There will be blast beats and sick growling this fall. New York tech-grind legends Suffocation will tour North America in October and November. Billed the “Death Chopping North America” tour, the lineup will include progressive goregrind masters Cattle Decapitation, Brazilian death metallers Krisiun, and the Swedish techdeath band Soreption.

By death metal standards, this tour will be a bittersweet affair because it will be original Suffocation vocalist Frank Mullen’s last. He has toured substantially less in recent years due to work obligations but he still went on the road for a few choice gigs every once in a while (notably on October 16, 2017 in Montreal, a city where Mullen has a larger-than-life status). After this tour, Kevin Muller will assume Suffocation’s vocal duties full-time.

Showing his trademark panache, Mullen stated:

“After 30 years of being a part of this amazing band, which I have had the opportunity to tour the world and bring our music to the sickest fans on the planet, it has come to this time — I bid you a farewell…. We have had the sickest of times on the road, and recorded some of the sickest fucking music the planet has ever heard.… This has been the craziest ride of my life and I would not change a thing! Until we meet up again take care, stay brutal and I look forward to the next chapter.”

Mullen continued:

“Before I take my final step off the stage, to give back to all of you who have supported, me and the boys are going to head out… with some insane support acts! I hope to see you all for one last ride across North America. Stay brutal.”

The Dates

  • October 21: Wantagh, NY — Mulcahy’s Concert Hall
  • October 22: Cambridge, MA — Middle East Down
  • October 23: Montreal, QC — Les Foufounes Electriques
  • October 24: Toronto, ON — Lee’s Place
  • October 25: Detroit, MI — Magic Stick
  • October 26: Joliet, IL — The Forge
  • October 27: St. Paul, MN — Amsterdam Bar and Grill
  • October 29: Kansas City, MO — Riot Room
  • October 30: Denver, CO — Gothic Theatre
  • October 31: Salt Lake City, UT — Metro Music Hall
  • November 01: Jerome, ID — Diamondz Event Center
  • November 02: Seattle, WA — Club Sur Rocks
  • November 03: Portland, OR — Dante’s
  • November 04: Oakland, CA — Oakland Metro
  • November 05: West Hollywood, CA — Whisky A Go Go (without Cattle Decapitation)
  • November 06: San Diego, CA — Brick By Brick (without Cattle Decapitation)
  • November 07: Mesa, AZ — Club Red
  • November 09: San Antonio, TX — Paper Tiger
  • November 10: Dallas, TX — Gas Monkey Bar ‘N Grill
  • November 11: Houston, TX — White Oak Music Hall
  • November 13: Atlanta, GA — The Masquerade
  • November 14: Charlotte, NC — The Underground
  • November 15: Baltimore, MD — Ottobar
  • November 16: New York, NY — Gramercy Theatre
  • November 17: Reading, PA — Reverb

The Bands

Suffocation were an important influence on technical death metal in the 1990s.

Cattle Decapitation have grown beyond their (now only partly true) vegan identity to become one of the premiere modern death metal bands, incorporating melody without sacrificing heaviness.

Krisiun are nearly as old as Suffocation, and released some solid albums (1998’s Apocalyptic Revelation in particular) and output of uneven quality since then.

Soreption, the youngest band on the bill, play tech death. Anyone who writes a song called “King Of Undisputed Nonsense” has to be good.

Further Information

Tickets will go on sale at Suffocation’s web site on August 10 and at the sites and social media pages of most of the venues listed in this article.

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