Sonntag, 20. Jul 2014, 15:06

Fri 18 Jul – The Summer Slaughter Tour 2014

It was a pleasant surprise for me when Morbid Angel was announced as the headliner for the Summer Slaughter tour this year. After the 2013 lineup I didn’t expect the tour to ever make a return to extreme metal, but then we were given the heaviest lineup to date.

There was already a decent crowd in the venue by 4 pm when I walked in. Fallujah had just started the first song of their twenty minute set and immediately I noticed how horrible the kick drums sounded. The triggers made it sound as if they had a drum machine rather than a person playing, and when double bass got going fast it would nearly drown out the guitars. Although difficult to hear at times, the guitar work was impressive, but ultimately not the style I enjoy. I suppose some fans would be disappointed that they were given such a short set time, but they made the best of it.

• Carved from Stone
• Cerebral Hybridization
• Assemblage of Wolves
• Sapphire

After Fallujah’s set I went outside for a while in order to avoid having my ears assaulted by Within the Ruins. I came back inside to catch Decrepit Birth’s set, which I was looking forward to. When they came on stage I noticed that Samus wasn’t behind the kit. The guy who was filling in for him simply couldn’t stand up to the task. He was playing double bass noticeably slower than on the records and still couldn't keep up with the complex tempo changes. As with Fallujah’s set, the drums were very high in the mix, which only accentuated his mistakes. It was definitely the worst I’ve heard them sound, and it was my sixth time seeing them.

With all that said, Bill still put on an energetic performance and his vocals sounded incredible. During "Symbiosis" he stage dived and went into the pit, which spawned total chaos. Their setlist consisted of the typical material with one exception, a brand new song. The title sounded like “Hieroglyphics”, but I’m not entirely sure, so don't quote me on that. Stylistically the song reminded me a lot of …And Time Begins with a very heavy section in the middle and then a lot melodic guitar work more akin to Polarity.

• Metatron
• The Infestation
• The Resonance
• A Gathering of Imaginations
• Hieroglyphics
• Symbiosis

Although the crowd got going quite a bit for Decrepit Birth, it was nothing compared to the reaction that Origin got. As has become the norm for Origin’s sets, it was abundant with stage diving and vicious pits. It seemed as though many of the people who got on stage had never dived before, so it was entertaining to watch. As Bill had done, Jason stage dived as well. With all of the stage diving that occurred during their set I'm wondering if there will be another whiny statement from Ash Avildsen banning it from the tour for a consecutive year. Unfortunately like the bands prior, Origin's mix had the drums too high, making it difficult to hear the other instruments at times. I don’t listen to them on record, so I have no idea what they played other than “All Things Dead”, which Jason announced.

After Origin’s intense set the room seemed calm for Goatwhore in comparison, although there was still plenty of headbanging going on. I don’t care much for them, but they did sound good live. Unlike the bands before them, the drums were not overbearing. I noticed a few riffs that reminded me of early Celtic Frost, but other than that there wasn’t much about them that piqued my interest.

Thy Art is Murder was up after Goatwhore and I watched all of thirty seconds of their set before evacuating the room. I knew they would be terrible, but I had a bit of morbid curiosity and it suffices to say that I regretted the decision to watch even a moment of them. I ended up staying outside for the rest of their set and all of The Faceless’s set as well. I heard later on that The Faceless screwed up one of their songs and had to start it over, but I'm not sure which one it was.

I came back in just moments before Dying Fetus started their set. The room was packed tightly at this point and the pit was an all out war. There wasn’t a moment of peace on the floor level. I hadn’t seen them for over four years, so I had forgotten how heavy they are live. Their sound was on point and they played perfectly, even with very little downtime in between songs. As a direct support band they only had a thirty-five minute set, which I found strange, even for a large package tour. Regardless, they still went slightly over their allotted time and I think that was fine by everybody in attendance.

• One Shot, One Kill
• In the Trenches
• Intentional Manslaughter
• Justifiable Homicide
• Your Treachery Will Die With You
• From Womb to Waste
• Praise the Lord (Opium of the Masses)

A short change over later and Morbid Angel was ready to come on. They were forced to drop off the San Francisco show due to their tour bus breaking down, so this was actually the first night of the tour for them. With the opening notes of “Immortal Rites” the pit turned violent and up front it was a headbanging frenzy. Trey went about doing his usual routine of abusing his guitar with a whammy bar assault. It’s always impressive to watch him up close, as he plays the guitar unlike anybody else I’ve seen. On the opposite side of the stage Destructhor did a more than competent job of replicating the soloing style with his own insane work. Behind the kit Tim Yeung has proven himself to be a worthy successor to drum throne. Although he may not have been there to help launch the band into success, he does an excellent job of filling Pete’s shoes. He plays with an enthusiasm that very few drummers do, headbanging constantly and pounding his kit as if it’s his worst enemy, all while playing the songs with ease and even adding his own little touches here and there. Thankfully the band didn’t suffer from any of the sound issues from earlier in the day. The instruments sounded clear and nothing was overbearing in the mix.

Despite the great sound and performance, the setlist itself was underwhelming. Given that they had just done an anniversary tour for Covenant less than a year ago, in which they played the album in its entirety, I had hoped they would drop a few of the regulars from it in place of some fresher material. Instead the set was dominated by it with a total of five songs. I would have forgiven this if it wasn’t done so at the expense of playing more material from Altars of Madness, but that was not the case. Needless to say, their debut, being a pillar in the death metal genre, deserves more than just a couple of cuts in their live sets. Overall though, I was glad to be able to see them again, as they always put on an impressive show. I can only hope that they will return once more with a longer set that is more focused on their first album.

• Immortal Rites
• Fall from Grace
• Rapture
• Maze of Torment
• Vengeance Is Mine
• Ageless, Still I Am
• Curse the Flesh
• Existo Vulgoré
• Where the Slime Live
• Blood on My Hands
• Bil Ur-Sag
• World of Shit (The Promised Land)
• God of Emptiness