The Summer Slaughter BACKLASH is real. 

The fuck is he talking about? People hated the entire final season of Game of Thrones. The 2nd to last episode was also hated because it made zero sense in the context of the story that the show had spent 8 seasons building up. He's defeating his own argument with that analogy.

That game of thrones analogy DID NOT WORK AT ALL

Summer Slaughter and Metal Fest and the All-Stars tour gave my band opportunities and we opened up for a lot of band on those bills. It was a dream come true actually playing that main stage at the Grove of Anaheim and that was all due to the promoters. They gave us a chance cuz they saw how hard we worked. nothing but respect.

Europeans and Americans complaining about lineups and festivals when you live in Australia and lucky to see any international band every few years is eye rolling af, you guys don’t know how good you have it

I think the backlash with the line-up is not the lack of ''legacy acts'' but lack of musical variety. This upcoming Summer Slaughter leans heavy on the ''core'' side of extreme metal where line ups of the past had a solid mix of genres.

Sorry Ash but you don’t understand why everyone hated Game of Thrones 😂 great interview

People aren't mad because of the lack of legacy acts. They're mad because it's always been more on the extreme side of metal and this line up isn't.

When a tour is pitched as "THE MOST EXTREME TOUR OF THE YEAR" and the bill is dominated by metalcore bands, you should expect a substantial amount of backlash, especially when you consider the tour's past lineups.

Yeah, as others have said; it’s not that people wanted “legacy” bands, they wanted heavier bands that are either Deathcore/Deathmetal/progressive metal adjacent that historically dominated the lineup when we think of the tour. Now we get 3-4 Deathcore bands out 9, no death metal and no progressive band outside of VOM. None of the bands are “ bad” , - I like and have recently seen the many of them headline , but yeah, Chaos and Carnage is the “vibe” that Summer Slaughter historically was. The name is important because there is a vibe/genre associated with that brand even if that may not have been the point. I’m glad he came on and explained anyway and told us his goal was never to just have a really ”heavy” or “brutal” tour but to bring up rising underground acts in heavy music.

That Game of Thrones analogy died a death haha what was he even talking about?

What killed it for me was this guy’s unprofessionalism to the backlash on Instagram.

Its annoying when everyone looks at backlash and labels people as "haters". It literally feels like if you dislike anything, your reasons are automatically invalidated by people with different opinions. If you enjoy something, and someone tells you why they don't, that's not an attack. I think the reasons for criticism against this tour are pretty obvious to see. It's more of a boilerplate metalcore tour than what Summer Slaughter is known for. I haven't seen any significant number of people actually hating on Ash or throwing insults. Yeah, people are roasting and criticizing the lineup, but I don't see how that's a problem. Its completely normal to air your grievances in hopes that it influences the future product, and simply skip the show this year. Some people will just hand wave any criticism aside with stupid arguments just because they hate it when people disagree with them. Person 1: "I like this thing!" Person 2: "I think this thing sucks. Here's why:" Person 1: "You're just a hater!" Only one of these people is being toxic...

Ash is such a solid guy. He gave me a chance as an unknown promoter back in the day. I was the promoter at a venue called The House of Rock in Carteresville Ga. He sent me some really awesome shows just to give me a chance. A Day to Remember, Too Pure To Die, The Faceless, As Blood Runs Black and several others. This was before Sumerian. I really do appreciate what Ash actually did to support unknown people like me, gave me really valuable advice for no reason other than to just help me out.

He claims a tour with ‘legacy acts’ like Dying Fetus would cost $300 then continues to say Lorna Shore is larger now than the legacy bands yet they announced a massive tour and I paid less than $55.

That opening game of thrones analogy didn’t even touch why people didn’t like the series finale. So seems like he doesn’t understand anything

When past lineups had bands like Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus, Nile, Cattle Decapitation, Krisiun, The Black Dahlia Murder, Obscura, Beyond Creation, Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Origin, Decrepit Birth, Cryptopsy, Vader, Necrophagist, etc. and you come back after a 5 year absence with this weak ass lineup, you should expect backlash. Especially when you promote yourself as the most extreme tour of the year. I’m aware that plenty of said bands are already on tour or busy with other things and that’s perfectly fine. It’s not like im being forced to attend. But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see why there is backlash. But I hope it goes well and hopefully next years lineup is better.

