Boston, Massachusetts technical death/thrash quartet Revocation were the seventh band to take the stage here at the Novo, and through their scintillating 30-minute set, they proved to be the only one in the 12-band lineup worth taking the earplugs out for. Death metal is far more interesting when a band can masterfully mix other influences with it, and Revocation demonstrated as much, and even within such a short duration, presented a much more diverse set of tunes than anyone else that played before or after them. Blending elements of thrash, prog and even a touch of jazz fusion, Revocation’s brand of technical death metal came across as incredibly impressive, as the song ‘Dismantle The Dictator’ turned out to be the best thing played on stage at this show and selections from their brand new Metal Blade Records full-length release ‘Great Is Our Sin’ were equally compelling. They got an above-average response from the crowd as some stared on with blank faces and were confused by the jazzy segments. The band clearly deserved better, but completely undeterred, played an absolutely brilliant set. Revocation have been in existence for a decade and will be around for a whole lot longer. This band has the musical background, the songwriting skills and the on-stage insanity to take themselves to great heights of popularity and success, and one can bet they would return on a future edition of Summer Slaughter but much, much higher on the bill. The best band of the show by quite a distance.
San Diego deathcore unit Carnifex took the stage next and presented more of a visual element than any of the other bands, with scrims displaying their logo and artwork on either side of the drum kit, and short pillars with extinguished candles placed all over the stage. This band gets categorized as deathcore and they themselves wouldn’t deny it, but they have enough of a death metal-hardcore blend to cross over to both sides of the spectrum. Yes, they have the breakdowns, but in addition they also bring forth distinctly notable musical skills on their instruments, in the guitar play and drumming in particular, as witnessed in this performance. Meanwhile, frontman Scott Lewis’ vocal delivery was also on par with the prowess of his band mates, and he was among the best frontmen this show had to offer, perhaps next only to the Corpsegrinder himself. Lewis certainly got the crowd on the band’s side, and the response Carnifex got was indicative of the level of fan base they enjoy, and justified their placement on this bill. If at all there is a deathcore band worth recommending to people that aren’t fans of the sub-genre, it has to be Carnifex.
A lot of “real death metal” fanboys were stoked beyond control and in eager anticipation of Long Island, New York extreme metal veterans Suffocation hitting the stage here, and the pre-show talk seemed to suggest that this was one of the main draws for this event. But as the story goes, the band’s legendary frontman Frank Mullen is no longer keen on extensive touring, and switches out vocal duties with Disgorge drummer Ricky Myers for long tours. So, Myers is handling vocals on the Summer Slaughter run, and for folks complaining about Suffocation’s low placing on the bill, this clearly explains why this is the case, even for a band that co-headlined the same festival in 2009. It was my first time seeing this incarnation of Suffocation, and with absolutely no disrespect to Ricky Myers, I would best describe this experience as similar to what it would be like seeing Iron Maiden with Blaze Bayley or Judas Priest with Tim Ripper Owens. Frank Mullen is one of the most iconic figures in extreme metal, not only for his brutal vocal pyrotechnics but equally so for his classic hand-chop gestures to the crowd, and he is quite simply irreplaceable. Some bands can play with fill-in singers but Suffocation is not one of them, and Mullen was hugely missed, as the band’s collective on-stage personality was very much inferior than what it is with him at the helm. It is understandable for the remaining members to continue without him and earn their bread by playing shows, but from the fan’s perspective there is little to no point in seeing this version of Suffocation. The biggest disappointment of the show by far, and in fact, one or two spots too high on the bill.
Next were Minneapolis, Minnesota progressive metal/hardcore/deathcore quartet After The Burial, who gave it an honest, wholehearted effort to play a 40-minute in front of an audience which they already knew wasn’t right for them. Following the departure and death of their guitarist Justin Lowe, After The Burial bowed out of last year’s Summer Slaughter and were rightly given another shot on the festival this year. They coped with this major lineup change and tragedy very strongly, converted to a four-piece/one-guitar lineup, and released an excellent album called ‘Dig Deep’ earlier this year. After losing his partner, guitarist Trent Hafdahl has stepped up his game and shone under the lights here as he put forth a performance as good as any guitar player at this show. The rhythm section was also equally competent and vocalist Anthony Notarmaso tried his best to get the crowd on his side, but to no avail, as shouts of “get off the stage” were heard between songs. If you want to hear brutally honest opinions and get a general idea of what the crowd thought of the band that just played, visit the men’s restroom, as dudes who can’t shut up while peeing would tell you what they felt even if you’re not interested. After The Burial were described in the restroom as “not real death metal”, “horeshit” and “white boy music” among other things, but one has to commend them for even agreeing to do this tour and attempt to break into an alien demographic, and for a change it was refreshing to see them with bands other than Veil Of Maya and Born Of Osiris. Even though After The Burial put on a genuinely good show here in every sense, they will at least know never to play to old-school death metal fans ever again.
As the main support act in this lineup, Greenville, South Carolina technical death metal quartet Nile played a 40-minute set and received quite the ovation from this audience which was undoubtedly very excited to see this band. Nile have been around since ’93, have put out eight full-length studio albums and played countless shows that have rightly garnered them a large fan base, and there is no denying that they’re masters at the art, specially with the lyrical themes of Egyptian mythology and the manner in which they write music that sonically portrays these themes with accuracy, at least in an extreme metal sense. But, as a live band they come across as very repetitive and best served in very small doses, and even this 40-minute set proved to be a bit much. This is where the balcony seats came in handy. Nile’s set was among the most uninteresting performances of the entire show, and only heightened the anxious anticipation for the headline act.
As the show progressed, the stacked layers of drumkits and amplification placed on stage for all the bands were taken out one by one, and after Nile ended, finally all that was left was the stage setup for Tampa, Florida death metal giants Cannibal Corpse, the rightful headliners of this festival. Vocalist George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher is one of the most instantly recognizable personalities in metal, not just extreme metal, and his on-stage exploits were on full display here as much as always, because just like the rest of the band, consistency is one of his major strengths. People often lament that Cannibal Corpse are always the same and don’t do anything new, but they established their sound early on, stuck to it and did it better than most other bands of their era, which explains their longevity, and the same goes for their live show, which doesn’t change much but invariably instigates the most brutal mosh pits and gives death metal fans their money’s worth. They’re all expert musicians who know what to do, how to do it, and will continue to do so. You know what to expect from Cannibal Corpse, and that will probably never change, which is what makes them great in their own way. They could have played this show with only 2 or 3 of the other bands and not all 11, and still would have sold the same number of tickets, so for attendees to be able to see all the openers as well as a full Cannibal Corpse headline set was indeed a bargain-and-a-half. With classics like ‘Hammer Smashed Face’, ‘Devoured By Vermin’, ‘Make Them Suffer’, ‘I Cum Blood’ and ‘Stripped, Raped And Strangled’ plus a lot more, Cannibal Corpse leveled the Novo and extracted every ounce of energy that was left in this crowd.
All in all, a heavy music marathon that had its moments of greatness and disappointment, but well worth the ticket price for fans of extreme metal.
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Summer Slaughter remaining tour dates:
08/13/2016 - Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee
08/15/2016 - Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Live
08/16/2016 - Austin, TX @ Empire Garage
08/17/2016 - Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
08/19/2016 - Richmond, VA @ The National
08/20/2016 - Wilmington, NC @ Ziggys By The Sea
08/21/2016 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade