Celebrating the 25th anniversary of Metal Blade Records, thrash fans got loud and proud at the Hollywood House of Blues on Friday, September 14th. Headlining band Cannibal Corpse has certainly been on the cutting edge of a particular breed of heavy music for most of that time, providing inspiration and incentive for subsequent crunching crews that included the supporting bands for this particular bill, which included The Red Chord from Massachusetts, The Black Dahlia Murder from Michigan, and Goatwhore from Louisiana. There was definitely a lot more black metal than Delta blues in this show, that’s for sure.
Supporting their latest studio album, Prey for Eyes, which dropped just last month, The Red Chord was in fine shape for the frenzied festivities. Following a well-received set by Goatwhore, singer Guy Kozowik stepped up to the microphone and vigorously urged the crowd to get the moshing going. Looking youthful and fit, Guy seemed ready to vanquish the vortex of any pit that might choose to churn his way, and his bandmates – guitarists Mike McKenzie Mike Keller, with drummer Brad Fickeisen and bassist Greg Weeks – also appeared primed and able for action. As expected, cuts from the group’s new CD occupied a good bulk of the set, including “Tread on the Necks of Kings” and “Dread Prevailed.” Guy’s voice was in fine gravelly form for older songs such as “Nihilist,” which spurred at least one frisky crowd-surfer to brave the wrath of the house’s front-line security billies. (Guy made sure to give a shout-out for the evening’s reason for being, the Metal Blade 25th Anniversary, taking time to thank label-founder Brian Slagel for his support through the years.) The band was in particularly fine form for their latest disk’s title cut (which is listed, in the liner notes, with the alternate spelling: “Pray for Eyes,” hmm…). Chunky, dissonant chords combined with harmonic bends to produce a churning blend that had the floor hopping, swirling, and slamming, in a frenzy so intense that Guy graciously began heaving water bottles to thirsty fans. Soon thereafter, though the crowd was eager for plenty more, The Red Chord’s time in the House of Blues spotlight was coming to a close, and the band members left like rock-’n’-roll champions, happily high-fiving as many fans as possible on their way offstage.
The Black Dahlia Murder was up next, welcomed by much motion from the as-yet-unwearied moshers on the floor. Also promoting a new CD, Nocturnal, the band was welcomed, like The Red Chord before them, with fist-pumping, horn-raising enthusiasm, from the moment they burst into the new disk’s first cut, “Everything Went Black.” Vocalist Trevor Strnad presided over a brutal pit, flanked by guitarists Brian Eschbach and John Kempainen, backed by bassist Ryan Williams and drummer Shannon Lucas. Besides the title track, other songs played from the new effort included “What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse” and the short, punchy piece, “I Worship Only What You Bleed.” Trevor told the crowd, “You guys are rad!” – a statement which was confirmed the moment the band burst into “Statutory Ape,” which spurred instant mosh-madness. As Trevor growling over his bandmates’ grind, The Black Dahlia Murder concluded their vicious set with the title cut from their previous CD, “Miasma.”
And now was time for the headliners. Cannibal Corpse has been the soundtrack of numerous nightmares since about 1988, and judging from this evening’s performance, they didn’t appear ready to relent any time soon. Chunky singer George Fisher, partnered with Pat O’Brien and Rob Barrett on guitar, with Alex Webster and Paul Mazurkiewicz on bass and drums, came to deliver the deadly goods to a ghoulish yet hearty horde. The band’s tenth and latest studio album was Kill, released last year, and the crowd was avid for live renderings of such tracks from that effort as “The Time to Kill Is Now,” “Death Walking Terror,” “Make Them Suffer,” and “Five Nails Through the Neck” – displaying a thematic unity that could remind one of the old AC/DC cut, “If You Want Blood, You Got It.” But really, Cannibal Corpse’s brand of thrashing death-metal is a much different flavor from the tongue-in-cheek, head-bobbing hard-rock anthems produced by Angus and the boys, and death-metal is what fans were there for at the House of Blues, and that’s what they got. Funny thing is, this kind of music seems fueled more by adrenaline than artificial additives, and so it was that none of the sweaty performers throughout the evening were seen swilling anything stronger than water or Gatorade.
Encores included, Cannibal Corpse’s set totaled 17 songs, and before the penultimate offering, “Hammer Smashed Face,” George exhorted the crowd to “Keep supporting death-metal – you’re the lifeblood!” A contradiction in terms? Perhaps, as much art may be. Not everybody’s cup of blood, to be sure, but there’s definitely an audience for the genre, and for the various shades found within it, as seen at this lively show with Goatwhore, The Black Dahlia Murder, and The Red Chord.
"The Time to Kill Is Now" (Webster) – 2:03
"Make Them Suffer" (O'Brien/Mazurkiewicz) – 2:50
"Murder Worship" (Webster) – 3:56
"Necrosadistic Warning" (Webster) – 3:28
"Five Nails Through the Neck" (Webster) – 3:45
"Purification by Fire" (O'Brien/Mazurkiewicz) – 2:57
"Death Walking Terror" (Webster) – 3:31
"Barbaric Bludgeonings" (Barrett) – 3:42
"The Discipline of Revenge" (Webster) – 3:39
"Brain Removal Device" (O'Brien/Mazurkiewicz) – 3:14
"Maniacal" (Webster) – 2:12
"Submerged in Boiling Flesh" (Mazurkiewicz) – 2:52
"Infinite Misery" (O'Brien) – 4:01
