The annual edition of The Slaughter Tour is upon us and we are stoked! Not every one was thrilled when the lineup was announced mind you, as the tour had previously been a beacon of death metally goodness, and now it is a more diverse affair. As the ever-shifting musical landscape continues to evolve in the place of the deathcore bands were growing accustomed to seeing, now the prog and djent bands have fully taken hold of the tour. It is not a completely unwelcome change, but there are bound to be some who will grouse about the bands, no matter who plays unless Necrophagist shows up.

This year The Dillinger Escape Plan is headlining and they are bringing their own style of insanity to the tour, that is bound to breed a whole new level of craziness from the crowd. Animals as Leaders and Periphery are neck in neck in the new prog metal/djent category, depending on who you talk to. Both bands that have some inter-connected history, but they are not quite rivals. Each will deliver a lot of oohs and ahhs from the jazz-hands crowd. Norma Jean seems like the oddball of the tour musically, but they always rock out live. Cattle Decapitation and Aeon are the bands that please the troo death metal kids the most. Breaking up those bands are the geniuses in The Ocean, whom are poised to blow minds, with material from their recently released album Pelagial (Metal Blade). Another band with a new record coming out soon, is Revocation who always tear it up live. Rounding things out is tech death champs Rings of Saturn and Thy Art is Murder, plus some other special guests depending on your city. We’ll check back in with some interviews from the tour and a full report next month!