Summer Slaughter is without a doubt the best metal tour hitting the U.S. pavement this Summer. The 100% confirmed, official lineup, which MetalSucks exclusively can reveal to you now, is…

DECAPITATED
THE FACELESS
ALL SHALL PERISH
THE RED CHORD
VEIL OF MAYA
CEPHALIC CARNAGE
DECREPIT BIRTH
CARNIFEX
ANIMALS AS LEADERS
VITAL REMAINS

I mean… wow. That lineup is unbelievably sexy and unfuckwithable. There isn’t a single band I could skip seeing other than Carnifex, and we gather many of you will feel the exact same way. There’s no doubt about it: Summer Slaughter is by far the best metal tour of Summer 2010. Rockstar Mayhem is lame, Ozzsharonfest is surely gonna be lame, and “The Cool Tour” is uh, not cool at all save a couple of bands. Comments tour founder and booking agent Ash Avildsen on how Summer Slaughter fits in (or doesn’t) with this Summer’s other metal tours: “I don’t think those tours really compete for many of the same fans as Summer Slaughter. This is focused on underground extreme metal rather than mainstream metal. All of our shows also have air conditioning.” Hooray for air conditioning!

The lineup is a shade younger than in years past, but young bands like The Faceless, Veil of Maya and Animals as Leaders are ones that are more likely to appeal to an older crowd than, say, Born of Osiris would. Avildsen knows exactly what he’s doing: “It’s a much younger line up this year, rather than a lot of older bands in the headlining positions. Tickets will be much cheaper for this same reason, coming in at under $20 in advance almost everywhere with the exception of LA and NYC. Most will be $18.” And it’s cheap, too… extra bonus.

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It might only be the beginning of 2010, but artist and Monstrosity vocalist Mike Hrubovcak is already stoked to know that the metal-minded artwork he’s done for the likes of Decrepit Birth, Braindrill, Rumpelstiltskin Grinder, Aurora Borealis, and Azure Emote (another criminally underrated, Hrubovcak-fronted band) will be featured in an upcoming Hollywood production with plenty of star power to go around.

Dream House, a Universal/Morgan Creek film helmed by Jim Sheridan and starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, and Naomi Watts, will hit theaters in 2011 and has a plot that’s fitting enough for Hrubovcak’s artwork: a family (Weisz and Craig) move into a new home to find out about a brutal slaying there earlier in its history, while the neighbor (Watts) is the only person able to lend any hint that the husband who allegedly killed his wife and children there may not be dead. Not only is it great exposure for Hrubovcak — who works as a graphic designer for an “adult novelty” company by day, as an artist using oil, airbrush, and photo manipulation for some of metal’s most brutal bands (with cover art to match) by night, and still finds time to participate in Monstrosity, Vile, and a host of other projects — but it’s great for metal. Where else can metalheads hope to see artwork from gruesome metal bands at the movies?

Hrubovcak’s VisualDarkness website has a ton of samples of his past works in his portfolio to check out, but for the uninitiated, the man’s done artwork for bands like Chainsaw Dissection, Fecal God, and XXX Maniak – so you should pretty much know what to expect.

Hrubovcak took some time to talk with MetalSucks about an upcoming showcasing of some of his works, how he deals with having so much on his plate, and zombies. Oh, come on, you knew that was coming.

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…then it’s gonna be one of the awesomer releases of the spring. Check it out:

Holy shit, I love that. It’s just as awesome as the cover art for the band’s previous release, Myocardial Infraction, which has been a cornerstone of my own personal rotation ever since reader Parker Werley recommended the band to us back in January.

The Farthest Reaches comes out April 13 on the newly-formed Good Fight Music, and was produced by Zack Ohren. Ohren has produced, mixed, and/or mastered such albums as Suffocation’s Blood Oath, Decrepit Birth’s Diminishing Between Worlds, Arsonists Get All the Girls’ The Game of Life, and all three releases by All Shall Perish, so his involvement can only be a good thing.

I can’t fucking wait to hear this record. If you’re still not familiar with Son of Aurelius, get off your ass and check out their MySpace page.

-AR

After a brutal and packed weekend of Municipal Waste, Brutal Truth, Gwar, and partying, I headed to the Trocadero in Philadelphia a little late to catch half of the Vader show, unfortunately missing the first three bands [Vince caught openers The Amenta and Augury earlier on the tour. -Ed.].

Deathcore kids Rose Funeral played to a small but excited crowd. Decrepit Birth totally ripped through an amazing set, pulling classic moves like singer Bill Robinson jumping completely over the crowd right into our favorite metal head, Grim Kim Kelly. As Vader took the stage, the sea of long hairs started moving and continued to headbang through Vader’s last show in America until the Spring, when they’ll return to Philadelphia to kick off another nationwide tour. There were many thanks given out from the Vader men and as the night ended, I was thankful that I could finally go and get some sleep for the first time in days.

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Australian metal troop The Amenta are currently touring the U.S. with Polish death troop Vader as one of way too many support bands who get abbreviated 20 minute sets on the tour. Thankfully, even with only a 20 minute set, The Amenta made traveling into Manhattan on a Saturday night worth it; their powerful set was equal parts modern death metal and neo-industrial and their stage presence was captivating. Place The Amenta firmly in the “bands to watch” category.

