That’s f*#king right… I went to the Hot Topic Summer Slaughter Tour 2008 last night at the House of Blues Sunset Strip (West Hollywood, Ca. stupid!). Before I went to the show I looked on the web for a review of the show…and, not a f*#king one! Are you stoners out the such burnouts you can’t write one f*#king sentence about the show? Well ya know what… Here’s Speedypete’s official review for of Summer Slaughter 2008 at The House of Blues on the Sunset Strip.

I got to the House of Blues at around 7pm… I know!… I was late (show started at 5pm). I had to f*#king work asshole… Contrary to popular belief I don’t live in my parents basement… douchebag!

Where was I? Oh yea…

I missed the first four bands (which I was pissed about but WTF could I do?) White Chapel, Psycroptic, Aborted and Born of Osiris… Sorry guys.

As I emptied my pockets for the bouncer (who was about to frisk me) at the front of the HOB, I heard a thunderous rumble emanating from the bowels of the building… I was totally stoked! Me and my buddy walked into the show during the last song of Born of Osiris. The place was pretty packed wall to wall Hardcore Metal Heads…mostly young males… this place would give the Oscar Meyer factory a run for it’s money! So I grabbed a beer and enjoyed the last song Born of Osiris played…. They kicked ass, and I was about to explode with anticipation for the bands to come!

Here a taste of Born of Osiris!

Next band up was Despised Icon. I have heard their songs on XM Liquid Metal, and dug their style, so I was stoked to check them out live. They came out swinging with their hit song (lol) “Fugitive Monologue”. They have such great crushing grooves mixed with breakdowns that make you want stomp your boot through the f*#king floor! I felt bad for these guys, because they kicked ass and the audience wasn’t as responsive as the band wanted. These dudes did their duty and rocked hard!… f*#k those pussies in the pit that were too cool to mosh! I give Despised Icon the big thumbs up! Good job boys… I’ll keep an eye out for you in the future.

The next band up was the one I wanted to see the most… The Faceless. These guys are music school dropouts that shred as good as any… but better than most. Hailing from Encino Ca. they were formed by guitarist Michael Keene and bassist Brandon Giffin. The dude that sold their merch (T-shirts you dummy) told me that Michael has been playin’ since the age of 2 (when I was 2, I was sh*tting in my diapers). He also told me that the band has a new album coming out in October of this year called “Planetary Duality”. So keep an eye out!
The Faceless opened up with the 1st song off their last album “An Autopsy”. The audience exploded with energy and the mosh pit went into spin cycle. The band sounded great and played with surgical precision. Before I knew it the singer apologizes and says that the show was behind schedule and this was their last song (I think they only played four songs). Me and my buddy we’re pretty pissed off, but we realized that The Faceless wasn’t the headliner (they have no say in the matter). I’ve been there before with my band touring in Europe. Bottom line was that they were great! They were as good live, as on the album. I will see them again next time they play in town, and I strongly recommend you to do the same.

And then there was Cryptopsy…
Cryptopsy took the audience and brought them straight down to hell! This band was the antithesis of Death Metal… pure evil reincarnate. I had not heard these guys before, but they made a pretty big impression. They definitely took control of that audience and stirred up the pit. I think at one point the pit split down the middle, the crashed back together like something out of the movie 300. These guys were fun to watch and I’ll definitely check out their new album The Unspoken King.

The next band was the ever popular Polish Death Metal Legends… Vader! There were a lot of people there to see Vader. When the curtain came up the crowd went f*#king nuts! These guys rocked with the experience of a band that has been around for 20 years… oh, they have been together for 20 years. Drummer Dariusz “Daray” Brzozowski, was sick…he played lightning fast and he looked like he didn’t even break a sweat. I have heard these guys before on XMLM and they seem to be the work horses of the Death Metal world. They kicked ass with the audience, and if you are a fan of theirs… you won’t be disappointed in their performance.

Next up was Kataklysm… and they were f*#king beautiful (but not in a gay way). These guys stepped it up to the next notch of mayhem and hard hitting brutal Death Metal. First of all they stepped up the production of their act. They had some kick ass lighting, smoke effects and the mix was far superior to all the other bands. Lead vocalist Maurizio Iacono took control of that room and never gave it back! I wasn’t expecting them to be as sick as they were. This band just has one guitar, yet there sound was huge and powerful. I am now a fan of Kataklysm, and will check them out if they come back. Their new CD is called Prevail, and I will definitely be purchasing this… you should too if you know what’s good for ya.. ya prick!

Finally it was time for The Black Dahlia Murder. I am a fan of these guys, and they were who I came to see. I was stoked to see these guys, and was expecting a lot from these dudes! First of all I would like to say that the dude selling T-shirts for Black Dahlia Murder was a douche. There were 4 or 5 guys (besides me) trying to buy a shirt from from this dude, and this dude ignored everybody like a DMV employee. He stood there and bullsh*tted with some chick that was standin’ there with him instead of selling shirts to the line of people standing in front of him. Whatever dude!
The Black Dahlia Murders came on stage and the energy that the crowd generated made the building shake. Now I sorry guys (in the band) but the music was so f*#king loud that you couldn’t even hear what song was being played. I know this sounds gay, but f*#k you! I have played music and performed live more than half my life… so I can comment on this sh*t!!! I know what the Sound Mixer was trying to do… step it up a notch. Well you know what? The sound suffered. It was still good to see these guys perform and the lead guitarist was f*#king amazing (great guitar sound). Drummer Shannon Lucas was lightning fast with solid precision and amazing rhythms. I was impressed by the performance of the Black Dahlia Murder, but the sound killed it for me… Louder’s not better! This wont stop me from seeing them in the future. I am a fan, and I’ll give them another chance. ROCK!

Here’s their new video “Everything Went Black”

Over all The Summer Slaughter 2008 was “The Most Extreme Tour of the Year”. This show was worth every penny, and if your a Hardcore Metal fan you need to see it! HOLD UP THE HORNS BITCH!!!!!!!!

Tags: Aborted, An Autopsy, Born of Osiris, Cryptopsy, Death Metal, Despised Icon, Drummer Shannon Lucas, Fugitive Monologue, headliner, HOB, Hot Topic, House of Blues, KATAKLYSM, Liquid Metal, Maurizio Iacono, mosh, official, performance, pit, Prevail, Psycroptic, review, song, Sound Mixer, Summer Slaughter Tour 2008, Sunset Strip, The Black Dahlia Murder, The Faceless, Vader, White Chapel, XM

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 13th, 2008 at 3:00 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.