On Thursday April 2nd, 2026 I was very lucky to go see the band Slaughter To Prevail as well as Whitechapel at the Hollywood Palladium. Let’s take a look………..
I honestly can’t recall a time where I’ve seen a bad show at The Palladium’s and I’ve been wanting to see Slaughter To Prevail since I saw them at Aftershock 2025. Now they also brought the band Whitechapel as an opener and what’s funny is the last time I saw them was at Aftershock 2024.
Up first was Whitechapel and anyone reading this that’s been to the Palladium, knows how crowded it gets. By the time I was able to get a good spot, the lights dimmed and it was on!! They immediately go into the song “Prisoner 666” off the album their latest album Hymns In Dissonance. Without any pause they then go right into the title track of their new album and man did the crowd go insane!! This was one of those times where a band just kept playing one song after another without pause and it was amazing!! This is probably my 5th or 6th time seeing Whitechapel and they’ve always killed it. Vocalist Phil Bozeman is one of those frontmen that absolutely gets the crowd going and his annunciation and growls are some of the best. Of course the rest of the band was as tight as ever and their guitar tone, low end, and drums are just absolutely crushing!! I’ve seen so many heavy bands over the years that I forget just how heavy they are. Of course they closed with the song “This Is Exile” and that is the perfect closer. As I’m writing this, I just realized that I’ve never seen a Whitechapel headlining concert. I’ve always seen them as either an opener at a club show or on a festival like Mayhem or Aftershock. That definitely needs to change because they are so damn good!!
Time for the main event…………Slaughter To Prevail. After seeing this band at last year’s Aftershock, I knew that I had to see them the next time they went on tour. As it got closer to their set, their crew starts setting up their stage which consisted of a huge grizzly bear behind the drums. This was definitely one of those times that the crowd erupted once the house lights dimmed and everyone started chanting “Slaughter! Slaughter! Slaughter!” Immediately the band comes out wearing their masks and go right into the song “Bonebreaker” which is the perfect start. Right after that, they launched right into “Banditos” followed by (one of the songs that made me a fan) “Russian Grizzly In America.” There were moments when frontman Alex The Terrible would scream without his microphone and you could clearly hear him which is pretty damn impressive. You could absolutely see this band having so much fun on stage which of course the audience fed off of.
The best way to describe this show in one word is FUN. Both bands put on such great sets and I would absolutely see both again. Whitechapel is one of those bands that you forget how great they are and Slaughter To Prevail well that band is just so full of energy that you can’t help but have a great time. The fact that this was a sold out with a packed venue on a Thursday night really just goes to show that anybody who says rock or metal is dead is clearly wrong. Definitely check out both of these bands the next time they roll through your town.
Final Grade: A
Whitechapel is:
Phil Bozeman: voice
Ben Savage: guitar
Alex Wade: guitar
Gabe Crisp: bass
Zach Householder: guitar
Brandon Zackey: drums
Whitechapel Setlist:
- Prisoner 666
- Hymns In Dissonance
- A Visceral Retch
- Bedlam
- Hate Cult Ritual
- The Somatic Defilement
- Devirgination Studies
- Prostatic Fluid Asphyxiation
- This Is Exile
Slaughter To Prevail is:
Alex Terrible- voice
Jack Simmons- guitar
Dmitry Mamedov- guitar
Mikhail Petrov- bass
Evgeny Novikov- drums
Slaughter To Prevail Setlist:
- Bonebreaker
- Banditos
- Russian Grizzly In America
- Viking
- Imdead
- Babayka
- Bratva
- Baba Yaga
- Koschei
- Drum Solo
- Conflict
- Kid Of Darkness
- Behelit
Encore:
- Demolisher
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