Cannibal Corpse
March 8, 2016
Mayan Theatre- Los Angeles, CA
Legendary death metal veterans Cannibal Corpse once again set out on a US tour to deliver pure death metal music to metal heads all over the country. Even with all the controversies the band has been through due to their image and graphic/horror lyrics and album covers, they have over 2 million in album sales making them the top-selling death metal band of all time. On September 16, 2014 the band released their thirteenth studio album titled A Skeletal Domain and once again proved that metal is still alive and stronger than ever! Cannibal Corpse made one of their stops at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles, California and were more than ready to make the venue tremble as they had earned themselves a sold out show on this night!
Just as the band was getting ready to come on stage, fans were eager to see them as they chanted, “Cannibal! Cannibal! Cannibal!”. The lights went out and the sold out crowd erupted into a huge roar as the members of Cannibal Corpse made their way to the stage. They started the show with Evisceration Plague from their 2009 album of the same name. Frontman George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher made his way center stage and delivered his legendary death metal growls onto the crowd and they went crazy and started moshing as if their life depended on it. Aside from his singing style, Corpsegrinder is also known for his head banging and head spinning which is one of the greatest sights in metal. With such long and straight hair, you could watch him head spin and head bang and you’d never get tired of it. Not only was there a mosh pit, but crowd surfers also were making their way to the front. The Time to Kill Is Now was the second choice for a song and kept the crowd going. Scourge of Iron from their previous Torture album was the third song and is a bit slower than most of their songs. With the way the song starts, it gives Corpsegrinder more opportunities to show his head-spinning technique he loves to use. Then the song changes sound and from 
there, all the band band members head bang in unison with Corpsegrinder’s hair flying everywhere. The bass god Alex Webster maintains his posture with his head down and hair in front of his face while he picks away at his bass with his famous bass lines that made him one of the most respected bassists and musicians in metal.
For most of their career, Cannibal Corpse has been a target for controversies due to their album artwork, song titles, and violent lyrics. Stripped, Raped, and Strangled was the next song played and is one of the song titles that always gives non-metal listeners an uneasy feeling. Without slowing down, Cannibal Corpse played fast song after fast song and the mosh pits and crowd surfers seemed never ending. Songs like Pit of Zombies, The Wretched Spawn, Sadistic Embodiment, and Icepick Lobotomy are examples of gross song titles, yet awesome! In between songs, Corpsegrinder would chat with the crowd, mess with them, and tell jokes to keep everyone in a good mood. He asked the crowd, “do you wanna hear old stuff!?” the crowd let out a loud cheer as the next song was announced which was Covered With Sores from their second album, Butchered at Birth. Born in a Casket was the only song played from their debut Eaten Back to Life album and is always nice to hear Cannibal Corpse playing songs from their early years. Corpsegrinder took a quick break to talk to the audience about the next song that was about to be played. He said the song is a love song and to not worry, someone does die in the song so it’s not all mushy-mushy love. He mentioned the song was about shooting blood from your cock! Fans of the band new exactly what song was coming. Corpsegrinder positioned himself on stage and prepared for one of the band’s best songs, I Cum Blood; or in the words of Corpsegrinder himself, “I…CUM…BLOOOOD!!”. The song started and Corpsegrinder let out his deep guttural vocals which drove the fans crazy and created a massive mosh pit. Make Them Suffer is one of the band’s somewhat newer songs that they regularly play and has become a live staple song and is welcomed by the fans for it’s fast and brutal death metal sound. It’s quite satisfying to sing along with Corpsegrinder as he belts out “MAAAKE…THEEEM…SUUUFFERRR!!”. Corpsegrinder talked to the fans once again and let everyone know that unfortunately this was the last song. He asked the crowd, “You want some more!?” The crowd cheered, but he was not convinced. He asked again and the crowd cheered much louder the second time. Corpsegrinder went on to say, “well, after considering your cries and your pleas….it’s still the last song! HA!”. The crowd let out a disappointing groan. Now that the song was getting to start, Corpsegrinder asked the crowd, “are you ready!?” the crowd cheered as they were fired up. He asked once again, “are…you…READY!?!?” and the crowd yelled even louder. The band was preparing to play their best known song and one of the best known songs in metal, the legendary death metal track, Hammer Smashed Face. Corpsegrinder planted both feet on the ground and he belted out the song name, “HAMMERRR…SMAAASHED…FAAAACE!!”. The song started as Corpsegrinder did his traditional head-spinning to the beginning of the song. After the intro is over, Webster shined for a few seconds on his bass solo for the song which is one of the most recognized bass lines in metal. The song kept going with Corpsegrinder belting out his vocals. Since the song is one of the best known songs in metal, it always drives the fans extremely crazy and that song created a huge mosh pit where most of the floor was going in a circle and/or shoving against each other. It was truly a spectacle view. When the song ended, Corpsegrinder asked, “do you want one more song!?”. The crowd for sure cheered and so he introduced the final song of the night which was Devoured By Vermin. The show came to an end and fans were very happy with the band’s performance. Guitar picks were thrown into the crowd as well as drum sticks. If loud shows and insane mosh pits are your things at concerts, Cannibal Corpse is one of the best bands out there that’s guaranteed to deliver.
Review by: Misael Ruiz
