SUMMER SLAUGHTER

w/ Necrophagist, Dying Fetus, Aborted, The Faceless, A Million Dead Birds Laughing

The Corner Hotel – Melbourne, 17th March, 2009.

***Click here for more photos***

When Summer Slaughter was announced to be visiting Australia throughout March, it was rightly anticipated to be the biggest metal line-up the country has ever seen – bringing 4 international bands that hadn’t before set foot on Australian soil. This poor fan would have missed out entirely, were it not for a lucky sequence of events leading to a place on the door, courtesy of Soundworks Touring and Metal Obsession. I was fortunate enough to enter the Corner Hotel in Richmond shortly after doors were opened around 7:30. Fans towards the end of the line however were not so lucky, with some missing out completely on the first 2 acts. I am unsure how this oversight in planning was able to occur, but needless to say there was at least a handful of disgruntled fans who felt ripped off by it.

Local quartet ‘A Million Dead Birds Laughing‘ opened the night sporting their usual black shirt and white tie ensemble. Their own brand of technical grind let everyone in the venue know that this was not an evening for the faint of heart. Landing the opening spot by winning a recent battle of the bands, AMDBL gave their most energetic and tight performance since hitting the live scene in only December of last year. Even though not all were through the doors, they still gave everything they had; leaving fans pummeled by deep-bass kicks from the staple drum kit.

After a quick changeover, the first international act, ‘The Faceless‘ took to the stage. After a rough start with a crowd-favourite ‘An Autopsy’, there was not a bad word to be said about their performance. This was the American band’s first time out of their home country, and Australian fans couldn’t have been happier to see them. Drummer Lyle Cooper handled the samples for the act; an impressive feat considering the intensity of their music. Lead guitarist and driving force behind the band Michael Keene delivered perfect backing vocals and flawless solos from his electric green guitar. The Faceless closed their blistering set with ‘The Ancient Covenant’, a popular track off their latest album ‘Planetary Duality’.

The next band to grace the stage was ‘Aborted‘ from Belgium. While I haven’t heard a lot of their material, it must be said that they delivered a lot of energy to the crowd. Vocalist and founding member Sven de Caluwé ceaselessly demanded moshing, circle pits, and horns from the audience. He also attempted a ‘Wall of Death’, which may have been more suitable at a ‘Lamb of God’ show. They were certainly not the tightest on the bill, but this did not stop present fans from going their hardest for this band.

Veteran death metal act ‘Dying Fetus‘ played next, and despite stepping upstairs during the changeover, I caught the majority of their lengthy set. The three-piece surpassed all my expectations, playing very well and seeming to please a lot of old-school death metal fans in the audience. The band produced a very solid sound for only 3 members, and the dual vocal attack from guitarist John Gallagher and bassist Sean Beasley helped this greatly. Drummer Trey Williams played exceptionally tight, delivering flawless gravity blasting and even standing up a couple of times during their set to rev up the crowd. A slight technical hitch during one song left Beasley without vocals, though this was quickly rectified and didn’t detract too much from their performance. Not being overly familiar with their work, I couldn’t say a lot about their music in general, but some familiar tracks such as ‘Pissing in the Mainstream’ and ‘Kill Your Mother / Rape Your Dog’ made it worth my while.

Last, but certainly not least, were ‘Necrophagist‘, and being a fan for quite some time I pushed my way to the third row for their set. After a few chants for lead guitarist Muhammed Suiçmez, the whole band finally walked onto the stage to deafening roars of approval. All of the bands on the bill were tight, but none as much as Necrophagist, who blasted and soloed their way through 45 minutes without any notable musical or technical failings. Suiçmez spoke briefly about their new album due out in October of this year before playing ‘The Stillborn One’, a track from their most recent release ‘Epitaph’. Not spending time in the pit for any of the other bands, I can’t compare, but Necrophagist definitely left a lot of people battered and bruised by the time they were finished. A few fans were disappointed by Necrophagist’s omission of ‘Seven’ from their set list, but all seemed highly impressed by the headlining band, who have gathered a large and diverse following down under; even meeting with fans and taking photos before the doors opened.

Even with 5 metal bands, Summer Slaughter in Melbourne followed its schedule very well, and the whole night left me really impressed. Despite minor technical difficulties and what I thought was a poor choice of venue for such a well-known line-up, ‘Soundworks’ and ‘Inpress’ delivered an enjoyable evening for a diverse crowd of Melbourne metal fans. We can only hope that the success of this event will lead to more such tours in the future.

Reviewed by Elliott Sansom
Photos by Brendan Amos

Thanks to Dysie @ Soundworks Touring for the passes.