Glad to see you’re still doing interviews; some of my favourite content!

Right off the bat he makes a game of thrones analogy and completely fails to understand the reason there was a fan backlash against that. I don’t even know what this interview is about but that sure ain’t a good start.

Went from saying "if you don't like the lineup just don't go" to "who cares if you dont like the bands, just go anyway to meet people" in the span of 3 minutes.

Dying Fetus, Full of Hell, Sanguisugabogg, Jesus Piece, etc. was $37.50 a ticket. Cattle Decapitation, Carnifex, Rivers of Nihil, etc. was $30.00. Summer Slaughter is $36.50. All ticket prices are from Pontiac Michigan. None of these bands made either tour more expensive than the other. The only difference is that Summer Slaughter hasn't sold out in my location yet. The other tours did. Edit since Morbid Angel was mentioned: Morbid Angel, Suffocation, Uada, etc. tour is $35 a ticket. How the heck did $300 get thrown out there? These are all a 1 night "festival" not Friday-Sunday.

He makes a lot of good points, about legacy bands and bigger acts being busy, or too big to book the same way, etc. And also about the gatekeeping culture... but it did come off as a little tone deaf. I'm always down to check out new bands, I found Whitechapel from that Summer Slaughter tour he mentioned when they were first to play on the Black Dahlia bill. I've seen a grip of Summer Slaughter tours, but the tours did set a standard with the bands they put on in the past. And it seems like he doesnt deny either that this current bill is wildly different from past bills. It just doesn't "feel" like a Summer Slaughter bill. It "feels" less. I'm glad its back, and I appreciate what he's done, but I'm far less interested in this tour than I ever have been for an SS tour. That's not me hating, just having an honest opinion of where its at now.

Kevin from warped tour went through the time thing and honestly, ash should pull the plug on the tour like kevin did it's super expensive to tour and the amount of available quality acts for the tour is definitely a lot less compared to previous tours, fans have chaos and carnage to go too instead anyway and judging by low ticket sales for a lot of the stops chaos and carange might not be around long term either

I actually really like the Summer Slaughter lineup! Sucks it’s not coming out my way lol. Ash and the Sumerian gang put on the best tour packages back in the day. They made my 2010s

People hate on Finns videos, but the interviews are insightful.

Dude is completely misunderstanding the backlash - it's because the tour used to have a variety of extreme metal subgenres: death/progressive/core etc. This year's lineup is almost exclusively metalcore/deathcore with almost no representation from other subgenres. No one gives a shit if Cannibal Corpse is there, but what about Frozen Soul, Sanguisugabogg, 200 Stab Wounds, Creeping Death, Gatecreeper, Blood Incantation etc.? The list could go on. Saying that Veil Of Maya is at the front of the pack right now is just delusional - that band hasn't been relevant in years. If he was serious about boosting new bands, there's an infinite amount of fresh music that would've been better for this type of tour. The tour poster LITERALLY says "The Most Extreme Tour Of The Year" - pardon the public for expecting that lmao

I mean you couldn’t just put CorpsePile, Bodybox, Peelingflesh, Snuffed On Sight, 200 Stab Wounds, Sunami if you want modern bands and fresh lineup.

This reminds me a bit of Counter Revolution 2011 here in Australia, was an all-day event in clubs. Brought everyone together.

I don’t believe him when he says tours with big legacy bands can’t happening anymore, were getting a Morbid Angel/Suffocation headlining tour and sick newer bands like Uada, Knoll, Fulci and Mortiferum opening. I don’t think people wanted huge bands, just ones that people are actually into outside of deathcore/metalcore circles.

Didnt even hear the interview because as soon as I saw his shirt, I was just playing The Shape of Punk to Come in my head.

