Summer Slaughter 2014- Dying Fetus/ The Faceless/ Thy Art is Murder / Goatwhore/ Origin/ Decrepit Birth /Within the Ruins /Fallujah @ Empire 8/12/2014

I went to see the final stop of the Summer Slaughter Tour (Dying Fetus/ The Faceless/ Thy Art is Murder / Goatwhore/ Origin/ Decrepit Birth /Within the Ruins /Fallujah + locals WHEW) at Empire (a pricey $30/35).  This date was added to the end, and Morbid Angel was supposed to headline, but there was some reason why they didn't. There were a ton of friends there- Zach, Luke (thanks for the ticket bro!), Scott, Allie, Nathan w/ a J, Sean, Jason, Stacey, Miss Lindsey, Marie, Ariel, James, D'andre, Dorothy, John, Chris J., Shelly, Matt Rice, Matt C, Steve G and Danielle, and Metal Chris too!  I think that was everyone (hope I remembered everyone).

There were a lot of people there, especially for a Tuesday night! After braving the drizzle and apparently out traffic lights to get burgers, Allie, Nathan, and I made it in to the crowd of hundreds. It wasn't sold out, but it was pretty packed- probably 3-400 people (capacity is 550)?  It was crowded, hot, and smelly.  They somehow squeezed the merch for all the bands on the side, almost on top of each other.

There were apparently several local bands added, I hadn't heard about it until the day of the show, like right at Empire.  I don't know why, because it seemed to me like this massive lineup could already draw, not to mention the first band to go on about 10 minutes after doors...

Small sample of the merch. Note that the Faceless shirt... has a face

There was a ton of merch, all stacked on the side of the room- 8 bands worth of merch is a LOT.  There were songs of t-shirts ($20 for most), some CDs ($10 for many), hats, panties, and other miscellaneous items. I grabbed Within the Ruin's new album "Phenomena" after reviewing it and liking it for Shockwave Magazine.

The first band we saw was Fallujah, whom I had not seen before. I think that the band before them took longer, or there was some other issue setting up because they only had 3 songs (1 was cut, based on other reports of sets.). They had some sort of metalcore that I didn't really get a good grasp of. Not horrible, but not memorable. They had a mild crowd reaction.

Apparently they are nerds, starting their set off w/ a song about Charles Xavier

The unfortunately named Within the Ruins, who I was interested in seeing, was 4 dues and a laptop.  It was a bit odd but Amaranthe and other bands have had the similar set up.  The sound guy was on point for them tonight, tho, because they sounded way better than Fallujah.  They played a couple songs from their new one(which is apparently about comic characters- heroes and villains - the two they played were about Professor X and the Joker), which I was most familiar with. I thought these Djentlemen were pretty good, tho the vocals were a little lost. Thankfully the synth/laptop and djenty guitars were not lost. They were reminiscent of Tesseract but with 'core vocals and less flowing (and more brutal).  I overall enjoyed them.  Also of note there were a couple stage divers during their set.

At about that time, John arrived and I let him in and we socialize, so I  missed Decrepit Birth.  I apparently had seen them open for Obituary and I had thought there were not remarkable.  I would have liked to hear them again, but oh well.  I think Nathan w/ a J said they were good.

Origin was bringing the energy, but pissed off the sound guy or something

A lot of people were there by the time Origin came on.  The crowd were really moving and  energetic for the cacophony that they brought. I wasn't able to tell any of the songs apart, and the technical aspect that I know they have was not apparent with the mix. The undecipherable vocals were also killing me, but they brought the most energy so far.  I liked  them on record better, but maybe it was the sound guy? I would want to see them again, at a different venue probably.

Goatwhore demands that the goat boy crowd surf

Goatwhore was on next. I think they've undergone a transformation from a black metal(ish) sound to a more death metally sound. The crowd was pretty into them and there was moshing, oh the moshing!  There was even the same kid from last week's Led Zeppelin2 show in the same goat costume, made it up on stage and was promptly made to stage dive into a crowd surf.  But I wasn't familiar with them. I thought they were pretty entertaining, reminded me of a slower Skeletonwitch, but I don't think I'd go out of my way to see them.

