Summer Slaughter had the honor of closing out my summer shows. After the good performances, but miserable experience at blink-182 earlier in the week, I was really looking for Summer Slaughter to get the bad taste out of my mouth. Thankfully, Summer Slaughter delivered and was a ton of fun.
After getting stuck in some traffic on the way there due to an accident on the highway, I missed the local opener Dessication. I am not really bummed about that. The couple of songs I had heard by them were really bad. My friends and I got there just in time for tour opener Within The Ruins. Within The Ruins was pretty good. They do have too many breakdowns, their vocalist isn't the best, and their sound mix was pretty bad, but they still had enough going for them to make for an enjoyable performance. Their guitarist is really good and it was just fun to watch him play. I still wish Revocation got the opening slot, but Within The Ruins was a completely respectable opener.
Fleshgod Apocalypse was the first band I was really excited to see on the bill and they were great. I saw them play a couple of songs last October at Rock and Shock when they were touring with Suffocation and I was really excited I got to see them play a full set. Tommaso Ricardi sounded awesome, the symphonic elements were epic, and the drums were completely insane. The only bummer was the weak sound mix. You honestly could not hear the clean vocals. Despite the weak sound, Fleshgod put on a great set. I really wish they got to play longer, four songs was not enough. I am pretty sad they aren't coming here on their tour with Decapitated and Decrepit Birth in October.
After Fleshgod, I went out to my friend's car to get some water. I ran into Ryan Knight from The Black Dahlia Murder and Francesco Paoli from Fleshgod Apocalypse. I talked to both of them for a few minutes, both incredibly nice and cool dudes. Once I got back in the venue, As Blood Runs Black was on stage. They were pretty bad. I have never enjoyed their studio stuff and their live show didn't do anything to sway my opinion. Nothing completely repulsive about them, just really nothing special either. I will say they aren't douchebags, which is always a plus for a deathcore band. I went to buy a Fleshgod Apocalypse shirt right after they played and their merch table was right next to Fleshgod's and their singer was selling their merch. I heard him talking with fans and he seemed like a really nice guy.
Oceano played next and they were just fucking awful. After I bought merch (Black Dahlia Murder and Fleshgod Apocalypse shirts) and had Francesco Ferrini from Fleshgod Apocalypse sign my Agony booklet, I went up back up front for them. They are a lot worse then I remember them being live. Every song bleeded together and it was just one big breakdown with occasional stupid half-second sweep picks. Their vocalist, Adam Warren, is a complete douchebag. He just spent the whole set yelling at the crowd calling everyone pussies and complaining that it wasn't violent enough. He just kept staring at me because I was standing still, so I flipped him off and yelled "Oceano sucks". I don't tend to heckle bands, but I felt like I should make a special exception for Oceano due to their asshole singer. Completely horrible and I really hope I don't have to see them again.
Dying Fetus came on after Oceano and showed them a thing or two about being an actual brutal band. Dying Fetus doesn't needed to act tough to be one of the heaviest bands in existence.As usual, Dying Fetus fucking destroyed. They were tight (it's really amazing what they are able to accomplish with only three members), brutal, and had some of the most insane pits I have ever seen. It's always a pleasure seeing Dying Fetus and I hope I get to see them many more times, they are amazing live.
Powerglove was the only band on the bill I had never listened to before. I knew what they were, an instrumental band that did metal versions of songs from video games. Powerglove was a lot of fun live. They did a lot of funny shit including throw out inflatable swords and had people have a sword fight in the pit. Despite being kind of a joke band, they are excellent musicians. It was a hometown show for them and they definitely were having a great time on stage. They are a gimmick, but it's a fun one.
I headed up to the balcony for Six Feet Under. I didn't have high expectations at all, but reading all these great reviews about their performances on this tour gave me some hope. I don't mean to offend anyone who wrote those reviews, but I would like to know what the fuck you were smoking that made you thought Six Feet Under was good (and whatever it was, I don't want any.) Chris Barnes is a complete joke of a vocalist. He kept doing this shriek that sounded like a zoo animal. It was one of the most awful, ear-piercing noises I have ever heard. The worst part of the set for me was Barnes butchering two Cannibal Corpse songs. It was just insulting to Cannibal Corpse. I know he wrote the songs originally, but he is just raping them now. I wasn't alone in the Six Feet Under hate, the crowd was pretty much dead for them. They easily had the worst crowd reception of the day. There was even a small "Corpsegrinder" chant that started in the balcony. I didn't think anybody would be worse then Oceano on the day, but Six Feet Under manged to accomplish that feat. Chris Barnes retire please, you are a dreadful vocalist. Rob Arnold, leave this band, you are far too good of a guitar player to be in this band.
