Metal Blade Records is 40 years old, let that sink in for a minute, a label has been putting extreme metal out to the masses for four decades! And what better way to celebrate than to put together a touring package of the past, present, and future of Death Metal in its different forms.
Shadow of Intent started things off, pummeling the audience with an all-out audio assault that never let up the entire night. Revocation was up second with their cosmic horror-fueled take on Death Metal, whose singer’s, David Davidson, request for more circle pits were met with enthusiasm from the crowd.
Whitechapel took the stage, crushing the audience and establishing why they will go down as one of the big four of the Deathcore subgenre. The band steered clear of the more melodic songs off their most recent album, Kin, and while I would’ve loved to hear songs like “Anticure” and “History Is Silent” live, a direct supporting slot on a Cannibal Corpse tour is not a place for anything subtle or nuanced.
The last sentence is in no way a knock to Cannibal Corpse, after all this is a band who has built a storied legacy around brutal imagery, pummeling drums, riffs, and vocals reminiscent of a chainsaw revving up as a serial killer chases you in a dark alley. Before the band played a single note, singer George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher responded to chants of “Fuck Chris Barnes” with a smile, and chants of “Corpsegrinder” with a fist in the air. And then the band started playing, Fisher’s head only stopped banging and spinning to scream into the microphone, a smile on his face the entire time. There is a reason Cannibal Corpse is synonymous with Death Metal, they play fast, brutal music and reign as kings of the genre.
Buy Cannibal Corpse Tickets!
Cannibal Corpse
Whitechapel
Revocation
Shadow of Intent