Gideons a goofy pandering fad chasing band. They rode the Christian metalcore wave then they started playing death core/beat down with cuss words now they’re doing stuff with country. Super talented super cringe. Brat on the other hand is the secret sauce on this line up. Do not miss their set. Shit slams super hard and they aren’t stage potatoes. I’d Pay $20 just to see Brat

I love when name brand festivals (and in this case Summer Slaughter is absolutely a household name for metal fests) I prefer seeing these lesser known bands. Yeah, we all love Black Dahlia, JfaC, etc. but these bands are 10, 15+ years old. We need some new blood in the scene and we all need to give these young bands a chance to prove themselves. Don’t like them just because they’re new or they’re here, but if they’re good and we don’t support them there’s not going to be a future for the music.

One of the issues for a returning tour is the fans are going to better remember the bands, experience, and ticket prices more than the statuses of the bands and tour at the time, so even though the tour is following the same formula, it doesn't feel the same to those fans when you don't see those bands you connect with the tour and easy to let down.

Been to many of these back then, just watch death metal and deathcore bands that I had already known about at the time. I never went to them to discover new bands. Never went to meet people. NYC, it was always fights. We just went for the death metal/deathcore bands and the mosh pits. And you can't compare gideon to Hatebreed. Hatebreed stand on their convictions and values. Their message has never changed. Can't be a Christian metalcore band gone atheist and expect decrepit birth fans to like em. And Chaos and Carnage is shining light on newer death metal acts too. I'm ok with The Zenith Passage. I'm over the faceless. As for summer slaughter. My first one was back in 2009. This is extremely different from that. Hope the bands do well this year, and I hope Ash pays them well. Hope Chaos and Carnage continue what they've done this year into the following years.

He's wrong about what people didn't like about Game of Thrones and he's wrong about what people didn't like about the festival 😂

That's not even remotely why everyone hated the last couple episodes of Game of Thrones Honestly the main reason there's a backlash is that there's really no strong headliner to justify the cost. Not sure what that means for the metal scene in general if nobody running these things can apparently afford an anchor band.

Ten56 is coming to Austin, Ash is the Badazs of the year in my book.🤘 That's after me going to Big Texas Metal Fest who scored All Shall Parish 1st return to stage

Summer Slaughter always had something for everyone but this year it seems to have nothing for anyone.

Thank you for this video! I love these types of conversations because I like the education. I appreciate the candid interviews with industry people because it gives insight into the "why" things are the way they are. I hope for more of this type of content because I think it's important that we hear from the actual players who are actually doing something for the community. As you said: less cancellation, and more conversation. Thank you Finn!

Thank you everyone for getting up in arms about this tour. I didn't even know it was coming to my town and my buddy and I bought tickets last night. Can't wait to see Brand of Sacrifice/VoM again. Also excited to see Within Destruction/Left to Suffer/Ten56 for the first time. And yeah that GoT analogy was fucking stupid.

People will bitch about anything. Summer slaughter tour is badass and if you don’t like the bands this year, don’t go. Also, Metal Sucks isn’t even worth paying attention to. They’re basically Liberal TMZ for metal.

i also heard there were about 100 people MAX at some shows

Guys completely deaf to what people are really upset about. It's not about comparing years. It's not about expecting something bigger and better than the past. You don't have to have "younger" bands running the headlining spots. I just hear a bunch of excuses. Please don't talk to any of us about how expensive it might be for a band to travel across the country because we're all out here struggling. If you can't do 20 or 30 venues then do less, if you're going to call it Summer slaughter tour and you haven't been around for many years I don't understand why you wouldn't at least bring this same level of music as in the past. All of that aside veil of Maya and brand of sacrifice really are not that good when you look at all the rest of the metal bands out there that could have been in this lineup. I don't know why the organizers wouldn't want fans from different generations to show up.

