The Angels of Death are bidding fans goodbye after 37 years of brutality. For some purists the thrash giants haven’t been the same since co-founder Jeff Hanneman’s untimely death, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a substitute with more shred cred than Gary Holt of Bay Area legend Exodus, who appears on the band’s latest release, Repentless, and who has amazing synergy with co-guitarist Kerry King when the two swap blistering leads. That album and its predecessor, World Painted Blood, capture Slayer’s punk-inspired mid-1980s rawness more than the overly ProTool’d mid-period stuff. Let’s hope all this “final tour” talk is a bluff because metal needs Slayer more than ever.
Slayer
Sun, 5pm, $55+
SAP Center, San Jose
