Slayer

The Unholy Alliance tour was among the best publicized metal tours of 2006, mainly because of headliners Slayer, although the presence of Children of Bodom, Mastodon, and Lamb of God certainly didn't hurt. This DVD, which was filmed at the General Motors Place in Vancouver, Canada on July 13, 2006, is an enjoyable, if imperfect, document of that tour. Appropriately, The Unholy Alliance Live is dominated by Slayer, who are seen performing ten songs (in contrast to three songs by Mastodon, two by Children of Bodom, one by Lamb of God and one by Thine Eyes Bleed). While the non-Slayer performances are generally engaging, most of the headbangers who acquire this DVD will do so because of Slayer -- and the death metal/thrash veterans are in strong form during a set that ranges from two gems from 2006's Christ Illusion ("Eyes of the Insane" and the inflammatory "Cult") to older favorites such as "Dead Skin Mask," "South of Heaven," and "Hell Awaits." Some Slayer devotees will no doubt wish that The Unholy Alliance was more generous with Slayer performances (in comparison to ten Slayer songs offered on The Unholy Alliance, Slayer's live DVD War at the Warfield offered 19), but while this DVD falls short of definitive, it still does a reasonably good job of capturing the vicious excitement of a Slayer show (in addition to spotlighting a few of the things that the other bands brought to the tour). Bottom line: The Unholy Alliance won't go down in history as Slayer's most essential live DVD, but there are plenty of die-hard Slayer fans who will want a copy simply because it is Slayer. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide