August 25th, 2017 at The Majestic Theatre in downtown Detroit, Michigan marked the eve of the last day of the Summer Slaughter tour. A day of brutality and endurance was tested among 11 bands and an eager crowd.
I wasn’t sure how an event like this would go. Being Summer and inside for most of the day, I was prepared for it to be a hot, sweaty, and exhausting event, but the weather wasn’t bad as the inside of the Majestic Theatre was comfortable. I missed the first band when I got there. Dead Church was the local band who had kicked off the festivities, followed by a contest winner – Killing Khaos – who are based out of Ohio. The crowd, who had nicely filled the venue even at an early start, the show started at 2:30 in the afternoon. The bands were ready to rock, and rock they did.
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AngelMaker was the third band up, and the first to catch my attention as they had two singers and an abundance of energy. I enjoyed the slow, brooding moments of the songs, it made me feel like being on a roller coaster that gets pulled up to the top of the hill and then dropped off into the chaos as they ripped and roared through heavy beats. The vocal play between the two lead singers was electric, and the hair-whipping was plentiful as they headbanged along.
Lorna Shore followed up, and I don’t remember much except for the very dark lighting. Betraying The Martyrs brought a lot of energy to the stage and it flowed right out to the audience. With lots of jumping and the first wall of death of the evening taking place, the crowd was very much still along for the mayhem.
Rings of Saturn played next; I love their artwork on their merch, but unfortunately they had run low on t-shirts and weren’t selling any. At least that’s what the lead singer told me. And I’m not sure what the meaning was behind the lead singer putting his index and middle finger together at the tip to bend his fingers and then pointing out to the crowd. I liked the video game and space influences this band used though.
Origin was another band with great energy, and noticeably had a lot of followers in the audience. The crowd was just eating it up and enjoying every bite, even following the whims of the lead singer to create the night’s second and last wall of death. There may have been others that I missed, but this wall of death was more intense than the first one. It’s a hell of a sight to see humans line up on a side and run at each other with reckless abandon and start a furious mosh pit. The energy level was at a fever pitch.
Throughout the night, that energy level ebbed and flowed like a natural happening. With so much energy exerted, it was logical that during some bands sets, the crowd would be a bit lax. And sometimes, it was the bands themselves that created that lax atmosphere.
Oceano however roared through their set as lead singer Adam Warren dished out intense guttural and screaming vocals. The Faceless followed up with a set of heavy music infused with progressive undertones. The subtle nuances that The Faceless and other bands had was nice, because having several bands who sound the same playing back-to-back-to-back would get old quick. It’s good to have variety throughout the evening to keep things fresh.
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Dying Fetus was the last band on before the headliner. This three-piece out of Maryland was touring in support of their latest album released on June 23rd this year titled ‘Wrong One To Fuck With’, and put on a brutal performance.
At this point in the evening, the energy seemed a little sapped. It had been a long day full of rip-roaring intensity. I jokingly said to a fellow photographer before headliner The Black Dahlia Murder came on, “so shit’s about to get real?” I anticipated the crowd would continue the electric chaos, but I wasn’t prepared for the barricade to get moved up making the photo pit about half the size. And the amount of crowd surfing that erupted when The Black Dahlia Murder hit the stage had me and the other photographers bobbing and weaving as security moved in to catch the surfers. The Black Dahlia Murder, who truly was home as they originate from nearby in Waterford, Michigan, had the love from the crowd immediately and for the rest of the show. With a new album titled ‘Nightbringers’ to be released this year on October 6th, the fans had new material to mosh to. With over sixteen years of annihilation and eight albums to their credit, The Black Dahlia Murder has built a loyal fanbase that’ll keep the rock going for a long time.
Summer Slaughter was indeed an intense event. It’s safe to say that those in attendance left being very happy with the show. The flow of the show went well too, as the set changes were quick to help keep downtime to a minimum, but just long enough time for people to use the bathroom or go out for a smoke. Any fan of heavy metal and death metal should get to next year’s Summer Slaughter tour as it features some of the best established and up and coming talent in this genre of extreme music.
Start preparing now fellow metal heads: get out to them other shows and get those necks in shape with plenty of headbanging so that – when it comes to an eight-hour Summer Slaughter show – you’ll be ready to rock all night long!
Also check out our photo gallery here!