I attended the Death By Decibels Tour 07 at the no longer there the building was torn down years ago The Hayloft in Mt.Clemens Michigan 🤘🤘

@14:20 yup man my sister did college radio at stockton in new jersey and thats how i found out about all the hardcore shows at vfws and american legions and whatnot

Sorry that people dont want deathcore on a extreme metal tour especially watered down modern core bratt is the only heavy band on the tour ignore creeping death sanguishsogbog frozen soul undeath tomb mold 200 stab wounds peeling flesh snuffed of sight

I think personally its a great line up. Im going. I know a majority of the bands. Especially tallah. Im stoked to go people just complain about everything

Just make a tour with Caninus, Waking the Cadaver, We Came With Broken Teeth, heavy heavy low low, and I set my friends on fire

I won't go to this one because I don't know the vast majority of these bands, but I went to many summer slaughter tours all the way back to the days they are referencing of more heavy bands. The last one I went to had btbam headlining with their most prog record as their most recent, boo, vom, erra, and I loved that lineup so much but it did seem so weird to me this was summer slaughter, they could have changed the name and had just as much or maybe even more of a turnout because there was not a ton of people there. By the time btbam was on it felt like there was hardly anyone there, many people were sitting at the tables, I felt like one of the very few that was acutally into btbam there lol. At least compared to the older SS's where it was all tech death deathcore esc stuff I remember there being just as many people, if not more, if those were losing so much money I can only imagine these newer ones like I mentioned these bands are asking for even more money, so I don't get it. Actually, looking through past SS's, it seems these days people are talking about of Necrophagist esc bands only happened a few times then they hard switched to more multi metal subgenres, tho I guess I am like these people online that when they think of summer slaughter they think of those days.

As a pro wrestling fan i love how he relates everything to pro wrestling. Also I'm mad he has a show at Wiltern in La worst place to have a show in La

Ash is a legend and part of the reason the entire scene stayed alive in the late 00s and early 10s with the bands he helped.

So first, I would absolutely LOVE a concert with the mix of variety you talked about; give me, for instance, Venom Prison, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Valdrin, Husbandry and Cosmic Joke, and I will buy a ticket TODAY(or in keeping with the V-letter theme, add in Vodun, Venomous Concept and Voivod). Variety is awesome, and at least to me, that's what missing here on this go-round(outside of Tallah and Brat, who I really like - excited to finally see Brat later this year). Putting aside the argument that the people with criticism about the lineup are just "rusty gatekeepers" not liking the current thing, which is dismissive, obviously, what surprised me the most about this run is just how many styles of metal are missing - especially among the upcoming bands. I mean, one year brought us Cephalic Carnage, Decapitated and Animals as Leaders(with Tosin Abasi in all white in the blazing GA sun on my stop - great times) on the same bill. Dillinger, The Ocean, Aeon and Periphery on another. So in a way, the tour was already bridging the "divided" scenes(or at least bringing them in the same venue at the same time) - death metal, metalcore, deathcore, progressive, grindcore, deathgrind, slam once or twice, sometimes straight out fun metal things like Powerglove and Nekrogoblikon; both upcoming and legacy existed. I don't think a single lineup had one direct style except this year, '09, and maybe the very first year. No idea why the reaction is being boiled down to elitists hating new bands. There was always plenty of new bands on the tour. I don't know, man. I get that I, as a concert-goer, don't fully understand the logistics of planning a big tour like this. Fair. The days of $25 tickets are dead for a lot of reasons, times are tough all the way around, touring just keeps getting more expensive and bands have a lot more shit to contend with. With that said, the pre-promotion leaning on the past set the tone for the reaction. I think Veil of Maya more than earned their top-billing personally, and honestly, I hope the bands all do well. But... maybe it's all in a name; branding, as it goes. I wager to bet that if this was under the Thrash and Burn banner, the vitriol from defenders and detractors alike wouldn't be as strong.

This guy looks, sounds, and feels like a slimy snake oil salesman, but a lot of what he actually said makes sense.

For me summer slaughter was introducing the older bands to younger guys that all they knew was stuff like as I lay dying and vice versa I loved every like up they had and I love that it's coming back with brand of sacrifice as a headliner they are the future but there should be some more of stuff too

Really appreciate this interview!

Ska Rules!

I personally don’t think it’s that bad. I’ll still go, but admittedly it could be better

He handed it so poorly at the time it must have been embarrassing

Biohazard and Dying Fetus!? That would’ve been insane

I went when rings of saturn and thy art played that show was wild

I wish you told us what this guys role is in this situation up front. Didnt know if this was a frontman of the band or what.

