Cannibal Corpse bring Chaos Horrific to UK shores. As ever, the masters of gore obsessed death metal do not disappoint.
SCHIZOPHRENIA
Formed just under a decade ago, Schizophrenia are first up. For a 6.30 stage time there are plenty of punters in early to see the death/thrash act.
With three albums under their belt, and a recently released live set, Schizophrenia set about their work. Thin Lizzy’s Are You Ready plays the band on. The tight schedule means they waste no time in getting stuck in. There is little chance for breath between tracks.
Drummer Lorenzo Vissol welcomes the crowd and immediately starts a pumping bass drum beat. As the rest of the band enter the stage and join in, a pit opens up straight away. A sure fire sign that folks are up for it.
Plenty of frenetic solos, dark deathly vocals and changes in tempo here and there make for an engaging set. There is a really nostalgic essence to the set as the guitarists bang their heads in unison to the beat. Singer and bassist, Riccardo Mandozzi, invokes chanting from the crowd and encourages more circle pits. Manchester duly obliges. Shadows of crowd surfers can also be seen.
When the band do come up for air, the band greet the audience and they reciprocate. “You guys want to go more extreme?” With some enticing, the crowd keep the pits growing with a cover of Slayer’s Necrophiliac. All in all, a solid opening set of o whet the appetite.
Picture: Jens De Vos
IMMOLATION
Eleven albums in, Immolation are perennial veterans, much like tonight’s headliners. “Manchester, how we doing? Let me see those horns!” asks singer Ross Dolan with horns raised.
Watching Robert Vigna is a fascinating experience. His style is exhilarating and exuberant. The way he solos and the way he delivers his rhythmic sections shows that his high regard is well worth it.
Decked out in all black, save for the Steve Shalaty’s (drums) Cannibal Corpse shirt, the band show why they’re one of the most iconic and influential death metal bands. The crowd, now slightly more liquored, continue to give all their energy. It’s amazing what that Friday feeling can bring!
Vingre fist pumps encouraging the crowd to follow suit. Both he and rhythm guitarist Alex Bouks throw their guitars around with fury; picking notes up and down the fretboard in flamboyant fashion. Shifts in tempo are frequent.
Throughout the set, there is an intensity and claustrophobia that lots of bands fail to deliver. Immolation are clear masters of this. Noose Of Thorns is dedicated to all the bands on the bill and is particularly dissonant; A Glorious Epoch falls into the same bracket.
Dolan remarks that this is something like the seventh run that Immolation have done with Cannibal Corpse over the last 36 years. To close, Immolation take us all the way back to their 1991 album, Dawn Of Possession with Into Everlasting Fire dedicated to all the ‘old school motherfuckers.’ It is an epic way to end. Immolation leave to huge applause and plenty of battered and bruised people from all the circle pits and crowd surfers.
MUNICIPAL WASTE
From the ever growing crowd and increasingly long lines for merch, it is clear Municipal Waste have a huge following. Due to their following, they are deserving of their slot just below tonight’s headliners.
Since the early noughties, Municipal Waste have been consistently releasing music. Like any good funk band worth their salt telling their crowd how funky they are going to get, Municipal Waste tell you how much they are going to thrash, drink and rip you apart. They don’t mess about in their quest tonight.
That Friday feeling has grown exponentially with the crowd going wild throughout the breakneck set. Each call to mosh, raise hands, go wild and/or create a pit is adhered to. Half of the set is taken from Electrified Brain and The Art Of Partying. This being around ten tracks – such is the length of the tracks.
Municipal Waste manage to fit in tracks from most parts of their discography throughout their energetic and thrashy set.
CANNIBAL CORPSE
The main course for the evening is the evergreen Cannibal Corpse. 2023’s Chaos Horrific followed pretty quickly after touring for Violence Unimagined ended. It is that record that makes up a few of tonight’s setlist selections. Blood Blind opens up the set in dense fashion.
Now a full time member of the band, Erik Rutan shreds his way through solos and rhythms that are dizzying. As the ever impressive Scourge Of Iron rattles the foundations, Rutan’s skill is yet clearer more with a spotlight on him as he rips the solo off.
Flanked by their iconic logo back drop and walking on stage with no real fanfare, Cannibal Corpse, and George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher spend little time engaging the crowd in the early throes. Fisher steps forward and announces Inhuman Harvest in his distinctive guttural style. He cuts an imposing figure as he helicopters his hair and head around in a frenzy.
One thing that Cannibal Corpse regularly do, is try and select tracks from most of their albums. Kill was the first record that Rutan produced for the band, and Death Walking Terror is an early highlight of the set. The riffs are precise and surgical; it is also a song where some of Fisher’s vocals are clearly audible.
Disposal Of The Body is preceded by a pause for breath from the band. As Fisher faces up the crowd, horns and hands are raised. Pounded Into Dust has a slower tempo but the soloing and riffing are no less brutal. If anything, they’re harder.
MAJESTIC DEATH METAL
Over the course of the evening, the crowd is lively. Plenty of people amass with patched up cuts, bruises and grins full of drunken catharsis. This is the kind of glee that heavy metal brings.
When Corpsegrinder speaks to the crowd again, he asks if there are any ladies in the crowd. Naturally, he proceeds in dedicating Fucked With A Knife to the fairer sex. Alex Webster’s bass shines on the ‘classic’ cut from 1994’s The Bleeding. Through Webster and drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz, Cannibal Corpse have one of the finest rhythm sections in the world of music.
As the band hammer majestically through the rest of their set, Pit Of Zombies and Kill Or Become are highlights. The band close out by going back in time to 1992’s Tomb Of The Mutilated with Hammer Smashed Face. It is a regular closer for the band and sends the crowd into raptures.
When a touring bill like this is announced, it is a treat. Tonight is no different. Each band brings different styles and a different energy. All bands are well versed in their music and the crowd in Manchester is always welcoming. On a night where most can let loose, it hits just that little bit harder.
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