It’s Sunday night, and there’s a handful of people wearing corpse paint, standing around patiently at The Roundhouse in the UK capital as they wait for death metal titans, CANNIBAL CORPSE, to take to the stage. Typical of a night out in Camden, really, but very much a home for all four bands (SCHIZOPHRENIA, IMMOLATION, MUNICIPAL WASTE and CANNIBAL CORPSE) and the amassing fans.
Death-meets-thrash metal band, SCHIZOPHRENIA open up as the first band of the evening, grabbing the attention of fans as they move and play effortlessly across the stage. Drummer, Lorenzo Vissol, stands out with the fact he hypes up the crowd as he plays and is constantly smiling throughout. SCHIZOPHRENIA showed that despite that they are a young band, they have the songs and stage presence to prove why they are on this bill with CANNIBAL CORPSE.
Rating: 8/10
Up next are IMMOLATION, with their brutal riffs and the legacy that this band has, IMMOLATION made sure that each fan – both old and new – knew exactly what they got from the set: heavy in your face noises as well as melody that balanced the set out. Half way through set, IMMOLATION not only gave a shout out to all the bands on the bill, they also dedicated a song to Erik Ruton (who had to leave the tour early due to the damage caused by Hurricane Helene in his home state of Florida). Very respectful and wholesome, indeed.
Rating: 8/10
Main support act, MUNICIPAL WASTE actually wasted no time in making everyone feel involved. Their showmanship throughout their set led to egging on the crowd by demanding everyone to crowdsurf. This led to chaos especially with mosh pits everywhere and the constant stream of crowdsurfers of every moment of the songs, putting security to work. They ended their set with Born To Party, with chants of “MUNICIPAL WASTE is gonna fuck you up!”, it was the perfect way to get fans excited and riled up for the main act of the night.
Rating: 9/10
Whatever threatening/eerie image you have in your head of vocalist Corpsegrinder aka George Fisher, it is immediately gone because as the band came on to the stage, a fan from the front row hands a stuffed toy bear to George. Cheers came from the fans as he held it up with a smile as he placed it on the back of the stage.
Following this, CANNIBAL CORPSE immediately transitioned smoothly to their first song – Blood Blind – from their latest album, Chaos Horrific, and it is a sudden reminder of who this band is. The descent into mosh pits is felt from the front row as the band playing just slaps you in the face with excitement and the feeling of dread. The Roundhouse is filled with red and blue colours across the stage, just the way it should be for a death metal band. As a sudden four piece band without the presence of Erik, it didn’t deter from their performance in the slightest.
As a band with a long successful legacy, the setlist spanned material from across 11 of their albums, all flowing well in to each other. As George commands the crowd, the band keep the crowd on their toes and Fisher‘s relentless headbanging with every song encourages everyone to do the same, if they can keep up, is another story entirely. The funny moments of the set comes from when George talks to the fans, his humour to mess around, such as telling all the men off for screaming when he said the band wanted to dedicate a song to the women in the crowd.
Near the end of the set, he teases everyone by saying “I’ve decided out of the kindness in my heart, this is still going to be the last song”, which erupted in a mixture of cheers and sounds of disappointment.
Closing the set, there’s a pit opening up as wide as possible, while George screams “I’m sure you know what this song is next, but I’m gonna tell you motherfuckers anyway” and as the intro of Hammer Smashed Face unleashes, the entire venue turns in crushing wave of bodies flying everywhere and into each other. A song so popular that it was played in mainstream movies. Chants of people singing along to the riffs echoes around The Roundhouse is a highlight to see and hear.
CANNIBAL CORPSE are a household name whether you’re into metal or not. With 36 years under their collective belts and boasting music that is still refreshing and never wavering in heaviness, it’s no wonder that the band have solid out The Roundhouse. After all these years, CANNIBAL CORPSE still have the tenacity and ravenous hunger for aural destruction and to witness their explosive mastery of death metal is a joy to behold. Long may it continue.
Rating: 10/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Sarah Tsang here:
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