Problem is... Ash has been doing this shit since his label took over promotion of the tour. I wasnt a fan of Summarian bands, so i stopped attending. No one should be batting an eye that he put a tour together that heavily favors his guys.

People are too caught up in the nostalgia of old sumerian and all those bands. It was 16-17 years ago. Those bands are not the same as they were and they definitely don't cost the same. As he said, everyone paid their dues. I wish Veil would play the commons man collapse, but they just aren't that anymore. I think this lineup is fine. It's just not cost effective to book. Carnifex/Cattle/Job/Whitechapel gotta pass the torch.

I just looked at the lineup and it looks fun to me, tho I'm not familiar with this festivals history. Also I've never even seen GOT and I know this guy was off the mark on why people didn't like the ending

@7:00mark ol boy starts speakn tha truth!

I heard of BRAT like 3 weeks before this tour was announced and was super exited for them. I have a theory they will blow up in a couple years.

The bands are fucking great. It’s just that when you market something as the most extreme, the bands should be the most extreme.

Overall, I think the best point made here is that metal and hardcore subgenres ARE more divided and gatekept than ever before and there’s absolutely no fucking reason for it. If the tour did have legacy death metal acts on it, we would still hear a bunch of whiny purists in the comments complaining about the deathcore and metalcore bands even being part of the lineup. The genre has expanded out to so many different directions, and that’s one of our greatest strengths, but we have lost the sense of community that we used to have.

This dude lost his argument in less than a minute into the video.

Insane revisionist history here. Read any forum reacting to the penultimate Game of Thrones episode. Universal complaints.

Haters gonna hate, that's just how it is

I do nothing but thank the guy for what he's done for modern metal. Salute bud 🫡

People complaining dont realize how lucky and somewhat easy it was to book tours in the early 2000s. It was an insane era of music, plus social media was just starting, so we straight up got a face full of insane smaller bands from all over the country. So these tours would come around, and you'd wanna go the second it was announced. Now we are so spoiled the second a tour like this comes out it doesn't have the effect it did when we were younger. Im stoked for this show to check out some of the openers

I'm going to this show.

VoM and BOS are both amazing bands ( especially veil to me ).. not to mention those are just the headlines..i agree its also about the experience..ive played alot of tours an been to even more and they are some of the most incredible memories i have.this tour was always great ,ppl need to give it a chance an i bet they would be surprised.idk man it seems ppl just need to complain about shit🙄

This tour will not sell out

I don't get the treatment of people who have different opinions, different tastes in music or expressing their criticism like haters. This is so goddamned stupid, arrogant and straight up toxic like you need to combine your powers and bring Captain Planet to clean this BS but seriously this is social media comments reality and the more you ignore it the more sane you stay. BTW I love how all those people from countries where events or festivals are so rare that they just drop the BS and go like shut the F up and stop complaining you don't know how lucky you are ❤ I love you guys 😊

Most of the bands people are expecting to be part of the lineup are doing their own things right now. This is why people make fun of anyone who listens to heavy music and say that we're stuck in the past, because every time newer bands are backed on a big tour like this everyone loses their minds.

I've only seen people complain about the fact that there's no death metal bands on summerslaughter anymore. It's just deathcore bands. And I'm personally really tired of hearing the same deathcore riffs over and over again.

Fuck the haters and bring in the MUSIC!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Im glad to have went to the last Summer Slaughter with Cattle Decap, Faceless, Rivers of Nihil, Lorna. This lineup isn't it. I know it'll probably still sell well... but the last lineup was THE perfect blend. Comparing THAT bill to this one is night and day.

