The Summer Slaughter Tour has served as the peak of the summer for extreme metal enthusiasts in the United States since 2007, and I finally got that annual feeling of joy on Saturday when this tour hit The Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts. With its heaviest lineup in years, this year's edition successfully brought the tour back to its death metal roots.
My friends and I arrived around 2:30 and found out that there was a local opener going on before the tour package started. We wisely used that time to get food, water, etc. since none of the touring bands were worth missing. We got back to the venue shortly after tour opener Boreworm had started their set. The Michigan-bred act won a nationwide contest tour organizer's held to fill the opening slot for the tour package this year. For an unsigned band, Boreworm showed an incredible amount of poise and chemistry on stage, and you can tell they were stoked to be playing on a tour with so many bands they admire. As for the music, their blend of deathcore and prog didn't always gel, but every song had moments that were impressive- which is more than I can say about a lot of the unsigned bands in Massachusetts. Boreworm certainly has potential moving forward and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they eventually got signed.
Fallujah was the first signed national act to play on the day. There are a lot of great bands on this tour that I really wanted to see, but Fallujah was firmly at the top of my most anticipated list. Even with the immense around of hype I had going for, Fallujah didn't disappoint in the slightest.The previous time I saw them opening for The Black Dahlia Murder last October, their set was dragged down by an awful sound mix that all but completely drowned out the guitars. A near flawless sound mix made all the difference in the world for the quality of the performance as the guitars sounded excellent, the vocals were punishing and most importantly, it allowed the nuances and beauty of their music to shine completely through. The setlist was divided evenly between their two LP's: 2011's The Harvest Wombs and the newly released The Flesh Prevails- which is currently my favorite record of 2014. The setlist ended up serving as the perfect showcase of what Fallujah is about as a band. New songs "Carved From Stone" and "Sapphire" laid on the atmosphere while "Become One" and "Cerberal Hybridzation" showed just how great they are crafting full-on tech death with stunning melodies. The only problem with their set is that was an all too brief 20 minutes. Fallujah blew the doors off the first time I saw them and set the bar high for the rest of the bands on the bill right out of the gate. I'm crossing my fingers they can land on a tour where they get longer than 20 minutes to play in the very near future.
Fallujah is a tough act to follow, but Within the Ruins didn't do a bad job of doing so. Within the Ruins is often accused of being a "robotic" band that completely relies on studio mastering and electronic effects to play their music. Anyone that thinks Within the Ruins is a studio-manufactured band that has no real talent and can't play live needs to go to one of their shows the next time they come to their city. Everything they play on record, they can hit live without missing a beat. Aside from being very precise, Within the Ruins is just a damn good time in a live setting. From the dizzying, insanely technical playing style of guitarist Joe Cochi to the biting and consistently improving vocals of Tim Goergen, there is never a dull moment when Within the Ruins is on stage. Making things that much better is how amped the crowd gets when they play. They're from Westfield, Massachusetts-which is an about an hour from Worcester- and the hometown crowd made them feel more than appreciated with an absolutely explosive reaction from everyone in the room. As an active member of the Massachusetts metal scene, I've witnessed firsthand their rise from practically unknown local band to rising extreme metal stars in only a few years time. It's always great to see a band from your state break out of the local scene and thrive on a national/international level. They were slightly less energetic and commanding as the last time I saw them, but Within the Ruins still put on a pretty great set.
Decrepit Birth was up next and though it's been four years since the last time I saw them, nothing has changed a bit. Vocalist Bill Robinson is still a beast, guitarist Matt Sotelo can still shred with best of them and the drums are remarkably powerful even for a death metal band. The one thing that made this set particularity standout was the antics of Robinson. He came onto the stage smoking a joint and spent the entire first song alternating between screaming and puffing on the joint when an instrumental section came in. Things only got weirder from there as Robinson proceeded to do a series of spastic hand motions next to Sotelo every time he played a solo. These hand movements looked like a combination of spirit fingers and what you would do if you were trying to conjure up a demon from the depths of hell. Robinsion's antics were really unexpected and entertaining, and that paired with how stellar they sound as a band made this the best set I've seen from Decrepit Birth to-date.
