The Summer Slaughter Tour 2014 rips apart The Observatory Santa Ana, CA 7-18-14

Originating back in 2001, The Summer Slaughter Tour became a regular heated thrashing of some of metal’s most extreme bands in 2007.  Now partaking in its six consecutive touring year with multiple North American dates, the bill has become a household name on the scene.  On a Friday afternoon on July 18th, a large crowd of metalheads gathered at The Observatory in Santa Anna, CA for the second date on a month long tour. With bands such as Morbid Angel, Dying Fetus, The Faceless, Thy Art Is Murder, Goatwhore, Origin, Decrepit Birth, Within the Ruins, Fallujah, and Boreworm, Summer Slaughter promised to be one of the most brutal showcases of metal bands all summer long.  With the door opening promptly at 2 PM, the fun began immediately with two platforms featuring the best of Southern California’s bands such as Why We Kill, Voices of Ruin, Nihilitus, None of the Living Remain, Tormentor, and I, of Helix.  The local talent brought with them fans, friends, and family of their own to the show; packing The Constellation Room like a sardine can.  This was certainly a fitting prelude to the billed bands up next.

Boreworm

Up first was progressive death metal band Boreworm took the stage. Hailing from Michigan, the band excited the crowd quickly with technical death metal and melodic riffs.  Winning the “Headbang For The Highway” National Competition in order to join The Summer Slaughter Tour, it was no surprise of how solid this band really sounded.  Their Black Path EP is out now.

Fallujah

Next was San Francisco Bay Area band Fallujah.  Comprised as an atmospheric death metal quintet that has been touring heavily lately supporting acts like Broken Hope, they have been winning over new fans wherever they step foot. With a new album titled The Flesh Prevails released just a few days after this performance, they seemed extremely pumped to put on a good performance for this crowd. Creating dark atmospheres combined with great melodic guitar riffs, Fallujah managed to captivate their audience once again with a technical sound on songs like “Cerebral Hybridization” and “Assemblage of Wolves”.  Keep an eye open for this fast rising band.

Within The Ruins

Providing a change in style and sound for The Summer Slaughter, up next was Westfield, MA’s metalcore band Within The Ruins.  Ready to release their new album Phenomena in the days following, the show excitement levels were high on and off the stage. With a high energy set and the menacing voice of Tim Goergen, this band definitely had the audience moving in full force.  With a set including tracks like “I, Blaspheme” and “Feeding Frenzy”, there was no dull moment even broached.  Combining pulsing drums and highly precious guitar riffs, Within The Ruins have a tight furious sound to offer metal fans.

Decrepit Birth

Next up was Northern California technical death metal band Decrepit Birth. Judging by the whispers heard about the crowd since the doors opened, this band was perhaps one of the most anticipated bands of the night. Having been dormant for a while; the band’s last album was in 2010 with Polarity and it has been some time since fans have seen them live as well. Coming out loose and relaxed, vocalist Bill Robinson commanded the stage as his band mates melted faces with their incredible representation of the technical metal sounds. Feeding the chaos on the floor the audience received exactly what they yearned with eye blinding windmills, headbanging, and erupting moshpits through songs like “Metatron” and “Symbiosis”. After surviving this performance, it stands true that Decrepit Birth is definitely a tough act to follow.

Origin

Sticking with the technical death metal genre, but a bit on the heavier end of the spectrum, was Topeka, Kansas’ Origin. The band recently released their sixth studio album Omnipresent, which garnished much praised from their fan and critics alike. While pits and headbanging were present for most of the show, the crowd went absolutely insane after Origin’s request for a silent wall of death before they proceeded with their set. Vocalist Jason Keyser did an incredible job getting his audience involved in Origin’s performance, provoking stage diving and for people to just got nuts. Through the six song set including tracks like “Expulsion Fury” and “The Aftermath”, as many as five fans at a time were surfing their way up to the front of the stage to yell out lyrics into Keyser’s microphone.  Closing with new track “Unattainable Zero” Origin exhibited exactly how technical death metal should be delivered.

