It’s not every day where you get to go to a death metal show for about 9 hours straight, so I was really looking forward to Summer Slaughter.  I thought the lineup was so-so, and wasn’t really sure if I would go until a few days before the show.  Alas, I am not one to turn down a Decapitated show, so I decided to make it.  After getting off at the wrong bus stop and then walking quite some ways to the Fillmore, I was ready to see some live metal.

Vital Remains:

Everybody tells me I should love this band, and even listening to them I think “wow, I should like this band.”  But the problem is, I just don’t.  I’m indifferent.  It’s not helping them that they only have one founding member, so I’m even sure if it is fair to say I was seeing Vital Remains.  However, I was somewhat impressed by their live show.  All musicians did well, no matter their time with the band.  I became a little bored after a while though, because I thought they weren’t as dynamic as they could have been.  Either way though, a fairly solid set from this quartet.

Animals As Leaders:

This instrumental band has become quite the phenomenon in the metal world, garnering praise from several publications.  I was intrigued to say the least, and they did a pretty good job live.  It was almost hypnotizing watching Tosin play some complex stuff on that 8 string guitar.  They lacked the classic stage presence that seems to dominate most metal shows, but they made up for it with their impressive display of technicality.

Carnifex:

I’ll admit, I couldn’t stand to watch their set in its entirety.  I grabbed something quick to eat, but what I saw of their set, the crowd loved them.  I was utterly disgusted by the music itself, as I thought they dished out some of the most bland deathcore I have ever heard.  However, I must say, frontman Scott Lewis did a great job in working with the crowd.  Wrapping this band up is tough, because every musical bone in my body says to give these guys a 0, but I think if I enjoyed their music, I’d love them in a live setting.

Decrepit Birth:

While I was watching these guys set up, I noticed a guy who I thought had to be a homeless man, or a roadie.  It quickly became apparent that I was watching the vocalist for Decrepit Birth, after he grabbed the mic and said “Boy, it’s fucking good to be home.”  Decrepit Birth played like it too.  I’m a big fan of their recent opus, Polarity, as well as their other albums, so I’m no newbie to their brand of brutal tech death.  These guys had a perfect stage presence, as well as not missing a beat the whole show.  Really impressive, and I intend to go see them again when they come around with Suffocation in the Fall, whenever that may be.

Cephalic Carnage:

So, what to do with these guys.  I wasn’t too familiar with them going into the show, although I had heard a few tunes and thought they were okay.  I have to say they put on the first “poor” performance of the show.  There just was nothing compelling about them.  Sure, they bring up weed and killing people a lot, and sure, those are two of my favorite lyrical concepts, but it just didn’t work.  Maybe they were tired, maybe they just aren’t my thing, but I did not like them on Tuesday.

Veil of Maya:

In a similar thing with Carnifex, I had a problem with Veil of Maya.  They would perform a few riffs where I go, “that was cool.” but then enter into a breakdown that subtracts all coolness from the equation.  They made the hardcore dancers go wild though, as well as the crowd as a whole.  I thought they were entertaining, but I couldn’t help but think that they were just playing the same song over and over again.

The Red Chord:

Being up front for these guys was great.  I’m not a huge fan of their music, but they were a blast live.  The vocalist kept calling for fist pumping and crowd surfing between songs, saying “You don’t need music to crowd surf.”  They also threw out paper plates, saying “these aren’t just any plates, these are official Summer’s Laughter plates.”  I think their music was somewhat forgettable, but damn that live show was entertaining as hell.

All Shall Perish:

I think of all the shirts that I saw at the show, All Shall Perish was the most frequent name.  The crowd was into them like no other though.  Vocalist Eddie Hermida said that it was a dream come true to play in The Fillmore, and that he had seen several good shows there.  I got to thinking that it must be pretty special playing a place that you’ve been attending since you were a kid.  The band gave an aura of energy throughout their whole set, as well as having a guest vocalist for the last two songs.  Yet another band who’s music I’m not a fan of, but I liked quite a bit live.

The Faceless:

You may be thinking, “wow, this guy doesn’t appear to like any of these bands, why did he go to this show?”  Well, the answer is these next two bands.  I made my way up front for The Faceless, and was really excited to see their set.  I was quite a fan of both Akeldama and Planetary Duality, as it was on the more dynamic and technical side of the deathcore that I’ve heard.  They took the stage with quite a bit of energy, but by the time they’d grown comfortable on stage, they seemed a little bored.  Guitarist Michael Keene showed off some serious chops throughout their set, but looked like he was thinking if he left the oven on at home.  While their set wasn’t a disaster, I certainly was expecting something more.

Decapitated:

So, these were the guys I was here to see.  It was really disheartening for the death metal community with the death of Vitek, and Covan still in a coma, but I think it was admirable for Vogg to continue the band.  It was apparent that Decapitated was still alive and kicking when they performed on Tuesday, because the crowd ate up their performance.  After a long wait, they took the stage performing A Poem About An Old Prison Man.  Rafal, the new vocalist, was fairly impressive, as was Krimh, considering he had some mighty shoes to fill.  I was disappointed to see that they were only playing 9 songs, and mainly choosing songs from Organic Hallucinosis, but beggars can’t be choosers.  As they finished their set with Spheres of Madness, a whole bunch of other band members came on stage and started rocking out with the band, as part of a few last date hijinks.  A short but very sweet set from these Polish death metal veterans.

Since I wasn’t expecting to have a thriller time at this one, the show all in all went pretty well.  I only wanted to see three or four of the 10 bands that were playing, but I think all bands did quite a good job.  Since I think these festivals are there to give everyone a bit of what they want, I think it was a success.  All of the deathcore fans look like they had a great time and all of the death metal fans looked like they had a good time, so job well done, Summer Slaughter.  I’ll be looking forward to next year’s festival.

Vital Remains: 7/10

Animals As Leaders: 7.5/10

Carnifex: 7/10

Decrepit Birth: 9/10

Cephalic Carnage: 5/10

Veil of Maya: 7/10

The Red Chord: 8/10

All Shall Perish: 7/10

The Faceless: 7.5/10

Decapitated: 9/10