The Summer Slaughter Tour

The Summer Slaughter Tour is an annual heavy metal music tour held every year since 2007. It originated in North America in 2007 and has toured in Canada in 2008, Europe in 2008, and Australia and New Zealand in 2009. Billed as "The Most Extreme Tour of the Year", Summer Slaughter has earned a reputation as being one of the few summer tours to cater exclusively to fans of extreme forms of metal music. Starting in 2012, Summer Slaughter began to add more progressive metal bands to their lineups, seeing Between the Buried and Me co-headline with Cannibal Corpse. Periphery also played Summer Slaughter 2012, and came back during Summer Slaughter 2013, along with progressive metal bands Animals as Leaders and The Ocean. The focus on progressive metal that year was controversial and many people were "into" heavy metal music, and death metal focused lineups returned in 2014, seeing Morbid Angel headline.

2007
Headliner: Supporting bands:
 * Necrophagist
 * Decapitated
 * Cephalic Carnage
 * Cattle Decapitation
 * The Faceless
 * As Blood Runs Black
 * Arsis
 * Ion Dissonance
 * Beneath the Massacre
 * Daath (June 3–10)

Tour dates

2008
Headliner: Supporting bands:
 * The Black Dahlia Murder
 * Kataklysm
 * Vader
 * Cryptopsy
 * The Faceless
 * Despised Icon
 * Aborted
 * Born of Osiris
 * Psycroptic
 * Whitechapel

Tour dates:

2008 (Canada)
Headliner: Support bands:
 * Necrophagist
 * Brutal Truth (Toronto only)
 * Dying Fetus
 * Beneath The Massacre
 * Into Eternity
 * Neuraxis
 * Whitechapel
 * Veil of Maya
 * Divinity
 * Common Grave

Tour dates

2008 (Europe)
Headliner: Supporting bands:
 * Suicide Silence
 * As Blood Runs Black
 * Abigail Williams
 * Born of Osiris
 * Annotations of an Autopsy
 * The Berzerker

Tour dates

2009 (Australia/New Zealand)
Headliner: Supporting bands:
 * Necrophagist
 * Dying Fetus
 * Aborted
 * The Red Shore (withdrew)
 * The Faceless
 * Dawn of Azazel (New Zealand only)
 * Ulcerate (New Zealand only)

Tour dates

2009
Headliners: Supporting bands:
 * Necrophagist
 * Suffocation (until 7/3 but also played 7/19)
 * Behemoth (replaced Suffocation on 5, 6 and 7 July)
 * Darkest Hour
 * Winds of Plague
 * Dying Fetus (until 7/14)
 * Born of Osiris
 * Origin
 * After the Burial
 * Beneath the Massacre
 * Blackguard
 * Decrepit Birth (second half of tour only June 28 – July 20)
 * Ensiferum (second half of tour only June 28 – July 20)

Tour dates:

2010
Headliner: Supporting bands:
 * Decapitated
 * The Faceless
 * All Shall Perish
 * The Red Chord
 * Veil of Maya
 * Decrepit Birth
 * Cephalic Carnage
 * Carnifex
 * Animals As Leaders
 * Vital Remains

Tour dates:

2010 (Mexico)
Headliners
 * Job for a Cowboy

Support bands
 * Winds of Plague
 * The Faceless
 * The Acacia Strain
 * As Blood Runs Black
 * Veil of Maya

Tour dates

2011
Headliners: Supporting bands:
 * The Black Dahlia Murder
 * Whitechapel
 * Darkest Hour
 * Six Feet Under
 * Dying Fetus
 * The Faceless (Texas dates only)
 * As Blood Runs Black
 * Oceano
 * Fleshgod Apocalypse
 * Powerglove
 * Within the Ruins

Tour dates:

2012
Headliners: Supporting bands:
 * Cannibal Corpse
 * Between the Buried and Me
 * The Faceless
 * Periphery
 * Veil of Maya
 * Job for a Cowboy
 * Goatwhore
 * Exhumed
 * Cerebral Bore

Tour dates

2013
Headliner: Supporting bands:
 * The Dillinger Escape Plan
 * Animals As Leaders
 * Periphery
 * Norma Jean
 * Cattle Decapitation
 * The Ocean
 * Revocation
 * Aeon
 * Rings of Saturn
 * Thy Art Is Murder

Tour dates:

2014
Headliner: Supporting bands:
 * Morbid Angel
 * Dying Fetus
 * The Faceless
 * Thy Art Is Murder
 * Goatwhore
 * Origin
 * Decrepit Birth
 * Within The Ruins
 * Fallujah
 * Boreworm

Tour dates:

2014 (Canada)
Headliner: Supporting bands:
 * The Faceless
 * Rings of Saturn
 * Archspire
 * Fallujah
 * Fatality (8/14-8/20)
 * Black Crown Initiate

Tour dates:

2015
Headliner:
 * Arch Enemy

Supporting bands:
 * Born of Osiris
 * Veil of Maya
 * The Acacia Strain
 * Cattle Decapitation
 * Beyond Creation

Obscura and After the Burial were originally scheduled to appear on the tour. Obscura dropped off due to visa issues and After the Burial dropped off due to the death of their guitarist Justin Lowe.

