Event:	The Summer Slaughter Tour - North America 2012
Written by:	D.T. Metal
Published:	03.09.2012
Galleries:	The Summer Slaughter Tour - Denver, CO, 20th August 2012 by D.T. Metal (60)

Summer Slaughter; here in Colorado it marks the last big bang at the end of the summer before the weather takes a turn for the worse. And what a "bang" it was this year.

Headlined by no other than Cannibal Corpse, this annual spectacle once again made its way to the Summit Music Hall in Denver, CO. Luckily the Rockies didn't have a home game that day, otherwise parking would have sucked, since the venue is about a block away from the stadium.

The line to get into the venue was insane, in part because the original door-time was 2pm, but since Periphery dropped off the bill (due to a family emergency), everything got pushed back an hour. Natives were getting restless to say the least!

For the Denver gig, we had the following bands: Cerebral Bore, Exhumed, Goatwhore, Job For A Cowboy, Veil Of Maya, The Faceless, Between The Buried And Me and Cannibal Corpse.

I have never seen or heard Cerebral Bore and was actually present when they did their sound check; and ? holy shit! I remember they were supposed to play with Hate Eternal a while back but due to road closure (snow), the gig was cancelled.

I didn't even know their vocalist was female until I came out from backstage. A major fail on my part for not paying attention to the newer bands I guess.

Cerebral Bore sounded great, and while their front woman might not be a second Angela Gossow, she is pretty damn close. Being the opener on a tour like this is clearly no easy task, but they took the audience by storm with their 20 minute set. Definitely check them out the next time they tour in your neck of the woods; I see enormous things to come from them.

Then it was time for Bay Area's grindcore gone death metal(ish), old timers Exhumed. Again, missed them last time they came through town and was NOT going to miss them this time around. Hello ? a band who covers Sodom's "Sodomy And Lust" on their debut album can do no wrong in my book, and since I really dig their 2011 album All Guts, No Glory, I couldn't wait to watch them.

Line-up changes on mass for the Matt Harvey crew as well, with former bassist Bud Burke now on guitar, "Bodybag" Rob Babcock on bass and no other than Deeds Of Flesh drummer Mike Hamilton to round out the quartet. I really hope this line up sticks, since they looked and sounded just awesome.

Exhumed started with "All Guts, No Glory" and "As Hammer To Anvil" off their new release before switching gears with "In The Name Of Gore". Hellz yeah and stuff; the crowd was going nuts. Between Matt's somewhat screeching vocals and the deep growls, courtesy of Bodybag, the band sounded tight as shit. But again, with only 25 minutes to play, Exhumed tried to make the most of it and played a nice balance of old and new.

Since Exhumed have been around since the early 90's, it was nice to see the younger crowd really getting into their set as well; in my opinion, best decision ever to jump on this tour.

And speaking of crowd; with bands such as Goatwhore, Exhumed and Cannibal Corpse on the bill, it was no surprise to me that there were a hell of a lot of "old-timers" in the audience. A nice welcome to prior years, and I hope that the tour organizers keep up with this trend to combine the "old" with the "new" so that the "scene-kids" do get the exposure to something other than just "breakdown's bands".

Next, one of NOLA's finest was getting ready to tear shit up on stage. Again, missed them last time they came around - same Hate Eternal tour as Cerebral Bore. Hahaha, no shit now, the Summer Slaughter tour was sort of a "make up" show for me, since most bands played in town when I was either busy or gone.

Goatwhore, wow, I can't even count how many times I have seen them play live and they never, EVER disappoint ? period! Vocalist Ben Falgoust, standing 10 foot 2 tall, demands and receives respect. One hell of a front man to say the least, and he can back it up with his ? singing.

"Alchemy Of The Black Sun Cult" off their 2006 release A Hunting Curse was the chosen one to open up their set, and shit hit the fan.

While the crowd surfers were rather busy for the prior bands, once Sammy Duet and Co started playing it was just insane. I actually got kicked in the face twice since the pit security was totally overwhelmed at times. Hey, no pain no gain or something like that, right?

Since Goatwhore are still promoting their 2012 release Blood For The Master, they played only songs from said album; well other than the opener. But still, I am pretty sure people got a full dose of what those ? hmmm, whatever a "Southern Belle" would be in male form, can bring to the table.

