It’s hard to believe it’s been eleven years since I last saw Cannibal Corpse live, at least a full set (they played Bloodstock in 2018 also). That time was a whole year since the previous gig which had been a bit of a disappointment due to a four-band bill, an early door time, and a club might meaning that the headliners had to finish at 4pm.
Tonight we have another four-band bill, and an early doors of 6:30 but thankfully a standard 11pm curfew. However, due to pressures of work we just couldn’t make it to the venue early enough to see openers Schizophrenia to whom I offer my apologies. We also needed sustenance before a long show and stopped at the nearby Guido’s Coronation Restaurant… which turned out had been the food suppliers of choice of tonight’s headliners! By all accounts they were lovely when they visited, which will come as no surprise to long-time fans of the band.
From those who did manage to get there early, I hear Schizophrenia were worth getting there for and here’s hoping we catch them the next time they’re in town. Definitely check out their merch, by the way. They have one of the best backpatches for a jacket that I’ve seen on a merch stall in years!
We did manage about half of Immolation‘s set, and they threw out some quality Floridian death metal. Which isn’t bad for a band from New York! They’re one of those acts who’ve been around for an incredible length of time, but who I’ve never previously seen live. Their style musically was fairly by-the-numbers death metal, but I could tell that those who did know the band were loving it. Certainly from my perspective as a newcomer, they were value for their place on the bill and engaged well, on top of throwing out brutal riffs and blast beats.
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Municipal Waste seem to be over here every few weeks, which is great news for people who like their thrash metal with a solid dose of humour. I know I do, and they threw out a great set of songs from the very brief to the standard form. I don’t think I’ve seen them live since Metal Days in 2018, where they played on the closing night and I lost my wallet while crowdsurfing (got it back the next day! Thanks you, honest festival folk). It’s definitely been too long to enjoy their manic brand of classic thrash and the audience were well up for it.
The crowdsurfers who had made an appearance during Immolation certainly upped their game and kept security busy even before shouting frontman Tony Foresta suggested they increase their numbers. Circle pits were circled (including one that filled half the hall), and a wall of death was orchestrated towards the end of the set.
The fact that they played 20 songs in their 50-minute support slot (compared to the headliner’s 16 in 1hr20) says a lot about the silly nature of many of their tracks. Get in, get thrashing, work up a sweat, and move on to the next one. A prime example is traditional set closer “Born To Party” which had most of the crowd raising fists and telling the world exactly what Municipal Waste were here to do.
Cannibal Corpse are a band that need no introduction, and they arrived on stage without one. No airs and graces, they walked on, waved briefly and kicked into “Blood Blind”. Cannibal Corpse are as no-frills as it can get, and this fits the death metal ethos. Fisher is the ultimate death metal frontman, and even wearing a shirt with his own face on he doesn’t come across as egotistical – simply confident in his own ability to hold a crowd in the palm of his hand (then squish them and make their bones break).
The five-piece play a brutal set, with just the right amount of breaks for chat and to get the crowd screaming back at them. I genuinely don’t believe I’ve ever heard a crowd response to a request for noise as loud as tonight’s at any previous Barrowlands gig. The sound was spot on, every one of Paul Mazurkiewicz’s drum beats rattling the rib cages and each thrum of Alex Webster’s bass (especially during the start of “Hammer Smashed Face”) turning innards to mush. Barrett and Rutan worked well together, which is no surprise with the latter having been with the band for five years now since being drafted in for… erm… reasons.
Fisher, though, is very much the centrepiece of the act. He’s personable, he’s funny, he won a Ratatouille from a claw machine earlier today, and he’s brutal as all fuck when he gets going. Growling his way through the likes of “Disposal of a Body”, “Summoned for Sacrifice” and “one for the ladies… ‘Fucked With A Knife'” it’s amazing his vocal cords aren’t in shreds. A sweaty audience is treated to “Kill Or Become” (a personal favourite), and “Staring Through The Eyes Of The Dead” before the aforementioned “Hammer” wraps up the gig as is tradition.
I love that a band can sing about such brutal things, and be such nice individuals. That the crowd go mental and end the night with smiles on their faces. It really throws a finger up at those who dismiss metal, particularly the more extreme end, as pointless or worse. I’ve heard nothing but praise from other dates on this tour and it’s well deserved. A great evening of wonderfully heavy music which left around 1900 people sweaty and grinning.
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Photos by Gavin Lowrey
