Dave Mustaine and Megadeth perform at the Molson Amphitheatre Thursday night. (Michael Peake, QMI Agency)

TORONTO - It took a few tries and a ticket seating arrangement that was basically rush admission but finally Megadeth and Slayer made their way to Toronto Thursday evening for the Canadian Carnage tour.

The bands were originally slated to play last November but Slayer lead singer Tom Araya suffered back problems from years of head-banging, pushing those dates back to January. Yet when January came Araya's back needed surgery, resulting in the dates being pushed back again to this summer.

And as he has always been a part of the metal scene, now with a titanium plate in his neck one can truly say metal is part of him.

Nonetheless, those problems didn't seem to deter Araya and company as they blazed through a ferocious 70-minute co-headlining set at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre highlighted by playing 1990's Seasons Of The Abyss album in its entirety.

With 18 Marshall amps on each side of drummer Dave Lombardo, Slayer opened the set with World Painted Blood from the 2009 album of the same name. Powerful, hellishly frenetic and punishing, Araya, Lombardo, and guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman tore through that number and Hate Worldwide as a huge mosh pit formed on the floor.

From there Slayer began weaving their way through the landmark album with War Ensemble coming off as almost comically rapid yet quite meticulous and crisp at the same time, something the heavily tattooed King and Hanneman have honed for more than 25 years.

"Thank you very much. Are you guys having a good time?" Araya asked before Blood Red with its '80s-era heavy metal feel coming to the fore.

As two eagle-shaped displays overhead showed the band's name within a pentagram, Slayer carried on with the foot-stomping Expendable Youth and especially Skeletons Of Society getting huge responses from the sizable yet non-capacity crowd.

Meanwhile, longtime thrash metal act Megadeth held up their end of the head-banging bargain by also running through their 1990 effort Rust In Peace. With a curtain backdrop featuring the album cover, lead singer Dave Mustaine steered the thrash metal ship through Peace Sells and Symphony Of Destruction with speed that screams carpal tunnel syndrome.

Such guitar wizardry solos were in full bloom during Five Magics, Lucretia, Tornado Of Souls and the album closer Rust In Peace....Polaris with Mustaine often working off of fellow guitarist Chris Broderick and bassist Dave Ellefson for some blistering moments on his V-neck guitar.

"Thank you, that was Rust In Peace," Mustaine said before rounding out the set with a few more favorites, including Trust that had him donning a twin neck guitar and Head Crusher.

And if that wasn't enough Megadeth for the faithful, there was speculation the group might be playing an after-hours show in Toronto after staging an hour-long "secret show" at 2 a.m. early Sunday morning in Montreal following their co-headlining slot Saturday night.

Opening the show was Testament who warmed things up with hard and heavy songs like The Formation Of Damnation, Practice What You Preach and Into The Pit. The only drawback was watching singer Chuck Billy play air guitar repeatedly with his microphone.