July 13, 2025

As many touring festivals have faded into memory or turned into limited stops, Summer of Loud has appeared, filling the void, louder, heavier, and hotter than ever. The touring metalcore festival has been melting faces across the country with a dream lineup for heavy music fans featuring some of the biggest names in the genre switching off as headliner at different stops.

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The festival made a stop in Utah at the Utah First Credit Union Amphitheater last Tuesday, July 8th. Fans flocked to the venue early despite the temperature hovering near 100 degrees to get the best spots possible for the all-day event featuring headliners Beartooth, I Prevail, Parkway Drive and Killswitch Engage, alongside supporting acts The Devil Wears Prada, The Amity Affliction, Alphawolf and Kingdom of Giants. 

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Kicking off the event was Kingdom of Giants who got the early arriving fans ready for the chaos that lay ahead. In fact the band did such a great job and has been shining during their set that Beartooth vocalist, Caleb Shomo, singled them out telling the crowd to give it up for “your favorite new band.” Alphawolf took the stage next building that energy even more with fans starting to open pits and mosh despite the overbearing temps of the day.

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By the time The Devil Wears Prada was preparing to take the stage the heat was starting to take its toll, but venue staff were quick to the rescue handing out water to fans and spraying the crowd with water hoses and squirt guns to the delight of the fans seeking relief from the sun. When The Devil Wears Prada took the stage, the venue was filling fast, making even bigger and rowdier pits as the excitement grew and only kept growing as The Amity Affliction hit the stage next.

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After a brief rest during set change fans took the moment to hydrate and prepare for what was to come with the headline acts coming up. Beartooth wasted no time kicking things off with pyro blasting from the stage heating things up even more than they were. By now wave after wave of surfers were heading towards the barricades and pits formed and fans jumped in. I Prevail took the heat and turned it up another notch with even more pyro and a heavier performance, with every song building the energy more.

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The sun was starting to set by the time Parkway Drive took the stage but there was no rest from the heat as the pyro kept heating up the fans and the crowd.  Undaunted by the heat the band put on a banger of a set showcasing why they are one of the best in the business.  The set had everything, including Ben Gordon performing in his drum kit while rotating around in a circle of fire.

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To cap the night off Killswitch Engage melted what was rest of the fans faces with a set full of metal-core anthems.  The band ripped through fan favorites from the catalog in a heavy and loud set that made sure fans didn’t have any energy left to spare after their set was over.

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Summer of Loud came to Utah and played their flag as the festival event of the summer. Fans of heavy music will be hoping for more of the same in the future in what will hopefully become a summer tradition.