CANNIBAL CORPSE (2019) Live Concert Review

With Special Guests THY ART IS MURDER - PERDITION TEMPLE

Posted on November 19, 2019 by Michael Juvinall in Concert Review, Features, Heavy Metal // 0 Comments

Venue: The Forge – Joliet, Illinois
Date: November 12, 2019
Special guests: THY ART IS MURDER, PERDITION TEMPLE
Reviewed by Michael Juvinall – Horror Patch
All Photos Copyrighted by Michael L. Juvinall

On this unseasonably cold and frigid evening in early November, I was trekking out to Joliet’s premier rock club, The Forge to see the infamous death metal legends CANNIBAL CORPSE. It was a packed house and things were about to heat up in Joliet tonight.

Even if you don’t know metal or their music, you know their name…Cannibal Corpse. They’re one of the most controversial bands in all of music, even heavy metal and that’s saying a lot. That’s because they’re known for their gore-filled lyrics and even gorier album covers. They’ve been banned in many foreign countries who won’t let the band perform live. With song titles like “Meat Hook Sodomy”, “Fucked With A Knife”, and “Necropedophile”, some might agree, but not die-hard death metal fans. With these fans, and I include myself as a fan, the band is storied and has garnered a cult following over the years. That’s why their shows consistently sell out on a regular basis.

At this show, it was a near-capacity crowd, even though it was a weeknight when most folks had to go to work the next day, and the actual temperature was around 12 degrees with wind chills below zero, now that’s what I call die-hard fans. Cannibal Corpse took the stage and the crowd erupted with cheers as frontman George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher appeared. He’s known for having an abnormally thick neck that he says is from headbanging and lifting weights when he was a kid and for being the “so-called” best headbanger in the world. I tell you, I don’t know how the guy does it. The only time he stopped banging and windmilling is to talk and sing. My neck would’ve been fractured after the first song.

The band has been relentlessly touring in support of their current album, 2017’s Red Before Black. They opened their set with “Code of the Slashers”, which really got the crowd going. Everyone seems to love George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, he has a knack of knowing how to work the crowd into a frenzy. The setlist consisted of a good array of tracks from their extensive discography. They played many favorites including “Devoured By Vermin”, “Evisceration Plague”, “I Cum Blood”, and “Hammer Smashed Face”.

This band is at their best when playing live. They are all excellent musicians and are tight as hell. Bassist Alex Webster and drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz are the sole original members of the group dating back to their beginnings. Guitarists Pat O’Brien and Rob Barrett are excellent in their roles.

Something I love about the band is they are not gimmicky, they get down to business without distractions. Their stage is plain, except for amps, which is all a band needs. There are no props, no band signs on stage getting in the way, not even any mic stands. They’re all about the music.

If you’re looking for good old American death metal in its truest form, look no further than Cannibal Corpse. They are one of the pioneers of the subgenre and nobody does it better than they do. These guys are one of the few that give people their money’s worth and played for 90 minutes. Many headliners today barely play for an hour. It’s great to see a group that plays old-school.

4 out of 5 Pentagrams!

Setlist:

Code of the Slashers
Only One Will Die
Red Before Black
Scourge of Iron
Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead
The Wretched Spawn
Devoured by Vermin
Unleashing the Bloodthirsty
Gutted
Kill or Become
A Skull Full of Maggots
Evisceration Plague
Firestorm Vengeance
Death Walking Terror
I Cum Blood
Make Them Suffer
Stripped, Raped and Strangled
Hammer Smashed Face

Click on each image to enlarge:

Direct support came from Australian deathcore outfit, THY ART IS MURDER. This band has been around the block a bit. They’ve been a band for about thirteen years. The crowd seemed to really enjoy the band. Most people knew many of the lyrics to their songs and sang them back to the band.

The guys were pretty energetic, not a static band at all. They all were great players and really knew their stuff. Vocalist Chris McMahon has a good stage presence and works the crowd really well.

For me, their music is decent at best. I’m not a huge fan of the deathcore sound, but the crowd seemed to be. Their set lasted 45 minutes.

3.5 out of 5 Pentagrams!

Setlist:

Death Squad Anthem
Make America Hate Again
Fur and Claw
Slaves Beyond Death
Holy War
No Absolution
Human Target
The Son of Misery
New Gods
Reign of Darkness
Puppet Master

Click to enlarge:

The opening spot of the night belonged to Tampa, Florida based blackened death metal outfit, PERDITION TEMPLE.

These guys had a good sound I enjoyed. They played traditional black/death metal and are a pretty decent band. They were not quite as polished as some of the more veteran groups but still great players. They were really heavy with a great guitar sound. The vocalist was solid as well. A good, solid band.

They played for 30 minutes.