The annual Summer Slaughter tour got underway earlier this week with the first date being marred by cancelations from The Faceless and Slaughter to Prevail. The Faceless have since released a video explaining problems to their fans and have engaged in a messy back and forth with now former drummer Chason Westmoreland (ex-Hate Eternal). Despite all this, the tech death outfit has promised to make the rest of the dates on the trek.

On July 27, The Faceless released a video as they were en route from California to Pennsylvania for the start of the tour, stating they would regrettably miss the show because Westmoreland quit the group. They go on to detail they're teaming up with a new drummer who they've never even met before, much less played with, and that they've opted out of the first date in order to rehearse with this skinsman.

After this video was released, Westmoreland shot back at the band, who had said he left them "high and dry" in the caption of the video. In a post on Facebook (seen below), the drummer explained,

Okay so not that I care about the Internet... but here it is. I didn't bail on my band. July 8th is when I told my dudes. My efforts to reach out to drummers show July 13th. It's impossible to get Michael [Keene] anywhere on time.... when I'm at his house and he's packing a bag for tour it takes two hours. Gas station stops on tour are an hour to an hour and a half. (Michael doesn't drive) Soundchecks even manage to be a spectacle of their own at an astonishing three to four hours. ( How long does it take your band to soundcheck?) E.J. Shannon is the best manager I have ever worked with, he makes very specific schedules that allow for mishaps and extra time losses and even he can't get Michael to a show on time, like when we were waiting to play Seattle for an hour... anyone remember that ??? That was Michael not showing up to the venue that night until after we had his stuff set up onstage at 9PM. I watched an entire room of amazing fans wait well over an hour to watch us ... that wasn't my fault. I didn't think we were going on Slaughter because Michael also refused to turn in the album on time and it was a contingency for the tour. So is it really my fault an entire band can't make their first show? Fact, they've had almost exactly three weeks, so there ya go.

The Faceless responded to the post directly, but have since removed their comment. MetalSucks captured the response before it was taken down, which shows that the band said, "You told EJ three days before the tour you were back in and the next day said you were out and also had a bunch of choice words to say about all of us. You also said you would only do the tour if we loaded your drums for you and you didn't have to speak to any of us. Wow, that's some way to treat a bunch of dudes that have been your friend. If you're going to comment on here like this expect the same from us."

Regardless of where the truth lies, The Faceless did perform at the next scheduled Summer Slaughter stop in Sayreville, N.J. last night (July 28), though there is on official word on who is sitting behind the kit right now. The tour will run through Aug. 26 and a list of remaining stops can be seen here.

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