerry King, Jeff was the one who was pulling of the better solo’s. All of the expected set list was played, everything from the likes of Disciple, to Mandatory Suicide, South of Heaven to the legendary soundings of Raining Blood. By the look of things, this could be a band that Slipknot could not overcome. The buzz of the crowd was at boiling point. Once again, the loyal legions of fans got a chant going, this time for SLIPKNOT. Once again, the lights go out, the whole crowd on its feet, this is the band that many came to see. Their intro to the set was the Prelude track on their new album- VOL3. And they get straight to work, proving why we came to see them over Slayer. The mosh pit on the ground level was at its most brutal point. The band played some of the old favourites like Disatsterpieces, People=Shit and Spit it out. But their set was mainly devoted to their newest album. Songs like Duality and Vermilion were played with the whole legions of Maggots singing as loud as possible, in tune. This was a moment where you could only be part of this experience on THIS tour. Then came time for the UK’s new National anthem, Surfacing. Corey pulled out a corny trick to get the crowd happy by pulling out a Union Jack. When it was all over, the fans all walked out with a smile, thinking í¢ä‰åñI got what I wantedí¢ä‰åŒ. This was truly an Unholy night for London that will live with us forever. After the gig, lots of Maggots went down to the Hammersmith Underground station for their journeys home. They all showed their loyalty to the Knot when they encountered a bunch of singing Scotsmen who were slagging of Slipknot. The maggots came out on top when it came to singing about their passions for Slipknot.” Andy Bartlett