The Foundation of Summer Slaughter

A Look at the Supporting Local Acts

Summer Slaughter in Cleveland 7/31/2016
By: George Archibald

Ahhh… it’s that that time again where metal enthusiasts from Cleveland and the surrounding areas make their way to the Agora Ballroom to attend Summer Slaughter. This year played hosts to the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Nile, Suffocation, After The Burial, Carnifex and many more.

However, this story isn’t about the main stage acts, but more about the guys who are still in the trenches , hoping one day for the main stage and all the glory that comes along with increased fame and touring as national acts.

This is about the local supporting talent, the guys who sweat and work their asses off selling tickets, putting in hours practicing just to have the perfect set. The guys doing tons and tons of face to face meet and greets with people, just to get them interested in seeing their bands.

The first band I met up with to interview were Youngstown, Ohio natives Trephine. They are a new rendition of an older band, who just recently changed their name and are working on a new album. I opened the interview by letting the band members know how I appreciated and saluted their efforts for putting on a great show.

I started our conversation by telling them that every band  starts from the bottom at one time or another and have been in their situation…. 2nd  stage purgatory.

George Archibald:  Hey guys how’s it going? Do you want to introduce yourselves?

Andrew Lenhart:  Andrew Lenhart, I sing for Trephine.
Rickie  Palmer: Rickie Palmer, I play guitar for Trephine, from good ‘ole Youngstown Ohio.

George Archibald: I saw online that you are working on a new album. What is the title of the album and when can people check it out?
Andrew Lenhart: It’s going to be called ‘Nightcap of Endless Suffering.’ I am going in for vocals at the end of August. About a month afterwards we should have everything pressed and ready to release.
Rickie Palmer: We are looking to do a November release with our friends in KPhit.

George Archibald: How was the recording process? Also, what was your favorite part of recording?
Andrew Lenhart: The recording process was absolutely incredible, we worked with Noah at Brainchild. Noah is the man, he knows his shit. Working with him was very painless. My favorite part has to be the drum tracking, drums can make or break an album. We went with a completely natural drum sound that we all are really stoked about. Everything sounds killer, even though we are still in the mid-stages of recording. I highly recommend working with him.

George Archibald: Where do you guys draw your inspiration for the themes and/or lyrics of your music?
Andrew Lenhart: Lyrically, I draw from movies that have really inspired me and also current events that have pissed me off. Pretty much every day shit.

George Archibald: So who are you guys excited to see and/or support on Summer Slaughter?
Andrew Lenhart: I am a big fan of Carnifex and can’t wait to see them. Rickie and the other guys are all about Suffocation.
Rickie Palmer: We are here for Cannibal Corpse, Nile, Suffocation and Revocation. There is an incredible amount of local support this year. From top to bottom, it’s just a stacked bill. I am looking forward to seeing everybody.

George Archibald: What’s next for Trephine after Summer Slaughter?
Andrew Lenhart: Right now we are finishing up the album and working on getting it out. As well as getting new merch and just trying to expand the band. We just changed the name a few months ago so it’s like a rebirth. We are just looking to get a whole new fresh start, get out there and get to as many people as possible.

George Archibald: Anything I’m leaving out?
Trephine: Come to a local show and support your local music scene.

The next band I got to meet up with was the band that hails from Columbus, Ohio, Bless the Child. This seasoned band was asked to return to support Summer Slaughter, this is their third time being on the festival line-up.

George Archibald: Hey what’s up guys, why don’t you introduce yourselves?
Bless the Child: Mark Evans, bass player and Jordan Slack, guitar player for Bless the Child.

George Archibald: So what brings you guys to Summer Slaughter?
Bless the Child: This is the third year we have been asked to come back to play Summer Slaughter. Being from Columbus, it is super awesome to be asked to come back and play with everybody here. It’s always a good time up here in Cleveland.

George Archibald: Having played Summer Slaughter 3 times, what is your favorite show out of the three shows you have played?
Bless the Child: Two years ago we got to play with Morbid Angel which was awesome, but this year is like the bucket list for the band. Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse are like the legendary bands. This is definitely the year we are most excited about, we’re really pumped about this show.

George Archibald: Why don’t you let everyone know a bit about the band?
Bless the Child: Bless the Child is a death metal, deathcore outfit. We are going on our eighth  year as a band. We have two records and multiple music videos out. We also have several tours under our belt. Our newr EP is about ready to go. Currently we are searching for a full time vocalist. We are having a hard time finding someone who can commit to touring. The members of Bless the Child are fans of heavy music and we try to have fun writing. Hopefully people will enjoy it as much as we do.

