Intense. Extreme. Chaotic. That was Wednesday night in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the Palladium for Slaughter to Prevail for their North American tour alongside Whitechapel and Attila. The Palladium is an iconic venue and especially notable for bringing in metal acts, and it's the premiere place to see metal shows in all of New England. This venue itself is beautiful. If you’ve ever been to a show at the Palladium, you’ve basically stepped into a time machine from the 50s. The whole floor is always one big mosh pit. Speaking of chaotic crowds, I found myself crowd-surfing at this venue a couple weeks ago during ERRA’s performance. My first time in 43 years of existence. It was a bucket list item. Check.
First on the docket today, we had Attila. I had only heard of this band because of its name in passing. I came in with zero knowledge of this band, or Whitechapel, for that matter. It took about 30 seconds before I was banging my head while trying to take photographs. The band has been around since 2005 after being formed in Atlanta, Georgia. I describe their music as party chaos. I mean that as a compliment. I love chaos in my music. I like it loud and thumping. I like that they had a little bit of rap incorporated into their music, sort of like a Limp Bizkit and nu-metal influence. They sounded great, especially since I had zero clue what they were saying in 90% of their songs. It didn’t matter because I was in the zone. Nice choice as an opener. They were definitely not just a fill-the-slot band for the bill. The only downside for me, in a selfish way, was the lighting, but again that fits the genre. It was a bit dark. I would definitely check them out on a headlining tour.
Whitechapel took the stage next, and, you guessed it, they were new to me. Just like Attila, I had only heard of this band by name. Whitechapel had more of a deathcore sound than Attila did. I learned that Whitechapel came out of Knoxville, Tennessee, around 2006, and they helped define what deathcore sounds like these days. They turned the chaos button almost all the way to the top. The top spot of the energy scale was being saved for Slaughter To Prevail. Whitechapel was bone-crushing, loud, and relentless. I didn't prepare for this at all. This is the heaviest show I have ever witnessed. I absolutely loved it. It was intense with no letup.
The crowd was definitely feeling the band. It was a perfect choice to have them on the ticket. I knew at that moment that the crowd was going to be insane when Slaughter To Prevail came out. I felt as though I was in a pressure cooker. The intensity was building from Attila, and now it was almost at a peak but being saved for the headliner. Honestly, my body was hurting after that bass and drums. I'll never forget that.
I first discovered Slaughter to Prevail a couple years ago on TikTok. They clipped one of their videos just right to catch my attention within seconds. Their massive breakdowns hooked me immediately. I am not a deathcore fan, but I also don’t hate it. It’s a casual listen for me. By "casual," I mean primarily only Slaughter To Prevail will you hear me blasting. Despite only learning of them a couple years ago, that doesn’t mean they are new to the music world either. Their first full-length album Misery Sermon dropped in 2017 and instantly put them on the deathcore map. The album is loud, aggressive, and unapologetically heavy, the kind of album that makes your speakers not work right after a few minutes. I do not suggest that album or any of them at full volume. You have a good chance of losing your hearing or making your family hate you. They kept the momentum from that first album going with Kostolom in 2021, which went even harder, and it had Alex’s signature inhuman vocals. Songs like “Demolisher” went viral, which was the first song I ever heard by the band, despite it being 3 years old when I first discovered them. I genuinely couldn’t believe a human being was making those sounds. I played it for my mother the other day, and I am not allowed over for another week. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you are into deathcore, you’re going to drink that tea faster than it’s being poured. Slaughter To Prevail’s latest project, Grizzly, which they released in July of 2025, continues to showcase the band’s growth.