Great interview

If anyone forgot: when the lineup was announced first there was an immediate negative reaction about the overall less prestigious lineup for what was once a premiere extreme metal show. It wasnt about "legacy acts" even a little bit. There are a metric shitton of death metal, deathcore, melodeath, tech death, prog death, deathgrind, grindcore, cybergrind & weird experimental extreme metal bands etc. etc. It's not like these are terrible bands that nobody wants to see, but why isnt Summer Slaughter able to attract any of the bigger acts in the scene, more well-known up-and-comers, or even the bands that usually show up for it? It's a valid question. But Then, just to make things worse, the guy running the Summer Slaughter social media accounts responded to this reaction with an ignorant, unhinged right wing political diatribe for some reason, pretty much unprovoked, "dont like the lineup? Youre all a bunch of dumb liberal cucks" or whatever NPC dialogue these boring reactionary imbeciles do. Not exactly class acts. People told them they dont like the lineup this year and someone on their staff (probably drunkenly) tried to turn it into a culture war thing instead of being about the bands or the music. So this is PR, marketing, they've realized they need to do some damage control and spin this a different way. Which they do, obviously. A show that regularly featured bands like Cattle Decapitation isnt gonna go well with bands or audiences if ppl think it's run by the Proud Boys and its best days are behind it. (Maybe that would bring Slaughter to Prevail back lmao) So, what social media influencers can they call to do some good old access journalism? Who will treat us with kid gloves in exchange for an 'exclusive interview'? Who will let us direct the conversation & the narrative? You might expect to see them on RockFeed next.

The whole reason I want to go is to see new bands I’m unfamiliar with. This is the most Summer Slaughter line up yet.

11:14 - Lorna Shore and Slaughter to Prevail are bigger than the biggest legacy death metal bands. Also shoutout to Ash’s self care routine. Dude looks like he hasn’t aged at all in 20 yrs.

I can kinda see the criticism for this not being as heavy as past lineups and shit, but that being said, I dunno if it's me not being familiar with Summer Slaughter and had to do research on previous lineups or what, but this lineup still rips, and for me is a win for heavy music🤘

Not kidding it's more and more sounding like the IWC (Internet wrestling community) where people just shit on anything and everything. It's fucking annoying.

All those bands in 2 days for $50 is a steal.

Summer Slaughter always has had weak lineups (2013, 2015, 2018) where you have to ask what the fuck where they thinking? The "wanting to support up and coming bands" is so full of shit. Veil of Maya is 18 years old. Where's Lorna Shore, Slaughter to Prevail, Gatecreeper (which has a bigger draw than VoM), Frozen Soul, Archspire, Sanguisugabogg, Fugitive?

What Ash said about the current line up is that exact thing I thought of, which makes sense. This tour is full of up and coming bands with a few headliners, just like Summer Slaughter has always been. Also, it’s always been mostly core bands.

Just wait a couple years, there will be a Deathcore "When We Were Young" for it's 20th anniversary.

I was lucky enough to go to most of them including the 2019 show but it's not coming anywhere near me this time around so really I could care less.

Really enjoyed this sit down. And the backlash is lame. The biggest enemy of heavy music is the fans of heavy music.

just get A.J. Maddah on board

The backlash isn't because there's not a bunch of older bands in the lineup, it's because of the severe lack of traditional death metal and tech death bands and mostly just -core bands. I've tried listening to many metalcore and deathcore bands since the early 2000's and I can confidently say that I DO NOT like both genres. Period. And I'm sure there's plenty of metal fans, old and young, that share the same opinion. Also, look at Maryland Deathfest's and Milwaukee Metal Fest's lineup this year. Sure there's alot of great older, well established bands but there's also alot of great younger, newer bands as well. So for Mr. Avildsen to say we're mad because we just wanted a bunch of old bands on Summer Slaughter '24 is just plain ignorant and stupid. He obviously went with the easy route by booking a mostly metalcore/deathcore lineup. Which is fine, whatever. It's his tour. But to not expect criticism from metal fans about it is just foolish.

Fuck the younger bands give the people what they want or don’t do it at all

Not going to lie, The 2024 lineup could be alot better!!!!

The lineup rules and this is the first time going to a Summer Slaughter festival BECAUSE of the line up!

BRAT is the homies from New Orleans. They're coming up.

The lineup was good, I just don’t think Veil of Maya is close to being headliner material. I would go if they came by my city.

I miss the days when metal was are secret society