Yes, the summer is just around the corner and Summer Slaughter 2016 has finally been announced! Along with a pretty brutal artist line up, they actually included Florida dates this year in which were skipped the past 2 years. Although “metal” is somewhat of a dying breed and endless debates by elitist of what defines metal, I am personally stoked for this year’s show.
Among the mix, we have a fantastic lineup that showcases both new and old iconic artists in the industry. This year’s show is actually presented by a movie that in the making called American Satan which IMDB describes:
A young rock band, half from England and half from the US, drop out of college and move to the Sunset Strip to chase their dreams.
So what kind of music and bands do we have on this year’s set?
Headlining we have one of the most influential Death Metal bands who pioneered the path for sweaty, dirty, headbanging shows filled with distasteful lyricism but with full force brutality in vocalism and instrumentally. Cannibal Corpse isn’t exactly a family friendly name to most, but their horror and 80s thrash inspired music spoke volumes in the 90s, as well as continuously to slay shows in present time. 2016 mark’s their 28th year within the metal industry, and they have no intentions of slowing down as they pursue countless tours throughout the year apart from Summer Slaughter.
Next on the line up comes a 90’s Technical Death Metal band spawning out of Greensville, South Carolina called Nile. What always caught my ear about Nile apart from their excellent musicianship, is that they always reminded me of Swedish Metal more so than American. Perhaps it’s their extravagant use of their instruments, or perhaps their lyrical influences based upon Ancient Egypt, Eastern mythology, history, religion, ancient art and even H.P Lovecraft, but was I completely shocked to learn they were actually from the states.
Taking a step forward into the 2000’s Progressive metalcore era comes a Minnesota based band named After The Burial. Although a somewhat newer band in perspective to the two previous listed, their hard hitting, more electronic filled metal was a huge influence in the new found djent scene that was popular in the 2010 era of things.
Heading back to the death metal area, next on the bill we have Long Island, New York band called Suffocation. Another pioneer in the brutal death metal ring, in which their musical style is strongly influenced by grindcore and have been in the game collectively for 24 years.
Now here’s where things get tricky… Although some “metal heads” probably already scoffed at having a Djent band on the list, we are now moving into one of my person favorite subgenres and new school genres of metal called Deathcore. For those who don’t know Deathcore is an extreme hybrid of death metal and metal core, with some electronical influences depending on the band. One of its major contributors who is next on the list is a San Diego, California band called Carnifex who have had about 10 years and counting in the industry touring and creating heavy hitting tunes for us all to mosh to.
Coming from a different flavor of Technical Death Metal is the super talented 2000’s Boston spawned metal band, Revocation. What I adore about this specific band is their hybrid sound strongly influenced by 80s thrash metal. Although they are still a heavy band, they generate a more clearly instrumental sound with just undeniable catchy rifts, fantastic basslines, super clean yet powerful drumming and great death metal vocals to match.
Back to the 90s Metal sound comes a Brazilian Death Metal Band called Krisiun. I am completely new to this particular band in which I haven’t heard practically any of their music, but with influences such as Morbid Angel, Slayer and having the title as “one of the most eminent extreme death metal bands of the world” via Wikipedia, I am definitely looking forward to seeing their live set!
One of the newest bands on this year line up comes all the way from Russia bringing an extremely brutal flair to the entire show. Over all the other bands on the show I am most excited to see Slaughter to Prevail because of their new wave approach to the Deathcore scene and reigniting the mosh pit energy to live shows. Their combination of mixing the technical aspects of metal with just epic powerful deathcore break downs and extremely monstrous vocals has been a sight I’ve been waiting to experience since the first time I stumbled across their music last year. I cannot wait to see where this band will go in the near future as they finally landed a respectable record label with Sumerian Records.
The last confirmed band we have the list is another high energy brutal deathcore band coming from the UK named Ingested. Perfect opening to the epic line up we have so far!
Tickets for Summer Slaughter 2016 will go on sale starting Friday, May 27th, in which typically stays in the $35-$45 realm for General Admission and VIP varies, but usually never exceeding the $100 mark.
7/23 – ORLANDO, FL @ THE PLAZA LIVE
7/24 – TAMPA, FL @ THE RITZ YBOR
7/26 – KNOXVILLE, TN @ THE INTERNATIONAL
7/27 – BALTIMORE, MD @ RAMS HEAD LIVE!
7/28 – NEW YORK, NY @ WEBSTER HALL
7/29 – POUGHKEEPSIE, NY @ THE CHANCE
7/30 – WORCESTER, MA @ THE PALLADIUM
7/31 – CLEVELAND, OH @ AGORA THEATRE
8/02 – MINNEAPOLIS, MN @ THE CABOOZE
8/03 – CHICAGO, IL @ CONCORD MUSIC HALL
8/05 – DENVER, CO @ THE SUMMIT MUSIC HALL
8/06 – SALT LAKE CITY, UT @ THE COMPLEX
8/08 – SEATTLE, WA @ SHOWBOX SODO
8/10 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA @ THE REGENCY BALLROOM
8/11 – SANTA ANA, CA @ THE OBSERVATORY
8/12 – LOS ANGELES, CA @ THE NOVO
8/13 – TEMPE, AZ @ THE MARQUEE
8/15 – DALLAS, TX @ GAS MONKEY LIVE
8/16 – AUSTIN, TX @ EMPIRE CONTROL ROOM
8/17 – HOUSTON, TX @ WAREHOUSE LIVE
8/19 – RICHMOND, VA @ THE NATIONAL
8/20 – WILMINGTON, NC @ ZIGGY’S BY THE SEA
8/21 – ATLANTA, GA @ THE MASQUERADE
***More Dates and Bands are said to be announced in the near future!
(Seriously keeping my fingers crossed for that The Black Dahlia Murder rumor floating around the internet!)
