I have been to a fair number of concerts, especially over the last few years. And yet, I have not been to too many pure death metal concerts. I have seen Suffocation, but they were supporting The Black Dahlia Murder. I have seen Obituary, but they were with Skeletonwitch and Pallbearer, among others. So the concert last night was the closest I have been to a real death metal concert. Cannibal Corpse was the headliner, with Hate Eternal in support, and local band Ezra as the opener. Of course there was one more band, and I will get to that.
Ezra was the opener, and the Lincoln natives remain one of the longest tenured Nebraska metal bands, having formed some time in the late 80's/early 90's. I have seen them before and they impressed me once again. The bassist and guitarist are brothers of former Nebraska football standout Cory Schlesinger. Just kind of an interesting note.
The next band was Harms Way, a group I had not heard of before looking into this concert. I was not terribly impressed. Harms Way is a hardcore band and much of their music sounded basically the same, with chugging riffs and shouted vocals. The singer is a muscle-bound ball of energy who blasted around the stage. But I just could not get into them. I will not be checking them out further.
Hate Eternal, the band formed by former Ripping Corpse and Morbid Angel axe-man Erik Rutan, was next on the stage. There were no real surprises from them, Hate Eternal has a fairly straightforward sound, with fast-paced riffing, blasting drums, and Rutan's decayed vocal style. It has been awhile since I have checked in with the band, and I am not shocked that not much has changed. Their hyperactive blasting style works for them.
And finally Cannibal Corpse took over and delivered a blistering set featuring a wide variety of new and old songs. George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher was feeling a little under the weather and was not able to hit some of the deep roars the band had become known for. The other aspects of the band's sound were present from the grotesque lyrical themes and slightly technical riffing. The band played a number of their classic tracks, such as "The Wretched Spawn", "Skull Full of Maggots", and "Make Them Suffer". Of course they also had to play "I Cum Blood" and close out the set with "Hammer-Smashed Face".
It was a fun show and it is great to cross another legendary band off the list of groups I need to see. I am not the biggest Cannibal Corpse fan, but I enjoyed the show quite a bit nonetheless. They can definitely still get the crowd worked up.
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