Goatwhore

Following was New Orleans, LA band Goatwhore.  As a fan-favorite showcasing some old-school extreme metal, the anticipation was peaking all around The Observatory.  Debuting at #81 on Billboard Top 200 with their recent release of their sixth studio album Constricting Rage Of The Merciless on Metal Blade, the band has been shattering ear drums across the nation.  With a set consisting of primarily new material, the band threw in some of their older classics like “Apocalyptic Havoc”.  Frontman Ben Falgoust was like a tornado on stage as he belted out blackened vocals that shook the ground.  Goatwhore definitely kept the pits moving and put on one of the best performances of the night.

Thy Art is Murder

Hailing from the Land of Down Under, Australian deathcore band Thy Art is Murder pillaged the stage next and played an absolutely crushing set. Together now since 2006, the band’s popularity has grown rapidly over the years and was even the first extreme metal band to reach the Top 40 Australian charts with their album Hate in 2012.  With chaos breaking out, fans were stage diving at exhilarated speeds with little to no concern for injury.  Playing material from all over their catalogue, the band showed just how to get a crowd going on songs such as “The Purest Strain of Hate” and set closer “Reign of Darkness”.

The Faceless

Bringing things back to the technical death metal side with a bit of a progressive route was Los Angeles’ own The Faceless. Returning to The Summer Slaughter for the first time since 2012, the band formed in 2003 in Encino, CA has grown immensely in popularity over the course of three studio albums. Sustaining lineup changes in the past couple of years, lead guitarist/clean vocalist Michael Keene remains the only original member in the band as they continue to triumph on with bassist Evan Brewer, vocalist Geoffrey Ficco, drummer Alex Rüdinger, and newest member guitarist Nico Santora.  Combining spot on vocals and guitars, the audience was in awe of the atmospheric performance as they played songs from their 2012 album Autotheism.  Ficco moved around the stage to the groove of each tune and The Faceless dominated in their time which ceased with the track “Xenochrist”.

Dying Fetus

With the evening winding down, it was time for Dying Fetus to terrorize the crowd. The Maryland Trio, consisting of guitarist/vocalist John Gallagher, bassist/vocalist Sean Beasley, and drummer Trey Williams, have been on the scene since 1991 while blasting out seven studio albums. As a veteran to the extreme metal, this band always manages to put on an epic performance; keeping the crowd engaged from start to finish.

Opening with “One Shot, One Kill”, the rush of acceleration to follow had most losing their minds.  Playing on with tracks like “Your Treachery Will Die With You” and “From Womb to Waste”, the moshpits were stirring and the band had full control of the crowd.  The set concluded with “Praise the Lord (Opium of the Masses)” and fans yearning for more.  Hopefully they will be back in 2015 after their European tour with Goatwhore closing out this year through December.

Morbid Angel

Ending the journey of metal battery was none other than the holy trinity of death metal, Morbid Angel.  As one of the pioneers of American death metal, the band is celebrating their thirtieth anniversary in 2014.  With so much history evoked in their time creating music, they also recently celebrated the twentieth anniversary of their landmark album Covenant.  Swarming the floor and clamoring for the start of the set, the anxiety level was high all over The Observatory.

Opening the set with “Immortal Rites” off of the classic 1989 debut album Altars Of Madness, bassist and vocalist David Vincent delivered a phenomenal performance with venom while guitarist Trey Azagthoth and Thor Myhren shredded away on their guitars. Doing a great job of adding to the onslaught was Tim Yeung, who took over for original drummer Pete Sandoval in 2010.  Mixing in “Fall From Grace”, “Maze of Torment”, other Covenant classics along newer tracks “Ageless, Still I Am”, “Curse the Flesh”, and “Existo Vulgoré”, Morbid Angel provided a diverse retrospective for their audience.  Witnessing the iconic band live in the flesh was an experience that transcends the death metal genre.  Ending the night with the impending doom of “God of Emptiness” had many in a frenzy as the passage to hell had fully opened.  Completely satisfying everyone in attendance, Morbid Angel was the perfect ending to one unforgettable showcase of some of extreme metal’s most merciless bands.  Catch 2014’s edition of The Summer Slaughter Tour before it is too late.

Remaining Tour dates:

08/05 Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
08/06 Detroit, MI – Crofoot Ballroom
08/07 Niagara Falls, NY – Rapids Theatre
08/08 New York, NY – Irving Plaza
08/09 Worcester, MA – The Palladium
08/10 Philadelphia, PA – The Trocadero
08/12 Springfield, VA – Empire (no Morbid Angel)

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