The Summer Slaughter Tour 2019 featuring Cattle Decapitation, Carnifex, The Faceless, Rivers of Nihil and Nekrogoblikon
The Summer Slaughter Tour bills itself as “The Most Extreme Tour of the Year” and Concert Hopper was anxious to find out if that were the case as we headed down to The Masquerade in Atlanta. The lineup certainly is impressive, reading more like a smaller festival than a tour. Legends like Cattle Decapitation headlined with fast rising bands like Nekrogoblikon joining the fray as well.
Nekrogoblikon was up first and, for those who had never seen the band perform it was an awesome experience full of unexpected surprises. John Goblikon, a green goblin who serves various roles as the band’s hype man, mascot and Whiteclaw brand ambassdor (just kidding on that last part) headbangs along as the group blasts out a collection of their most popular songs. And then amidst all of the chugging riffs and bass lines, frontman Nicky Calonne asks the audience if they’re ready for some really heavy shit before heading off to sing “The Magic Spider.” For those unfamiliar, this song is a far departure from “heavy shit” but is all part of the comedic act that is Nekrogoblikon.
Next up was Rivers of Nihil who, if you’ve followed ConcertHopper for a bit, you might remember us covering during their Where Owl’s Know My Name Tour. While they didn’t have a saxophonist touring with them this go round, they still didn’t fail to impress. Vocalist Jake Dieffenbach’s guttural screams juxtaposed against the winding bass grooves of Adam Briggs and the blistering riffs from the duo of Brody Utley and Jon Topore on guitars always impresses and the band’s passion for the music and their fans was on display as usual.
The Faceless was the new band for ConcertHopper in the whole lineup as we had never heard them before. The LA-based band did not disappoint with their blistering and technical brand of metal. Snaking their way up and down the fretboards, it was interesting to take in their hybrid merging of genres within metal and there was an even a guest vocalist appearance.
Carnifex was the co-headliner for a pair of legendary metal talents who closed out the show. Having released their latest album World War X on August 2nd, the day before the show at Summer Slaughter, it appeared that both the fans and the band were excited for new music to be played live. Mixed alongside new tracks the band played many of their classics like Hell Chose Me as well, much to the delight of the crowd who showed their appreciation by moshing and crowd surfing throughout the set.
After the smoke settled from Carnifex’s set, it was time for ConcertHopper to take their place at a front row seat to a performance by a band that can be considered nothing short of legends in heavy music, Cattle Decapitation. Having played since 1996, Cattle Decapitation has become a permanent fixture who has weathered the storms of trends that comes with music. The band ripped through songs off of their current seven studio albums and also promoted songs off their forthcoming album Death Atlas which is to be released on Black Friday this year.
So, was “the most extreme tour of the year” actually what it billed itself to be? While there are certainly heavy single day concerts that consists of a lot of brutal metal acts and there are many tours with just a few bands touring, it is safe to say that there’s not another national touring show that combines so many amazing and heavy bands into one package. So yes, Summer Slaughter may very well be the most extreme tour of the year.
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