Darkest Hour came on next and immediately erased the god-awfulness of Six Feet Under. Completely spot-on live. John Henry is one hell of vocalist and he had an awesome stage presence. I was glad the crowd was into them after I read they had been getting mixed receptions on certain stops of the tour. It was cool to see their different style of metal on this tour package. They provided a nice change of pace and that's always a nice touch at Summer Slaughter. I really want to see again soon, they were great live.
Whitechapel was up next. The past two times I saw Whitechapel they were pretty underwhelming. This time around, they actually really surprised me and greatly surpassed my expectations. Phil Bozeman sounded pretty fucking good and the guitarists actually hit all of the solos! They did get a little redundant at the end of the set, but for the most part it was a pretty damn good performance from Whitechapel.
The Black Dahlia Murder, the number 1 reason that I went to Summer Slaughter, finally came on. I hadn't seen them live in two years and I really hope I don't have to wait another two years to see them again. Their live show is always excellent. Trevor Strnad sounded completely spot-on as usual. His stage presence is awesome, he gets so into the performance and he is completely elated to be on stage. Ryan Knight hit every single solo flawlessly. His addition to this band has made them that much better. Shannon Lucas, is a monster on drums. Listening to him play live is a complete treat. The setlist was amazing and this made for the best Black Dahlia performance that I've seen to date.
Summer Slaughter was a really good show. The crowd was good, the bands were great for the most part, and it was a really fun atmosphere. I hope next year's lineup is solid because I love this festival. Both years I have been it's been a lot of fun and I hope Summer Slaughter can continue to pull out good lineups and remain a fun, extreme metal, festival.
Scores:
Within The Ruins 7/10
Fleshgod Apocalypse 8.5/10
As Blood Runs Black 3.5/10
Oceano 2.5/10
Dying Fetus 9/10
Powerglove 8/10
Six Feet Under 2/10
Darkest Hour 8.5/10
Whitechapel 8/10
The Black Dahlia Murder 9.5/10
Setlists:
Within The Ruins:
Controller
Versus
Infamy
Invade
Fleshgod Apocalypse:
The Violation
In Honour Of Reason
The Egoism
Thru Our Scars
As Blood Runs Black included:
In Dying Days
My Fears Became Phobias
Hester Prynne(closer)
Oceano included:
Empathy For Leviathan
Weaponized
District Of Misery(closer)
Dying Fetus:
Homicidal Retribution
One Shot, One Kill
Shepard's Commandment
Descend Into Depravity
Praise The Lord (Opium Of The Masses)
Your Treachery Will Die With You
Powerglove:
X-Men
Storm Eagle
Power, Wisdom, Courage (Zelda)
Metal Kombat For The Mortal Man
Tetris
Gotta Catch Em' All
Mario A-Minor
Six Feet Under included:
Stripped, Raped, and Strangled(Cannibal Corpse cover/opener)
No Warning Shot
Seed Of Filth
Hammer Smashed Face(Cannibal Corpse cover/closer)
Darkest Hour:
Terra Nocturnus (intro)
The World Engulfed In Flames
With A Thousand Words To Say But One
Savor The Kill
The Sadist Nation
Love As A Weapon
Your Everyday Disaster
Convalescence
Doomsayer (The Beginning Of The End)
Whitechapel:
Breeding Violence
Possession
The Darkest Day Of Man
Reprogrammed To Hate
End Of Flesh
Unnerving
Death Becomes Him
Vicer Exiciser
Eternal Refuge
This Is Exile
The Black Dahlia Murder:
A Shrine To Madness
Everything Went Black
A Vulgar Picture
Nocturnal
Moonlight Equilibrium
Malchenments Of Necrosphere
Statutory Ape
Necropolis
Carbonized In Cruciform
What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse
Deathmask Divine
Miasma
I Will Return
Blood In The Ink
Unhallowed
Funeral Thirst
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