REVIEW + PHOTOS: Slaughter To Prevail, Sold Out NYC Show

By: Sebastian Bjorn Benedict

 

As the year 2022 is winding down many concertgoers are still feeling the effects of the pandemic that impacted the New York City nightlife. With anxiety at an all-time high, people have been slowly coming out to events—what better way than having the Deathcore band from Yekaterinburg, Russia, Slaughter to Prevail to cause a little ruckus? They are currently making the most of their stay in the USA by doing shows and gaining traction. Since the release of the album “Kostolom”, Alex Terrible ( lead vocalist ) has been slowly expressing the political tension between Ukraine and the Russian conflict. Tonight we got a little bit of that and we got a whole lot of an ultra-rage wall of sound. The band whose members are Aleksandr “Alex Terrible” Shikolai on vocals, Mikhail “Mike” Petrov on bass, Evgeny Novikov on drums, Jack Simmons on lead guitar, and on rhythm guitar Dmitry “Dima” Mamedov has what it takes to take this genre of music into the future.

Gallery: Live Nation Concerts / Marissa Rodriguez 

Tonight’s festivities took place at the newly renovated Irving Plaza. With no opening act, it was quite obvious this was going to be a no-nonsense show. As soon as the house lights dimmed the loud roar from the audience reverberated throughout the sold-out venue. The band opened up with the song “Bonebreaker” which definitely set the tone. The band is known more for its music than theatrics, however, each member adorns their own gold demon mask that truly adds to the show. They pulled out an even amount of material from all their releases, however, the stand-out track of the evening was the Nü Metal tinge song “Baba Yaga”. Those who have yet to attend a Slaughter To Prevail show should be warned that their every one of their mosh pits and are an eruptive challenge that matches the tone and energy of their music, add constant waves of crowd surfers. 

  As this song played the view from the balcony looked like a scene from one of the levels of hell described in the book Dantes’s Inferno. Alex Terrible did express halfway into the show the band’s experience while playing in Ukraine, he emphasized his disapproval of any war because of human casualties. He further explains that he has no love for the Russian government and has more of a love for Russia the country. He then introduced the song “1984” which was released as a new single this past August. An interesting interlude of music played afterward which I assume is of Russian origin overtook the house speakers before they closed off the short but impressive set. Before the night was over Alex asked if he can take a photo of the audience. This humility is something that the audience clearly adores. The band now resides in the United States and they are taking this opportunity to carve out a name for themselves. Remaining tour dates below.

• Wed, NOV 9 – Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO
• Thu, NOV 10 & 11 – Observatory – Santa Ana, CA