Seriously, I have no clue how to describe a Goatwhore set; you just have to go and see for yourself. Oh, and since Summer Slaughter will be over by the time you read this, you shall get a chance to catch them live later this year. Yap, Goatwhore will tour with no other than ? well, you just have to wait for the official announcement.

Jonny Davy with his crew, aka Job For A Cowboy were up next. And while the opinions about their music are as divided as North and South Korea, over the years, I developed a solid friendship with all of them and I actually DO like their (newer) stuff ? there, I said it!

Starting with a medley of some older songs, "Entombment Of A Machine" and "Embedded" the band right away followed up with "Imperium Wolves" off their 2012 release Demonocracy.

Unfortunately, Job For A Cowboy only played one other new song ("Children Of Deceit") since, and I might sound like a broken record here, their 30 minute set list just didn't give them enough wiggle room. But hey, I am pretty sure they will do a proper headlining tour in North America either by the end of the year or beginning of next.

This was also the second time I saw Job For A Cowboy with Tony Sannicandro, who replaced Bobby Thompson on rhythm guitar, and Nick Schendzielos (Cephalic Carnage) once again was on bass. And since this was a "home town" gig for Nick the crowd response to their set was as expected, kick ass!

By the time Job For A Cowboy ended their set it was around 6.30pm and I felt the desperate need to put some solid food into my body. Hence, I totally missed Veil Of Maya. No big deal since I have seen them plenty before and I am sure they will be back sooner rather than later.

The Faceless was up next and I was getting ready to check them out. Well ? instead of doing my assigned duties I opted for some friendly debauchery with the Goatwhore dudes which ended with drinking at the bar with Sammy and Exhumed's bassist Rob. Thanks guys!

To be honest, I just saw The Faceless earlier this year on the Metal Alliance Tour and since they just released their newest piece Autotheism a couple weeks ago, I am pretty sure it won't be long before they come back to town.

Back on track, I made my way up to the front for the co-headliner this evening, Between The Buried And Me. Holy crap; people went ape shit for their music, but to tell the truth, I just can't get into them. Songs are way, way too long for my taste, almost Opeth like in regards of length.

They had an hour to play and managed to "squeeze" in six songs, with one of them being "Telos" off their upcoming October release The Parallax II: Future Sequence. Well, to each their own and they are good at what they do, but it's just not my cup of tea.

Moving on to the one, the only Cannibal Corpse, and you guessed it; I missed them last time they were in town. Story of my life this year, but then again, while they played here, I was at the West Coast soaking in the soothing sounds of Behemoth and Watain. I guess the trade off was not that bad after all?

Cannibal Corpse released their twelfth album Torture in March and I asked Corpsegrinder earlier in the day about how the fans react to the new material. Well, let me tell you this, they loved it that night.

Starting their set with the first 3 songs off the new piece, Cannibal Corpse made sure that no neck was safe from at least a little bit of fatigue; wow, what a beginning of an awesome set.

Fan favorites such as "Evisceration Plague" and "I Cum Blood" almost brought down the roof and while I thought the crowd surfers were insane during Goatwhore's set, they sure as hell upped it for Cannibal Corpse.

George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher and his speeches or announcements are legendary by now, but he wasn't able to dedicate a song to the ladies since said song was not played. I have to say, this is one of the few times I have seen the band and them NOT playing "Fucked With A Knife". But some of the chants coming from him that night were: "Open up that pit", "Let's get this shit going" and "Go Broncos".

Cannibal Corpse ended their hour long set with "Stripped, Raped And Strangled" and of course "Hammer Smashed Face", a staple in the set for many years now.

Again, one has to experience the pure energy coming from the stage to appreciate the band at its fullest; so writing about it just doesn't do it justice.

With the venue being just a little shy of being sold-out, this was a really nice way to end the summer concert season here in Colorado. On a side note, I am happy to report that nobody got stabbed, robbed, beaten up or shot at, just in case anybody was wondering, since the last couple reports did include such non-sense.

Highlights for me this evening were definitely Cerebral Bore and Exhumed and I can't wait to see both again.



For some more pictures check HERE and to watch the interview with Corpsegrinder click HERE