Origin was up next. After years of hearing how crazy they were live, I was really excited to get the chance to finally see them. Crazy doesn't even being to describe Origin's performance, they're a full-on sensory overload live. Saying that Origin was basically like listening to a wall of noise for 30 minutes would be a gross understatement. The vocals, guitars and drums were at the highest possible levels you could fathom, which made their set a roller-coaster that constantly teetered between overwhelming and enthralling. I'm well aware that Origin is a highly technical band with a consistent sense of chaos in their music, but a slightly more toned-down mix would have benefited them immensely. Gripes with sound aside, there's no denying that Origin has a insane stage presence. Vocalist Jason Keyser is a hell of a frontman that brings a hardcore type of energy to a death metal and bassist Mike Flores is a madman who spent the whole set losing his mind on the lefthand corner of the stage away from the rest of the band. Origin certainly had moments of greatness, but were ultimately just too much to take in to be anything more than solid.
Goatwhore hit the stage next and brought back every ounce of momentum that was lost during Origin's performance. Their southern-tinged blackened death/thrash is great on disc, but it really flourishes in a live setting. The set was driven by cuts from their latest LP Constricting Rage of the Merciless, which all slay live. Thrashers "Baring Teeth for Revolt" and "FBS" are amongst the best material in the catalog with riffs galore and the trademark snarls of Ben Falgoust on full display while "Schadenfreude" shows that they can write killer material with a bit of a melodic edge to it without giving up any of their aggression or evil aura. Goatwhore is the rare band who is unapologeticaly heavy yet still fun as hell live.
Thy Art is Murder was up next. Their studio material isn't anything particularity noteworthy, but their live show is undeniably impressive. Their music is not even close to original as it's the same breakdown-riddled deathcore that has dominated the extreme musical landscape for the past six or seven years, but they are so damn good at it that it doesn't even matter. You'll be hard pressed to find deathcore bands that have a better vocalist, more punishing breakdowns or as imposing of a stage presence as these guys do. Just like their last time playing this tour, they managed to get one of
the biggest crowd receptions of the day with people screaming
along to every song and going absolutely berzerk in the pits throughout
the set. Their rapid ascent in the scene over the past couple years may shock some people, but if you even pay a lick of attention to deathcore, their success couldn't be any less surprising. These guys put on consistently killer live shows and have mastered all of the key elements that are needed to have a successful deathcore band. Like it or not, Thy Art is Murder is proof that deathcore isn't dead.
The Faceless hit the stage next. Even though I've seen them four times and they've been one of my favorite bands for the past five years, I was still shocked at just how amazing The Faceless was at this show. With all the member shakeup that has occurred with these guys over the past few years, I didn't expect the newest version of The Faceless to be the tightest lineup they've had to-date. The band was firing on all cylinders from start to finish. I don't think it can be stressed enough how much of an impact Geoffrey Ficco has had on their live shows. Not only he is an energetic, charismatic frontman, but he has some of the most devastating high and low screams I've ever heard. I was a big fan of their previous vocalist Derek Rydquist, but I have to say that I like Ficco quite a bit more. His stage presence and vocals have completely overhauled this band's identity as a live act for the better. This show also marked the first time I was able to actually hear Michael Keene's clean vocals for the whole set. Keene's clean vocals have been practically inaudible every other time I'd seen them, so it was awesome to actually hear them clearly for the first time. Keene's cleans being present on "Accelerated Evolution", "The Eidolon Reality" and "Coldly Calculated Design" made these tracks feel more complete and were able to match the power of the studio recordings perfectly. The setlist was pretty standard for them, but "The Ancient Covenant" and "Hymn of Sanity" were pleasant unexpected inclusions that ended up being amongst the highlights of the set. After all these years as a touring band and enduring member changes galore, The Faceless have finally grown into a live act that is comparable to the incredibly high-quality of their studio material.
Dying Fetus hit the stage next. This was my fourth time seeing them and there really isn't much to say about them that hasn't been said countless numbers of time before. Even on a tour full of brutal bands, Dying Fetus still manages to blow everyone else away with how insanely heavy they are. It's remarkable to me that a trio is able to be the single most powerful and destructive force in all of heavy music. If you're a death metal fan and you haven't seen Dying Fetus, you're missing out on a special experience and you need to do everything in your power to correct that immediately.
