New York’s Cannibal Corpse, one of the most (unjustifiably) controversial music acts in the world played a pounding set of death metal that left their imitators over the last twenty years for dead. The set covered songs from their latest opus Evisceration Plague, all the way back to the first effort, 1990’s Eaten Back To Life.
As this was an all-ages event, it was great to see teeny-bangers deep in the mosh, having a ball. Conversely, the drinkers were relegated to a back area where the sound was less than spectacular – you could say it was shit. Memo Roundhouse: do you know how wristbands work?
With a name like Cannibal Corpse, you know you’re in for some wacky satirical song titles and lyrics. Just look at some of the songs they played; I Cum Blood, Fucked With A Knife, Priests Of Sodom, Sentenced To Burn, A Skull Full Of Maggots, The Wretched Spawn, Pit Of Zombies and their biggest hit Hammer Smashed Face. The irony with these type of songs (and the accompanying album artwork) is that the clowns that lash out at these guys clearly miss the joke (songs about zombies etc) and in the process of making themselves look like complete twats, they raise the profile of the very band they are vilifying!
Censorship’s a joke – you only need to look as for as some of the pop idols like slut megastar Britney Spears and others like her who get caught out off their face in public, with sex-tapes, I could go on… You know what I mean. Cannibal Corpse merely sing horror songs – and they do it so damn well. How else would they last twenty years?
For a guy who turned forty this year, front man George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher put in a hell of a performance. Admittedly, there were frequent breaks in-between songs to grab a breather – drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz was also puffing a bit. The problem they had was keeping up with the blurry speed of guitarists Pat O’Brien and Rob Barrett. And of course, bass freak Alex Webster was lightning fast – his clear sound really drives the band. Look no further than their opening triple-shot of Scalding Hail, Unleashing The Bloodthirsty, and Murder Worship. They were virtually flawless, and rounding out the Roundhouse show with fan favourite Stripped, Raped and Strangled was a perfect way to finish the night.
While Cannibal Corpse’s lyrical themes are often silly (like most horror movies), their brutal tunes are just so much fun, you can’t help but smile. This is heavy metal; you’re not meant to take it seriously, just enjoy it – everyone at the Roundhouse certainly did.