George Archibald: Outside of the album coming out, what is next for Bless the Child?
Bless the Child: There are several mini-tours stacked out till the end of November. So after Summer Slaughter, we will be out with a few other bands and during that time we are hosting tryouts for a new vocalist. Bless the Child will be hitting the road with From Another Planet for five or six dates, then hooking up with Under the Combine and doing a short tour with them as well. Then we will be going up the East coast hitting Maryland, New York City and Richmond, Virginia.

George Archibald: Anything you guys would like to add?
Bless the Child: We appreciate everybody who has come out to a show, throwing up the horns and saying hello. Stay metal and look out for our new shit coming out. Check out all of our social media stuff. Also, if you are an awesome singer and want a job, please contact us and we will set up an audition.

After talking to Bless the Child, I got to talk briefly with From the Hellmouth, a band based in Cleveland, Ohio. The members of  From the Hellmouth are all experienced musicians who have frequented the Cleveland music scene. From the Hellmouth aspire to move out from the local scene and be more of a touring fixture throughout the United States and Europe.

George Archibald: Hi, let’s start out by everyone introducing themselves.
From the Hellmouth: I am Noah from From the Hellmouth.

George Archibald: Who are you here to support and/or see on the Summer Slaughter line-up today?
From the Hellmouth: We came out to play and this is actually our second show with this line-up. I came to see Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation and I like Krisiun.

George Archibald: Tell me a little about From the Hellmouth.
From the Hellmouth: The band started last year and we released a record on our label, called ‘Redefining Darkness Records.’ It’s a self-titled, five song EP. Alan Cassidy from The Black Dahlia Murder came to play drums on the record and finally I put together a band. I gathered up a couple guys I know from the scene that have been around for a long time and that’s about it.

George Archibald: How was the recording process of the EP?
From the Hellmouth: It went really smoothly. I run the studio, so I recorded everything myself. Alan learned all the songs in a couple of weeks, then came down and tracked it all. I have been slowly putting everything together over the last year. It’s a bit of brutal death metal, as well as some slam elements, but mostly just brutal death metal stuff.

George Archibald: What’s next for From the Hellmouth?
From the Hellmouth: We would like to get out of the country to play, that’s the goal. Right now we are getting warmed up and putting some shows together. Then, we are going to put out another record around the end of this year hopefully. I would like to get down to South America and then move over to Europe sometime next year. We’ve all been in bands for ten plus years and are trying to get away from the local band scene, kind of striving for more.

George Archibald: Anything else you want to add?
From the Hellmouth: Stay metal and hail Satan.

The last band I got to interview are ten-year seasoned veterans to the Cleveland Metal Scene. If there was a huge show going on they were sure to be on the bill. My old band has played with them numerous times over the years, the band is Cleveland’s own Cholera.

George Archibald: Hey guys, let’s start out by introducing yourselves.
Cholera: Jesse Greenfeather, drums, Bill Zakovec, vocals, Andy Evensen, vocals and Matthew Giannakos, guitar.

George Archibald: So who are you guys out here to see and/or support on Summer Slaughter?
Cholera: Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse, Ingested, After the Burial, Carnifex and Revocation, those guys shred.

George Archibald: Tell everyone a little about your band and what you guys have going on.
Cholera: Cholera have been a band since 2006. We have had numerous line-up changes since our beginning, but this current lineup has been together over the last 2 years. We are currently writing a new album now. We put an album out last year, but not a lot of people know about it, because then we went by the band name Cholera AD. We have recently changed our name back to Cholera. We also just had our ten-year anniversary show at The Foundry in Lakewood, Ohio. A lot of people came out to the show to see us. Being ten years strong and still going, it means a lot that people still care.

George Archibald: Tell us about this new album.
Cholera: We have one song tracked so far. We are trying to produce as much solid material as possible. We want to have as few filler tracks as possible on this new album. We are going on ten years and want to come back hitting everything strong and hard. We are also touching on our roots and where we started. Some of the new stuff is fast and heavy, you are going to want to mosh to. Cholera is bringing back the blast beats and the pig squeals as well.

George Archibald: So what’s next for Cholera?
Cholera: Next Friday we are playing The Foundry with Zao. Then after that we will be focused on writing and recording.

These bands were only a portion of the supporting locals acts on Summer Slaughter. Each band is unique in their own way, but collectively important to the show. Without these guys putting in the time and effort, there would be no new generation of music to follow. Good luck to all of you guys and in your endeavors. I hope I get to run into you all again.

About Author

George Archibald

See author's posts