Summer Slaughter Rips Gas Monkey Live Apart!! – Dallas, TX 8/15/16

The most extreme tour of the year for the TENTH fucking time just destroyed Gas Monkey Live in Dallas, TX. Featuring an intimidating group of ten brutal bands, there was no way The Summer Slaughter Tour was going to have mercy for any fan that willingly decided to purchase a ticket and get smashed hard in the face. It had been a very, very long time since a great tour like this one was hitting the United States, and unfortunately for us in Texas, we had to make things work to see the bands on a Monday night.

I have been listening to all kinds of metal for ten years, and even though I wish I could say that I’ve attended this festival since the first edition, it’s safe to say for me that The Summer Slaughter Tour is one that I’m planning to go to until it ends.

And that’s not only because it brings us true metal bands, but also because it’s been a steady tour over the years, and a hard-working team that puts such events like this one deserves all the support to keep inviting the fans to slaughter venues across North America.

Sadly, I couldn’t get to the venue for the first hours of the show, which involved me missing kickass bands like ENTERPRISE EARTH, INGESTED, SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL, KRISIUN,  REVOCATION, and First Girl Photography wound up missing CARNIFEX, SUFFOCATION, and AFTER THE BURIAL as well. Regardless of the undesirable situation that I had to face, I was glad that many of my friends were able to enjoy their performances.

It was about time for me to finally (and mysteriously) clock out from work and rush to the venue at an Olympic record speed. A smooth transition between progressive metal and death metal, with an Egyptian touch happened. It felt amazing for sure. NILE took the stage with the right foot and also made it very clear that they’re no people to mess around with. “Sacrifice Unto Sebek” started to dominate the environment, followed by “Kafir!”.

NILE released their latest album What Should not be Unearthed last year, and among that dose of well-played death metal, “Call to Destruction” and “Evil to Cast Out Evil” completely tore apart every single body that was present.


Other tracks jammed that night included “Sarcophagus” and “Black Seeds of Vengeance”, which terminated the puzzle to destruction, courtesy of the Egyptian-inspired death metal band. NILE was definitely a tremendous live act.

The time for the final band had now arrived, and people knew that CANNIBAL CORPSE had everything it takes to musically mess with our minds and become wild beings right in front of them. With a very similar setlist from the last time when they toured with OBITUARY, CRYPTOPSY AND ABYSMAL DAWN, my favorite track, “Evisceration Plague”, immediately pumped my blood and tripled my excitement. With very few pauses between songs, “Time to Kill is Now” connected the initial song, followed by “Scourge of Iron” and “Death Walking Terror”.

A mix of gruesome riffs is what CANNIBAL CORPSE has been doing for over two decades, and it’s never painful to hear that over and over again.

People desperately started asking around for “Stripped, Raped and Strangled” without knowing that they would get those three things done to them immediately after. Five songs had already passed and the place was a complete mess, with no sight of being fixed with songs like “The Wretched Spawn” and “A Skull Full of Maggots”.

Now we’re halfway through the set and more brutal (and a few new) songs keep coming. CANNIBAL CORPSE has released exceptional albums in the past decade, which are among my favorites, but the last couple definitely bring the killer out of me.

“Kill or Become” and “Sadistic Embodiment” drained my energy completely, until my new favorite song blasted my ears with full force: “Icepick Lobotomy”…that breakdown! After 60% of the set was already complete, there was no way George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher was going to allow any of us to rest our sorry bodies before the band finished their complete special set of the tour. “I Cum Blood” and “Unleashing the Bloodthirsty” also were part of all the brutality that was already happening in the venue ten hours before.

To close the perfect night, “Make Them Suffer”, another one of my favorite songs finished crushing, followed by  final number “Hammer Smashed Face”. Yes, I lied!, “Devoured by Vermin” was the final song that completely tore apart every single soul.

Once again, CANNIBAL CORPSE showed us why they’re the most popular death metal band of all time.

After all the bands slowly tortured every single one of us, everyone seemed like they had the time of their lives. I was happy in particular because Summer Slaughter has given me the chance to reunite with very good friends for the past 4 years and listen to our favorite music. The line-up’s poster this year is freaking scary, and it’s also great because it shows us that today is such a good time to be part of the metal community and enjoy these events.

Hopefully many more days like these will keep coming, more bands will emerge, more horns up will be raised and less karate kids will come out to the streets. The Summer Slaughter Tour did its homework right: it slaughtered every single human being that dared to buy a ticket, knowing that the risk of coming out with fractured skulls was certain.

PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS FESTIVAL DIE FOR ANY PATHETIC REASON EVER. Enjoy your metal, boys and girls.

LIVE IMAGES: FIRST GIRL PHOTOGRAPHY

LIVE WORDS: THE ALCALDE