18 Years Strong!

The longest-running rock festival in Southeast Asian history

MANILA, Philippines — With its biggest international line-up yet, it’s no surprise that this year’s Pulp Summer Slam was once again a smash hit among the country’s metalheads. Now on its 18th year, Pulp Summer Slam XVIII: Of Good and Evil took place on May 5 at Amoranto Stadium, Quezon City.

Southeast Asia’s longest-running metal festival kicked things off with Dutdutan’s Roadtrip, where young Pinoy musicians went head-to-head in Tribal’s Drum Duel and Von Dutch’s Shred Fest. There to warm up the crowd were Taiwan’s Flesh Juicer, Burning Island and Bloody Tyrant. Next up was Secrets, who was then followed by Crystal Lake. Then there was Attila, Crown The Empire, and finally, Jinjer. Each band offered its own take on heaviness, having the entire Slam crowd satisfied and moving from beginning until the end.

Legendary Bay Area thrashers Death Angel proved to be a crowd favorite, inciting mosh pits all throughout. England’s symphonic black metal pioneers Cradle of Filth were also there to bring a bit of darkness and theatricality. Swedish melodic death metal forerunners At The Gates brought a melancholic yet fiery mood, proving just how multi-faceted metal can be. Then there was Poland’s extreme metal giants Behemoth, who had everyone’s hairs standing on end with their chilling performance. Following them was Dubai’s Nervecell, who mesmerized the crowd with their breathtaking technicality. Capping off yet another successful Slam were some of the country’s biggest bands in rock and metal – SkyChurch, Typecast and Valley of Chrome – demonstrating that this powerful genre of music has not lost its might.

From Left: Tomas Lindberg of At The Gates, Nergal of Behemoth and Tatiana Shmaylyuk of Jinjer

Pulp Summer Slam XVIII: Of Good and Evil was made possible by PULP Live World, Tribal, Republika ng TM and PULP Magazine, with media sponsors The Philippine STAR, MYX, Monster RX93.1, Rakista Radio and Astroplus.