Every single article written about Slaughter to Prevail starts the same: an awkward fence-sitting diatribe wherein the writer tries to circumvent whatever hostility that’s going to enter the comments section and a desperate attempt to avoid having a definitive opinion out of fear of upsetting either side. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, Slaughter to Prevail‘s all-star UK tour continued in Manchester with support from Dying Fetus, Suicide Silence and Annotations of an Autopsy.
First up was an old favourite from back in the MySpace days: Annotations of an Autopsy. If you were going to deathcore shows in the late 2000s and early 2010s then you’ll remember these guys, the genuine article and a band more than worthy of a storied career that just didn’t quite happen. The mix isn’t brilliant but it’s still good to hear ‘Welcome to Sludge City’ again, and it’s cool to see Annotations back in the fold and in such a large venue, even if it was just for 15 minutes.
Next up was Suicide Silence, a legend of deathcore and a firm supporter of the new school. There’s a much better mix in play and the serrated guitar tone cuts through the bombastic blast beats of Ernie Iniguez with ease. Chris Garza was sadly missing from this tour but the band was still firing on all cylinders and delivered a stellar but brief show.
Eternal deathcore classics like ‘No Pity for a Coward’ and the sludgy slow burn of ‘Disengage’ made for a killer collection of violent breakdowns. A phenomenal mix made this a highlight of the night. It was also really nice to hear vocalist Hernan Hermida shouting out Mitch Lucker after ‘You Only Live Once’. There are some band members that become inextricable from a band’s legacy and that definitely applies to Mitch, may he rest in peace. Having never seen Suicide Silence before, this was a fantastic introduction and set a high bar for the rest of the night.
Shortly after the YMCA intro (yes, that happened), Dying Fetus delivered a frenetic and frenzied experience. Beatdown-style rager ‘In the Trenches’ opened the set with violence, and it was clear that this was a set for the advanced death metal fan. A bloody affair had begun and few people in the venue were safe as some unlucky individual was dragged out on a stretcher after being knocked out in the pit. Luckily, this was the only instance of this that I saw, but RAMzine wishes them a speedy recovery.
Tracks like ‘Unbridled Fury’ and ‘Wrong One to Fuck With’ act as psychotic primal screams of aggression that help turn the audience into a wild legion of frenzied apes intent on causing as much chaos as possible. 30 minutes is the perfect length for this set: just enough to go crazy to but not enough to become monotonous, although it was getting close. It was a brilliant introduction to standard death metal for a large chunk of the crowd who were only here for breakdowns and brees. Despite being a three-piece, there was a massive and devastating sound full of grotesque madness with bangers like ‘Cesspool of Vermin’.
After an extended break and a massive stage build, Slaughter to Prevail came on to rapturous applause. At this point, every meathead “everything is woke” type is expecting me to call this set the best thing ever and every rainbow hair colour Twitter denizen is expecting me to call this the worst thing to happen to music since (insert literally anything), but the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
The reality of Slaughter to Prevail is that they really aren’t the greatest band in existence. They just happen to do a lot of flashy things well. Alex Terrible‘s vocals are impressive and his stage presence is pretty solid, but there’s not much outside of the alligator vocals and chest beating. The stage setup and pyrotechnics do a lot of lifting. If you haven’t been to many shows of this magnitude, then it’s easy to be caught up in it.
Tracks like ‘Viking’ and ‘American Grizzly’ have all the power live that they do on record, and a solid mix really helps solidify just how much sonic weight these tracks carry. If you just want a solid punch in the jaw then Slaughter to Prevail are a decent choice, but it’s all a bit surface level. There’s absolutely a place for that. The spectacle is impressive and the stage presence is intense, so if you just want an hour of fire and brutality then this is the show for you. If you’re after a deeper experience of deathcore, perhaps consider this a decent starting point.
You could tell that at some point people discovered in real time that deathcore wasn’t for them as the crowd started to thin slightly. The die-hards were here to stay as the absolute savagery of tracks like ‘Bratva’ and ‘Baba Yaga’ filled the stage and the wall of death refused to be shut down. Security did their best but it was an overwhelming and scatterbrained show, which unfortunately led to some people receiving minor injuries. It’s a deathcore show, though, so you can expect a few boo boos.
Slaughter to Prevail are now a spectacle band and their headline slot at Bloodstock will be a crowd pleaser. If it’s not your bag then you’ll have plenty of time to go back to camp, have a beer, fill your pockets with beans and get ready for Cryptopsy (which will also rip). This bill was a meal ticket for a lot of the bands on it, and say what you will about Alex and company, they helped platform a great collection of bands and introduced them to a whole new wave of fans. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
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