I am going to admit right from the jump I had no clue what Alex Terrible was saying. I should have brushed up on my Russian prior to the show. Did that matter? Not at all. It’s a real testament to music in general that you don’t need to have the lyrics be the most important part of a song. The instruments all coming together create some sort of primeval instinct inside that awakens something inside you. It’s truly remarkable. The band live feels like getting hit by a truck, and you’re not even mad about it, and that’s mostly because every member is locked in and on the same page. Alex commands the stage with brutal, almost inhuman vocals that somehow stay consistent the entire set. Jack Simmons and Dmitry Mamedov have come up with spine-crushing riffs that have zero sloppiness, even at ridiculous speeds. Mike Petrov holds everything down with that thick, heavy low end that you can feel in your whole body, and Evgeny Novikov is basically the engine of chaos; he never missed a beat, and every thud I felt deep in my chest. Together, they are a dominant force in the deathcore scene.
The second they hit the stage, I knew it was game over. They didn’t ease into it. No slow build. Just straight into this wall of sound that hit my chest like a sledgehammer. It was amazing. I often forget to put my Eargasm earbuds in, but not today. They were a must for being so up close. I found myself constantly lost in the moment. The music mixed in with Alex’s deep growls makes you just want to break out with movement. I almost went back up to crowd surf… I regret not doing it again. This show was absolutely phenomenal. It’s hard-hitting. The sound was crushing, and the crowd fed into every second of it. It wasn’t just loud; it was deafening. It wasn’t just loud for the sake of being loud. It was on purpose. Alex did a wonderful job working the crowd. He praised everyone in the audience for spending their money to be there. He was very thankful. He also encouraged the crowd to mosh, numerous times setting up a wall of death and circle pits. The crowd happily obliged.
I am still trying to process if this was the largest number of crowd surfers I have ever seen. It is pretty close, if not surpassing Boundaries, also at the Palladium. Having seen Slaughter To Prevail a few times now, I also love seeing Alex scream without the microphone after telling the crowd to be quiet. The man’s range is truly remarkable. The music was blistering, and that is the best compliment I can give. It was as if a cleansing was happening. I found myself lost in the performance, often mesmerized, and I cannot explain how. It was musical therapy.
The stage was set up nicely. A backdrop with Slaughter To Prevail’s logo written on it. They had two grizzly bear heads on each side. Both guitarists had risers they could stand on that were wrapped in metal chain-link fencing. The light show itself was extensive. The show wasn’t your typical dark metal show. There was great lighting throughout. I thought that it was actually a lot of risers and lights for a venue this size. There were two tractor trailers in the parking lot. Production was top-notch without going overboard.
The crowd? Pure insanity all night. Non-stop. Not sloppy chaos, though. It was person after person crowd-surfing. If it wasn’t continuous surfing, then it was massive mosh pits. Non-stop. Traditional mosh pits, circle pits, and, hell, why not a wall of death? This was the most interactive crowd I have seen. Admittedly, I cover more country music than any genre, and I have been to dozens of hard shows, and this one took the cake. Boundaries had the title of "craziest crowd I have ever seen." Not anymore. The title belt now goes to Slaughter To Prevail, and I am so happy for that. The fans knew if a person went down to help them back up. Alex was also conscious of this and expressed his concern. I love frontmen like this. The fans themselves were of all ages, but definitely on the younger side of the scale. I mean, you had to be pretty physically fit and young to engage in the carnage that took place. I loved every minute of watching this carnage evolve. The Palladium was absolutely packed. It was sold out; however, it felt like it was sold out twice. You couldn’t move in that building. Many fans adorned masks that mirrored the band.
This was exactly the show I wanted. Not only that, it was the show I needed. The adrenaline rush was out of this world. Perhaps just like a man that plays with tigers and bears who happens to be Alex Terrible. If you are going through some trauma or drama in your life, you need to go to a Slaughter To Prevail show. It’s musical therapy like I said earlier. A shared space with a community that shares the same love for a band. It really is a special circumstance that perfectly comes together to create memories. If you are looking for an action-packed, entertaining, and completely perfect performance, then this tour is for you. I highly recommend you run to the ticket vendor and BUY. THE. TICKET.