The crowd thinned out an alarming amount prior to Morbid Angel's set, which doesn't really shock me because Morbid Angel doesn't have the clout they once had and based on the reaction they got, it was clear that Dying Fetus was the headliner of this tour in most people's eyes. Regardless of the relative emptiness of the crowd, Morbid Angel put on a great performance that reminded everyone of why they are death metal royalty. I had been waiting to see Morbid Angel for a long time and after the trainwreck that was Illuid Divinum Insanus, I was relived to find out that they still have the raw intensity that defined their essential works of the late 80's and early 90's. At the ripe old age of 49, David Vincent sounded almost unfathomably excellent delivering classic tracks like "Maze of Torment", "God of Emptiness" and "Rapture". Even though Vincent has made a lot of questionable musical decisions of late and has one of the corniest stage presences I've ever witnessed, he hasn't lost a bit of the vocal edge that made the early Morbid Angel records so special. Morbid Angel's lone remaining founding member and one of my all-time favorite guitarists, Trey Azagtoth, is also continuing to tear it up after all these years. His grimy guitar tone and distorted solowork was an absolute pleasure to see live and was often the most endearing aspect of their set for me. The setlist was solid enough with a lot of prime cuts from Covenant, but only two tracks from Altars of Madness (the aforementioned "Maze of Torment" and "Immortal Rites") and a decent amount of material from the vastly inferior Steve Tucker-era made it a tad bit disappointing on the whole. I'm honored that I was finally able to cross Morbid Angel off my to-see list and it's great to see how good they still sound 25 years after their debut came out.
Side Notes:
-Boreworm's vocalist looks like a younger, slightly skinnier version of Corpsegrinder from Cannibal Corpse.
-I had not another close call with getting a guitar pick after Fallujah was done. Scott Corstairs' pick landed basically right in front of me and once I found on the floor, some kid came from behind me and grabbed it.
-Decrepit Birth vocalist Bill Robinson went on a rant about racial/gender equality and gay rights before they played "Symbiosis". I didn't expect that at all during a death metal show, but it was definitely a cool moment.
-Origin had the audience do a silent wall of death before they played "The Aftermath"
-Goatwhore vocalist Ben Falgoust kept calling for the crowd to "pump their fists like they were seeing Priest in 84"
-Goatwhore had the crowd do the "Four Sides of the Apocalypse" before they played "FBS". It was essentially a wall of death where people ran from the four corners of the floor and met in the middle. It was incredibly badass to watch and looked like a lot more fun than a tradtional wall of death.
Scores:
Boreworm 6.5/10
Fallujah 9/10
Within the Ruins 8/10
Decrepit Birth 8/10
Origin 7.5/10
Goatwhore 9/10
Thy Art is Murder 8/10
The Faceless 9.5/10
Dying Fetus 8.5/10
Morbid Angel 8.5/10
Setlists:
Fallujah:
Carved From Stone
Cerebral Hybridization
Become One
Sapphire
Within the Ruins:
Gods Amongst Men
Invade
I, Blasphame
Feeding Frenzy
Calling Card
Decrepit Birth:
Metatron
The Infestation
The Resonance
A Gathering of Imaginations
Prelude to the Apocalypse
Symbiosis
Origin:
?
Expulsion of Fury
All Things Dead
The Aftermath
Portal
Unattainable Zero
Goatwhore:
Poisonous Existence in Reawakening
Alchemy of the Black Sun Cult
An End to Nothing
FBS
Schadenfreude
Baring Teeth for Revolt
Apocalyptic Havoc
Thy Art is Murder:
Shadow of Eternal Sin
Laceration Penetration
The Purest Strain of Hate
Dead Sun
Whore to a Chainsaw
Reign of Darkness
The Faceless:
An Autopsy
The Eidolon Reality
(Shape Shifters)
Coldly Calculated Design
Accelerated Evolution
The Ancient Covenant
Legion of the Serpent
(Hail Science)
Hymn of Sanity
Xenochrist
Dying Fetus:
In the Trenches
One Shot, One Kill
Intentional Manslaughter
Justifiable Homicide
Your Treachery Will Die With You
From Womb to Waste
Praise the Lord (Opium of the Masses)
Morbid Angel:
Immortal Rites
Fall from Grace
Day of Suffering
Rapture
Maze of Torment
Vengeance Is Mine
Ageless, I Still Am
Curse the Flesh
Existo Vulgore
Where the Slime Live
Blood on My Hands
Bil Ur-Sag
Word of Shit (The Promised Land)
God of Emptiness
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