Thy Art is Moronic band names

The horribly named Thy Art is Murder seemed to be popular with the crowd on the floor- as the whole pit was moving. The only thing I could really hear were breakdowns.  I thought there were just loud and a bit boring. I could not tell you how many songs they played.

The Faceless, I think

I missed much of The Faceless for some reason. This was disappointing because a few of my friends have raved about their progressive death metal whatever mix. I do recall that the songs that I did hear from them sounded a bit of a mess (sound guyyyy!!!).   The intricacies of what should have been some interesting (tho perhaps weird) were inaudible. I'd want to hear them again, because I was not convinced of the accolades given to them by some of my friends. Oh well.

THIS ONE IS BLARGH BLH YEAARGH

The mighty Dying Fetus was closing out the night, somehow going on right on time, and crisply ending at 11:55. Their criminally short 35 minute set seemed like a robbery, but I loved every minute of it.  Horrible vocals? check. Awesome riffs? check. Ridiculous pit? CHECK. The last times I saw them they were great.  I was disappointed that we didn't hear the great "Kill Your Mother, Rape Your Dog."  The crowd was going ape, and I believe they were the rowdiest for these Maryland Death Metal legends! 


Overall, somehow things kept on time, and there were a lot of friends and good music there. There were some clunkers, but you can't please everyone, right?  I kind of wanted to see the locals, but I also needed some non-Empire burgers.  A great turnout, I think this would have been sold out or very close if it was on a weekend or if Morbid Angel  had played (for some reason they were not on this date).


Original times
4:30 Main Room Opens
4:40 - 5:00 Acid Deth Kvlt
5:15 - 5:35 Cop Graves
5:50 - 6:10 Boreworm

Band	Projected time	Actual
Fallujah	6:25 - 6:45	6:30 - 6:45
Within the Ruins	7:00 - 7:25	7:03 - 7:25
Decrepit Birth	7:40 - 8:05	7:46 - 8:10
Origin	8:20 - 8:45	8:33 - 8:49
Goatwhore	9:00- 9:25	9:02 - 9:30
Thy Art is Murder	9:40 - 10:10	9:45 -
The Faceless	10:25 - 11:00	?
Dying Fetus	11:20 - 11:55	11:20- 11:55

Photos

Merch

Within the Ruins

Origin

Goatwhore

Thy Art is Murder

The Faceless

Dying Fetus

Setlists (thanks doodz)

Fallujah

• Carved From Stone
• Cerebral Hybridization
• Sapphire

Within the Ruins

• Gods Amongst Men
• Invade
• I, Blasphame
• Feeding Frenzy
• Calling Card

Decrepit Birth

• ?

Origin

• Expulsion of Fury
• All Things Dead
• The Aftermath
• Portal
• Unattainable Zero

Goatwhore

• Poisonous Existence in Reawakening
• Alchemy of the Black Sun Cult
• An End to Nothing
• FBS
• Schadenfreude
• Baring Teeth for Revolt
• Apocalyptic Havoc

Thy Art is Murder

• Poisonous Existence in Reawakening
• Alchemy of the Black Sun Cult
• An End to Nothing
• FBS
• Schadenfreude
• Baring Teeth for Revolt
• Apocalyptic Havoc

The Faceless

• An Autopsy
• The Eidolon Reality
• (Shape Shifters)
• Coldly Calculated Design
• Accelerated Evolution
• The Ancient Covenant
• Legion of the Serpent
• (Hail Science)
• Hymn of Sanity
• Xenochrist

Dying Fetus

• In the Trenches
• One Shot, One Kill
• Intentional Manslaughter
• Justifiable Homicide
• Your Treachery Will Die With You
• From Womb to Waste
• Praise the Lord (Opium of the Masses)