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Now the nausea’s
In my guts
And I’m wrestling with doubt
The kind you get when your heroes
Sell you out
And as I watch the drawbridge come down
There’s mass extinction
On my mind
Human cruelty stains my thoughts jet black
I’ve got this feeling
Like things have gone too far and now we can’t get back

Here’s more fun shit that happened in the world of metal this week:

• We debuted new videos from Cradle of Filth and Arsonists Get All the Girls.
• We got exclusive tour blogs from Bison B.C.’s Dan And and Woe of Tyrants’ Chris Catanzaro.
• We spoke to members of Winds of Plague, Decrepit Birth and Born of Osiris.
• I counted down 50 things I love about Pig Destroyer, and then added a 51st.
• Ulrich Vs. Mustaine Vs. Ian and Zakk Vs. Ozzy made us laugh with glee.
• Kerry King Vs. Killswitch Engage was pretty funny, too.
• Dallas Coyle answered more of your questions.

Vince gets back from vacation tonight right around the time Repulsion take the stage, and then tomorrow, hopefully, Craig’s List will lead us to some Tool tickets. See ya Monday!

-AR

I have only nice things to say about Decrepit Birth. Their music is br00tal, their influences are fucking legendary (Vader, Suffocation, Deicide), and there isn’t a single generic breakdown on either of their records. Singer Bill Robinson was the only member of the group ready and willing to sit down for an interview at this summer’s Dirt Fest (my review here), so I took him to the only comfortable place I knew of outside of the heat: the men’s bathroom. Although the smell of tour shits filled the air, the insight Bill gave me into the band and his life-style was nothing short of inspiring. He is homeless by choice and definitely looks it, but you would be surprised to know that he is cleaner then everyone on the tour combined. Living in the terraces of Santa Cruz, CA and growing herb for a living is not really the way I pictured the front man of a death metal band. But Bill does it, and does it well. He loves it so much that he feels the band is actually a sacrifice he makes for himself, and genuinely misses being away from the field he resides in (I slept in a field once  – it wasn’t by choice, and had everything to do with Jagermeister.).

Along with Bill’s love for weed comes hatred for the police. The pigs. All of the dick-knuckles in blue who cuffed and arrested more than two dozen people that very day (seriously, waaaaaay too many people got busted with pot and open containers in the parking lot). I’m with Bill on this one. All the fucking way. As far as Decrepit Birth is concerned, recording on a new album should begin sometime in the next eight months. As for the rest of 2009, with Summer Slaughter now officially dunzo, the guys will be embarking on a tour in the fall. Be there or be square, fuckers. Read on for full details…

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So the line-up for Summer Slaughter – a.k.a. the big summer package tour that isn’t Ozzfest, Mayhem, Warped, or Sounds of the Underground (R.I.P.) – has been announced, and, pretty much as expected, it’s totally solid. Yes, there are a few bands on the bill I don’t care for (I’m looking at you, Winds of Plague), but the presence of co-headliners Suffocation and Necrophagist, plus Darkest Hour, Origin, Born of Osiris, Dying Fetus and Blackguard pretty much guarantees this will be a day (well, late afternoon at least) worth your time and money. Especially since, unlike the aforementioned summer fests, this one plays smaller venues and comes at a cheaper price.

Also kind of advantageous: you’re basically just dealing with death metal on this tour. So… you pretty much know if you’re the audience or not for this tour.

No dates yet… stay tuned for more details.

-AR

We loved Neuraxis’ 2008 release, The Thin Line Between, so much that the opportunity to have the band do an exclusive tour blog for MetalSucks was too good an opportunity to pass up. Below, check out vocalist Alexandre Leblanc’s latest entry; you can read guitarist Rob Milley’s intial entry here, Alexandre’s last entry here, and Alexandre’s review of the Oscar nominated film The Wrestler here. Enjoy!

Portland, February 6th

After a killer set, we went to the bar for a drink with Tiffany and her friends.  She has been friends with the band since their tour with Necrophagist hit Portland in 2006.  She always invites us to her place and spoils us.  Anyway, I got my drinking ticket denied because I wanted a white russian or a 7up/Southern Comfort (favorite drinks of mine), so I got a whiskey and coke… more like a glass of whiskey with a bit of coke for color.  We ended up at her place for some food, smoking (it’s Oregon after all) and eating some special cookies made just for us.  The sad thing is we have to leave by 3am for a long long ride to California.

Quote of the night: ”Wow, they barely taste like cookies.”
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So many of you have e-mailed us this week to instruct us to post news about the fact that Opeth and Enslaved are touring together that I’m fairly certain posting news about the fact that Opeth and Enslaved are touring together is a complete waste of time; I mean, clearly, everyone and their mother is already aware of this tour.

I’m not saying this isn’t an awesome package – clearly, it is – I’m just saying, you’ve all sent us the news and the tour dates, so what can we tell you that you don’t already know? How about this: we will be at the show at the Starland Ballroom in NJ, and we will be high. Actually, you probably knew that already, too.

I’m putting tour dates after the jump, although I don’t for the life of me know why.

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The Black Dahlia Murder’s latest album, Nocturnal, has been out for just about two months now, and we still can’t stop listening to it. Guess that means it’s good.

We’ll finally get a chance to hear some of that awesome material live (pleaselpay”DeathmaskDivine” pleaseplay”DeathmaskDivine” pleaselpay”DeathmaskDivine”) when the band hits the road in January on a headlining tour with 3 Inches of Blood (whose Fire Up the Blades is also pretty sweet), Hate Eternal (RU-TAN! RU-TAN! RU-TAN!), and some band we don’t know called Decrepit Birth (Hmm… wonder if their logo is completely unreadable? I’ll have to remember to look into that). Given the size of the venues the tour is hitting, I can’t imagine tickets costing more than twenty bucks or so, and that’s at least three, possibly four really good bands for your money.

Tour dates after the jump.

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