Hatebreed Frontman Jamey Jasta Takes Charge Of Summer Slaughter Tour

In a surprising development, operation of the Summer Slaughter Tour has been transferred to Hatebreed vocalist Jamey Jasta. This change comes after the tour’s 2024 revival, headlined by Veil Of Maya and Brand Of Sacrifice, faced criticism from some fans who felt the lineup lacked the extreme edge historically associated with the brand. The backlash even led to the tour’s tagline being changed mid-run from “most extreme tour of the year” to “The All Day Rager Is Finally Back!”.

Jasta announced his new role during an appearance on the Garza Podcast, linking his involvement directly to the feedback from last year’s event.

“I’m going to be helping take over Summer Slaughter,” Jasta confirmed. “I don’t think I can talk about the lineup, but this is something that I really wanted to do. Especially after the reaction to last year’s lineup…”

He praised the tour’s original founder, Ash Avildsen, calling him a “Maverick and a visionary” and noting the tour’s history of building bands, citing Whitechapel‘s early appearances. Jasta explained that Hatebreed had often been offered the tour but focused on European touring instead. Now, he sees an opportunity to bring Hatebreed back for a US summer headline run under the revived Summer Slaughter banner, while reshaping the tour’s identity.

“We can bring it back, and we can diversify the lineup a little bit, with some hardcore and some metalcore, but still have the deathcore and the death metal and the crossover, or whatever you want to call it,” Jasta stated regarding his vision for future lineups.

While lineup specifics remain under wraps, Jasta detailed his initial plans for the tour under his direction. It will start modestly with a focus on developing talent.

“We’re going to start small. It’s going to be very short, like 14-15 shows and we’re going to take small bands; we’re going to take the future bands, for better or for worse,” he explained. “So we’re not expecting it to be blowout bonkers…”

Furthermore, Jasta revealed ambitions to expand the tour’s reach beyond North America. “We’re just, we’re also taking it global… Because, it’s summer in other parts of the world, at different places, like Australia, like South America,” he said, aligning this with Hatebreed‘s own goals. “And we [Hatebreed] also need to be… We’re long overdue to start working Australia regularly. Again, we just did Knotfest and just crushed it, and in South America too. So yeah, so we got work to do, but it’s good problems to have and it’s good opportunities to have”

Jasta concluded by expressing gratitude towards Avildsen for entrusting him and Tim Borror of Sound Talent Group with the tour’s future. “And yeah, I really, I appreciate Ash giving Tim [Borror of Sound Talent Group] and myself the support of not only Milwaukee Metal Fest, but also the belief in us taking this over and trying to make something great again.”