Tour dates:

2016
Headliner:
 * Cannibal Corpse

Supporting bands:
 * Nile
 * After the Burial
 * Suffocation
 * Carnifex
 * Revocation
 * Krisiun
 * Slaughter to Prevail
 * Ingested
 * Enterprise Earth

2017
Headliners:
 * The Black Dahlia Murder
 * Dying Fetus

Supporting bands:
 * The Faceless
 * Oceano
 * Origin
 * Rings of Saturn
 * Betraying the Martyrs
 * Lorna Shore
 * AngelMaker

The Black Dahlia Murder will play their 2007 album Nocturnal in its entirety for their 10th anniversary.

AngelMaker was voted in by fans during the Summer Slaughter Poll.

Slaughter to Prevail were initially announced on the bill, but their travel plans were delayed and they could not make the tour.

2018
Headliner:
 * Between the Buried and Me

Supporting bands:
 * Born of Osiris
 * Veil of Maya
 * Erra
 * The Agony Scene
 * Allegaeon
 * Terror Universal
 * Soreption
 * Entheos

Soreption only played a few tour dates and then dropped off due to unforeseen circumstances.

2019
Co-Headliners
 * Cattle Decapitation
 * Carnifex
 * The Faceless

Support bands:
 * Rivers of Nihil
 * Nekrogoblikon
 * Lorna Shore
 * Brand of Sacrifice

The Slaughter Survivors Tour 2011 (North America)
Headliner: Support bands:
 * Conducting From The Grave
 * The Contortionist
 * Scale the Summit
 * Rings of Saturn
 * Volumes
 * Structures

Tour dates

The Slaughter Survivors Tour 2012 (North America)
Headliner: Support bands:
 * Pathology
 * Enfold Darkness
 * Fallujah
 * Fit for an Autopsy
 * Aegaeon

Tour dates

Fan-voted openers
In 2011, the Summer Slaughter Tour offered their fans the opportunity to vote on who would open the tour. The choices for 2011 were Dawn of Ashes, Revocation, Neuraxis, Conducting From The Grave, The Contortionist, Within The Ruins, Volumes, Augury, 7 Horns 7 Eyes, Rings of Saturn, and Struc/tures. Within the Ruins ultimately received the most votes and thus won the opening spot for the tour. That same year Conducting From The Grave, The Contortionist, Rings of Saturn, Volumes, and Struc/tures all toured together on what was billed as the Slaughter Survivors Tour. This tour also included Scale the Summit, who had not been part of the voting.

For the 2012 edition of the Summer Slaughter Tour, fans were once again given the chance to vote on the opening act. The choices for 2012 were Aegaeon, Battlecross, Cerebral Bore, Enfold Darkness, Fallujah, Fit for an Autopsy, Hour of Penance, I Declare War, Pathology, and Vildhjarta. The opening slot for the 2012 tour went to Cerebral Bore, and Pathology, Enfold Darkness, Fallujah, Fit for an Autopsy, and Aegaeon also joined the 2012 Slaughter Survivors Tour.

The choices for the 2013 tour were Abiotic, As They Burn, Dark Sermon, Erra, Fit for an Autopsy, Howl, Intervals, Into the Flood, King Conquer, Last Chance To Reason, My Bitter End, Nekrogoblikon, Rings of Saturn, Syqem, Soreption, Today I Caught the Plague, and Thy Art Is Murder. Thy Art Is Murder was the chosen band. However, since they were nearly tied with Rings of Saturn by a few votes, the organizers decided to put both Rings of Saturn and Thy Art Is Murder on the bill. Vektor were put on the initial ballot by their record label without the band's knowledge or approval, and upon discovering this, had to withdraw due to incompatible scheduling. The Slaughter Survivors Tour did not occur in 2013, and did not return in 2014 either.

Summer Slaughter 2014 didn't see the tour offer an opportunity to vote on openers; rather, the opener was chosen by Headbang for the Highway showcase, and Boreworm was selected. Mayhem Festival also uses the Headbang for the Highway showcase to select bands.

Most appearances at The Summer Slaughter Tour

 * The Faceless (11)
 * Dying Fetus (6)
 * Born of Osiris (6)
 * Veil of Maya (6)
 * As Blood Runs Black (4)
 * Cattle Decapitation (4)
 * Necrophagist (4)
 * Rings of Saturn (4)
 * Beneath the Massacre (3)
 * The Black Dahlia Murder (3)
 * Carnifex (3)
 * Decrepit Birth (3)
 * Origin (3)
 * Whitechapel (3)