Los Angele's has been Slaughtered by The Summer Slaughter Tour

The Summer Slaughter Tour is in its fourth year run and this time it's bigger and better than ever. The House of Blues of the infamous Sunset Strip of Hollywood, California played hostess for the tour’s first night having such acts as Within the Ruins, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Oceano, As Blood Runs Black, Powerglove, Dying Fetus, Six Feet Under, Darkest Hour, and back to back headliners, Whitechapel and The Black Dahlia Murder. This night would be the house of hell and for all things purely and truly EVIL.

Within the Ruin’s raw talent of tech and metal had created an infamous sound of personality that only, they can withstand to take on. For instance their live presents alone mastered their talents of breakdowns, riffs, and tempo beats that easily made them “loud, energetic, interesting and fresh” throughout their entire set. The crowd on the other hand looked upon them with energy but held back quite a bit.


Runner's up were Fleshgod Apocalypse whose Italian technical death metal influence got them signed with Nuclear Blast Records and have unleashed their second full-length "Agony" and from their appearance and attire these guys are not to be dealt with first hand. For when these guys take center stage their fine dressed look does fool you once the thunderous guitar riffs with pedaling drum tactics intertwine with one another to create a sound of music so possessive yet so powerful it's unbearable to want to even have a listen.


Next up was Oceano an act that as the one before them was one not to be dealt with, for frontman Adam Warren clearly states "This is not god's house tonight this is the house of the devil and yes he does exist" as they broke out into their many songs off their two various releases; "Depths" (2009) and "Contagion" (2010). The crowd’s reaction with their performance reckoned some minds and bones as people jumped up and down and pushed people left and right getting everybody hyped up for what was next.


As Blood Runs Black what has not been said about these guys since the start of their career? Well quite a bit actually these guys have faced band member changes since day one of formation and now they have managed to come to a closing point in which they are satisfied with the ending results. Frontman Soink Garcia and guitarist Dan Surgarman (Follow Your Failure - who is on hiatus) have taken over in As Blood Runs Black and in the long run there couldn't be anybody better. As such As Blood Runs Black's performance was really what awoken the crowd getting everyone energized and up on their feet literally..... People were crowd surfing everywhere you looked. Not familiar with crowd surfing well its where you get tossed atop a crowd of people and thrown or carried towards the stage, landing in the arms of the handy security guards of course. Sonik on the other hand really took over the show in this case and hoped off the stage and right into the crowd from time to time spitting and singing right into the many faces that grasped what he was singing about and really dug his attitude and passion that he was putting in and has made what As Blood Runs Black who they are today.


Now that four bands were down and out for the night it was time for a half-time show? Yes indeed a half-time show was performed by powerhouse metal group, Powerglove who believe it or not are known for playing metal versions of classic video game theme songs, taking their name after the Powr Glove which was a NES controller accessory. Either way these guys had quite a creative set-up going for them, the foursome had cut-outs set up one was of a man eating plant while the individual members themselves dressed up in their warrior attire. Percussionist Bassil Silver coming with a backpack type of gear that had flags attached one saying "Power" and the other "Glove" while frontman/bassist Nick Avila had a purple warrior getup that was laughable. Guitarist's Alex Berkson and Chris Marchiel presented their own attire which was shoulder armor with spikes. Now when it came down to their musical abilities they did quite an impressive job playing such video game themes as "Gotta Catch Em All", the classic but original theme to Pokemon which everyone went nuts for, singing every lyric and moshing right to the beat. While another infamous tune that everyone was well aware of was "Mario Minor", which is in short "Do the Mario" and again everybody amongst the crowd of on lookers went nuts tearing the whole floor of people up pushing and shoving like no tomorrow it was intense yet fun to watch.


Once half-time was said and done with, the tour got brutally heavier as the night dwelled on bringing out three some death metallers Dying Fetus who's classic death metal material got everyone headbanging every second while the rest were being beaten up by crowd surfers if not mosh pitters. Their set consisted of such songs as "One Shot, One Kill", "Homicidal Retribution", and "Your Treachery Will Die With You" which really kept the crowd entertained and energized to say the least.


After they were done, an act that rarely ever makes it to the U.S. let alone touring managed to make it out this time around and they are so called Six Feet Under. An act whose been around for a mere 18 years and counting, their formation being fronted by Chris Barnes who formerly was fronting Cannibal Corpse way back when but after some band mishaps and changes he left and created this project, that to this day still dominates the masses. Speaking of Cannibal Corpse while though he is no longer involved in the band Barnes still managed to preserve his past identity with them having done not just one but two Cannibal Corpse covers this night. "Stripped, Raped and Strangled" was the first Cannibal Corpse cover and Barnes wowed the crowd with this cover getting everybody pleading for more and more was just what happened. Songs such as; "Revenged of the Zombie" "Seed of Filth", and Human Target", classic Six Feet Under material that diehard fans just went crazy over having them conclude their set-up with the second Cannibal Corpse tune in the mix, "Hammer Smashed Face". All in all Six Feet Under may not be around much but once they are they clearly indicate that they are here and they mean business.


Last but definitely not least were melodic death metallers Darkest Hour which 16-year career span cease to amaze the band and fans alike have managed to complete their latest and seventh release to date, "The Human Romance", that brought them to be signed onto E1 Music being taken away from their previous label Victory Records who they were with for five solid years, came out did their thing but did not impressive much of the audience as it seemed. Their performance tactics were used and merely tossed aside getting people into the beat of their tone of music but didn’t quite bring the beat having their musical fall flat above all the rest.
Rounding off the night were two headliners not one but two.


First headliner was Whitechapel whose released three studio albums, five music videos and is currently signed to Metal Blade Records while they do have the material behind them do they got the guts to make it happen? Indeed yes they do but when it comes down to it their performance is raw and edgy at times having a repeat every now and then that their material waves just get sucked in and drown out the whole feel of the music. The crowd’s anticipation on the other hand was excitement all around having various cheers and shouts being heard from all over the four walled room, each person more enthralled than the last.


Now the end had come and the tour for the night was done because headliners known only as The Black Dahlia Murder were here to fuck shit up! Frontman Trevor Stmad, came onto the stage ready to pounce on each and every person watching while the rest of the band filled in from behind and they broke the sound barrier pretty much, "A Vulgar Picture", "Miasma", "Blood In The Ink", "Nocturnal", "Statutory Ape", the list was comprised of 15 songs that never seemed to quit. The crowd was drenched in sweat having some take off their clothes in which Trevor caught a hold of a bra that was tossed upon the stage and he gladly just draped it atop his bald head and kept singing to the music.


In short this year’s rendition of The Summer Slaughter Tour was indeed their best yet and surely one that they will not want to forget or even possible compare to once the next year comes about.

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