Summer Slaughter 2010 details

Surprised and disappointed at the same time.

Decapitated - Great to see them, and even though they probably won't be nearly as good as they were on the first Summer Slaughter, it'll be fun to see them.

The Faceless - Summer Slaughter is no longer Necrophagist's tour, it is now The Faceless' tour. They're perfectly fine, but Summer Slaughter should be reserved for other bands that don't get around as often as The Faceless.

All Shall Perish - Bored me the last time I saw them, but lots of people really like them, especially live. Maybe it'll be different.

The Red Chord - Heard outstanding things about their live show, but I've never been able to get into them at all.

Veil of Maya - Your run of the mill melodeath/metalcore/deathcore. Boring.

Cephalic Carnage - Could be a much better choice, but Cephalic Carnage will definitely be fun. SS needs as much grind as it can get at this point.

Decrepit Birth - Cool. Another fun band. Straight up death metal.

Carnifex - And now we see that the people behind Summer Slaughter are really reaching for strings. A trendy deathcore band. Worst band on this tour.

Animals As Leaders - Very weird. Instrumental progressive death metal. Actually not that bad, but definitely out of place at Summer Slaughter. A wasted slot.

Vital Remains - Probably the band I'm most excited about on this tour, but they're the lowest billed band. How is a legendary death metal band that's been around for 20 years that featured Glen Benton on vocals for their best albums and has ex-members from Suffocation, Monstrosity, Dying Fetus, Acheron, Incantation and Vile be billed below a couple flavor of the month "core" bands? A huge shame, hopefully the running order changes.

Dates TBA. Summer Slaughter was at the Bottleneck in Lawrence in 2007 but hasn't been back since.

Skipping Kansas: too much!

I've seen the history of places like the Static Bar and the Bottleneck back in the day. It's depressing how many awesome metal tours now skip over this part of the states.

Ensiferum recently announced a US tour with Hypocrisy (who have tapped Children of Bodom frontman Alexi Laiho as a touring guitarist!), Ex Deo (Kataklysm frontman's side band), and Black Guard (formerly: Profugus Mortis). The fantastic pagan tour 's closest KC-area date is most likely Texas or Minnesota.

The first pagan tour of 2010 was announced, yet is nowhere near us KC folk. Korpiklaani will be hitting the road with Tyr, and support will come from Swashbuckle and White Wizzard. Closest date looks to be Tulsa, OK at the Flytrap Music Hall on January 23rd.

And last but not least, Dying Fetus will not be coming here on their first tour supporting their amazing new album, "Descend Into Depravity", although more dates are rumored to be announced. Co-headlining will be The Faceless, and support will come from (on select dates): Vital Remains, Beneath The Massacre, Annotations of an Autopsy, and Enfold Darkness. Looks like the closest current date is Denver, CO on November 18th.

Marasmus -- Kansas City, MO -- March 25th, 2009

This review SHOULD say:

Vital Remains -- Kansas City, MO -- March 25th, 2009

But, as the vocalist for Marasmus stated, Vital Remains got their gear stolen.

But I got to check out some more local bands that I've been itching to hear.

The first band of the night was The Roman Holiday. At first, I thought they were heavy as hell, but it just degenerated into yet another by the numbers deathcore band. There were times when what they were doing could've been mistaken for a great death metal band, but they just filled every void they possibly could with breakdowns. 7/10

Second time seeing Decimation (the first being opening for Skeletonwitch) and they were much better this time around. Straight-up, old fashioned death metal, which was a bit like deatn n' roll at times. Amazing drummer, as always. One of the best Kansas has to offer. 9/10

Last up was Marasmus, and I'd heard good things about them. They play deathgrind, but there are some technical aspects to their music as well. The crowd wasn't into them too much, but they had a pretty good stage presence and they really deserve a bigger stage. 8.5/10

All in all, a good concert for six bucks, but I would have gladly paid triple that for Vital Remains. Here's to hoping they get their stuff back.

Riot Room Woes

Another 21+ show (ugh) at The Riot Room:

Vital Remains
Marasmus

Mar. 25, 2009

ALL AGES PLEASE