So, in just a few short days, SUMMER SLAUGHTER 2011 kicks off and, to be honest, this is the first year of the tour that I’m pretty underwhelmed by the whole thing. How are you guys feeling about the lineup? Am I missing something? I think that previous installments just worked better. You had Summer Slaughter that was made up of solely extreme metal bands (for the most part) and Thrash N Burn which incorporated -core and other styles and that made for two excellent tour packages. This year, it feels like SS and TNB were combined to make way for All Stars Tour and I feel the lineup was served an injustice by this.
Let’s make our way through the tour:
Within The Ruins – I honestly have never heard of this band until they were added to the tour. No hate here, just curiosity. Should I be listening to them?
Powerglove – FUCK this band. Next!
Fleshgod Apocalypse – Great young band. Definitely excited to see them. This is one of the bands on the bill that makes a lot of sense and is more traditional for the tour to choose.
Oceano – I don’t think this band is that bad, but they just don’t make sense on the bill. This would’ve been a Thrash ‘N Burn band.
As Blood Runs Black – See Oceano… except this band is really bad to boot.
Dying Fetus – Legendary band that is a good fit for this bill. Really stoked to see them because I know what to expect — an awesome show!
Six Feet Under – This one is interesting. First of all, I never expected this SFU to be billed above Oceano, ABRB or Dying Fetus. They aren’t nearly as active as these other bands so it’s really surprising to see them here. Point number 2 is that the band seems diminished these days from they were when Barnes first left Cannibal Corpse, however they’ve added some high profile new members and have a new record on the way. All in all, this is a wildcard that I’m happy to see!
Darkest Hour – This band does not belong on Summer Slaughter… Definitely more of a Thrash N Burn band and completely off-brand for what SS was originally marketed and built-up as. Darkest Hour is NOT a bad band by any means, but they also don’t belong here.
The Black Dahlia Murder – I personally have no interest in this band at all. I know a lot of people love them but I’ve never found anything to make me interested. This also comes across as more appropriate for Thrash N Burn.
So, there you have it, there are three bands that I’m actually excited to see. Compare this to years past when there were bands like NECROPHAGIST, DECAPITATED, CATTLE DECAPITATION, CEPHALIC CARNAGE, VADER, ABORTED, PSYCROPTIC, SUFFOCATION, ORIGIN and DECREPIT BIRTH (amongst many others) and I’m just all around not psyched on this tour. I hope that I’m pleasantly surprised but it doesn’t look so great to me.
Couple this together with the SLAUGHTER SURVIVORS tour that has been announced and I’m equally unimpressed. I really like RINGS OF SATURN and SCALE THE SUMMIT are also pretty cool, however, the rest of the bill is full of bands that I either a) don’t like or b) don’t listen to actively and, therefore, won’t make a judgement of.
So, tell me Metal Army, what do you guys think of the lineup this year? Is it worth attending? Are the bands I should give a second (or possibly first) chance to? Sound off!
If you want to attend this year’s Summer Slaughter Tour, check out the dates below!
Here comes the “Girls of Heavy Metal” from Sweden, I believe their name is Hysterica. If you check them out online you will also see that their genre is listed as ‘Femetal’ which is hilarious. I can only hope their serious about it. I hate this kind of marketing too, if I believed that these were indeed the “Girls of Heavy Metal”, I wouldn’t want to hang out too long….
I mean, when you’re less appealing to men than Dave Mustaine, maybe you shouldn’t call yourselves that…
“We play so fucking loud, we make your ears bleed!” Yeah… I’m not sure if the loud amps are what’s making my ears bleed here…. Sorry, girls. Who knows, these girls could break big anyway. I mean, if POWERGLOVE is allowed to be famous, they’ll give anyone a record deal.
MIKE GITTER is the man and continues to prove that with every post he writes over here. I love our buddy Gitter! -Editor
New York: New York. Once every Fall, the College Music Journal stages its annual confab on the increasingly gentrified streets of NYC. Where CMJ was once THE annual event for unsigned greats, hipster coolies and cutting-edge major label signees, Metal is sparse and the indie contingent dominates Manhattan’s increasingly gentrified streets.
Regardless, a few shards of the heavy stuff could be found on a near-nightly basis starting on Tuesdayat the Gramercy Theater with a brilliant show from Nevermore. Whatever incidents have plagued their first headlining tour (onstage fights, Warrell Dane losing his voice in LA), from the onset of “Narcosynthesis”, the long-running Seattle quintet were energetic and on-point, maintaining their post as one of America’s long-running pure metal greats.
Unfortunately, my evening was topped off by a visit to the local impound after my rental car was towed away at 11:00 PM. I had gotten back to it at 11:10 perhaps and it was a total “Dude! Where’s Your Car?!?” scenario. Apparently, the local tow companies have a percentage deal with the city. Let’s just call it “Valet Parking In NYC”…VERY EXPENSIVE valet parking that is.
Wedndsay brought the party to Brooklyn’s Club Europa for the first of two showcases courtesy of metal’s best sites: Metal Sucks and Metal Injection. The evening’s headliner A Life Once Lost emerged from a year and a half dormancy to blow the crowd away. Where you could once peg the Philly band of jumping on the Meshuggah bandwagon, all reports of their Swedish allegiances should be taken as old and grossly misinformed. Backlit by pillars of harsh white light behind them, it was clear: A Life Once Lost have not merely scaled new heights. Now with a handful of new songs – four of which were played – A Life Once Lost sound like a band once criminally ahead of its time that the world has finally caught up with.
Car Bomb seemed lackluster by comparison and This Or The Apocalypse showed signs of becoming a formidable metal-scraping hardcore mob earlier in the evening.
Comeback Thrashers FORBIDDEN have unveiled a new track, “Forsaken at the Gates”, at their official MySpace. The track comes from ‘Omega Wave’, out October 26th via Nuclear Blast.
UK titans ARCHITECTS are back with a new effort. “Day In Day Out” comes from ‘The Here and Now’, which is expected in early 2011! The band is planning a European tour with BRING ME THE HORIZON and THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA. Check MySpace for the new single and tour dates!
Perennial Mario Cart champions POWERGLOVE have also unveiled a new cut from their newly released ‘Saturday Morning Apocalypse’. “Transformers” is now available on MySpace and the album is available everywhere!
Windy City Warriors OCEANO have unveiled “Weaponized” on their official MySpace. The track is taken from ‘Contagion’, the brand new album to be released November 9th via Earache Records.
Modern death/thrash juggernauts ARSIS are about to go on a headlining tour with POWERGLOVE and CONDUCTING FROM THE GRAVE in tow. While we don’t quite get down with the support choices, it would be foolish not to see the headliners perform an extended set for the first time since releasing their 80s-infused masterpiece ‘Starve for the Devil’.
Having said that, I still don’t understand Nintendo Metal…
For some reason, POWERGLOVE has gotten a record deal and is going to be in our faces a lot in the coming year. I never understood the concept of video game metal – I thought having bands like DRAGONFORCE and TURISAS was enough for me, but apparently people want to hear heavy metal versions of their favorite video game songs. However, for what it’s worth, I feel like POWERGLOVE are talented musicians – I’m just not a part of their target demographic.
Regardless, they do have some pretty interesting touring ahead of them – including a soon to be announced trek with one of our favorite death metal bands (???). They also just released a new album teaser so check it out and let me know why I’m wrong and this band is awesome. I’m willing to entertain a valid point if you’ve got one!
‘Saturday Morning Apocalypse’ is due out this coming Tuesday (Sept 28) via E1.
