“You can’t just gurgle words about murder and expect to become musical icons!” the ’90s mainstream shouted at Cannibal Corpse.
“Ha ha, death metal go brrrrrrr,” Cannibal Corpse replied.
We may be presenting it via the format of a dead meme, but that’s what happened as New York’s most brutal musicians began gaining traction. Now – with three decades of horrifying lyrics, unrepentant heaviness and disgusting artwork to their name – Cannibal Corpse have wormed their way into the blackened hearts of generations. That ever-growing admiration is made apparent by the fact that, in the Year Of Our Lord 2024, the band are embarking on their biggest-ever UK tour, which crescendos at London’s Roundhouse.
To help sell out the 1,500-person space, Cannibal Corpse have brought an array of extreme cult stars. Unsigned death/thrash up-and-comers SCHIZOPHRENIA open and do a capable job of igniting the masses. Their cover of Slayer deep cut Necrophiliac is the most pulse-pounding part of the warmup, a wall of death crashing in on itself as all hell breaks loose.
Next are Cannibal Corpse’s NY scenemates IMMOLATION, who never got their dues for being top-notch riff writers. Tonight goes some way to redress that balance, cuts like Noose Of Thorns sneaking tinges of melody into the extravaganza of distorted, grooving, hammering noise. Main support act MUNICIPAL WASTE are the odd ones out, eschewing death metal entirely to offer a full ’80s-style thrash-a-thon. Nonetheless, London goes apeshit, countless crowd-surfers flying over the barrier while the pit refuses to stop. The apex of the madness, continually egged on by frontman Tony Foresta, is when a bin gets tossed about amid the moshing melee during The Art Of Partying.
CANNIBAL CORPSE arrive to the soothing sound of smooth jazz. Ha! As if! The nauseating beloveds actually storm onto the stage with zero pomp and immediately burst into Blood Blind. Despite being taken off new album Chaos Horrific, the cut is classic CC, with drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz and bassist Alex Webster leading its shifts from knucklehead groove to head-spinning speed and back again. Vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher never breaks from his deep-voiced, full-necked roaring, but one surprise is the brilliance of the light show. Every blast of percussion gets matched with a flash from somewhere – be it the stage floor, the floodlights or even the centre of the roof – turning this four-piece (they’re down co-guitarist Erik Rutan tonight) into more of a visual treat than ever before.
From there, the setlist offers bruisers from across this band’s 30-plus year history. It’s like The Eras Tour except not at all, as each track is another pummelling that maintains London’s frenzy. The energy peaks with 1992 standout and set ender Hammer Smashed Face, its riffs and breakdown practically embedded in the DNA of death metal by now. It’s such a powerful finale that a crowd who’ve been circle-pitting to four bands since 6pm still get whipped up into a stupor.
Cannibal Corpse setlist: The Roundhouse, London – September 29, 2024
Blood Blind
Scourge Of Iron
Inhumane Harvest
Chaos Horrific
Death Walking Terror
Disposal Of The Body
Pounded Into Dust
Summoned For Sacrifice
Fucked With A Knife
The Wretched Spawn
Unleashing The Bloodthirsty
Pit Of Zombies
Kill Or Become
Staring Through The Eyes Of The Dead
Stripped, Raped And Strangled
Hammer Smashed Face
