Violently Beautiful Death Metal Imagined: Cannibal Corpse Storm and Desolate Sold-Out San Diego

November 23rd, 2022

From 2002-2006, Extreme Metal shows, here in the states, had some of the most stunning tour lineups you could think of. November 2002: Immolation/Vader/The Berzerker/Origin/Dreams of Damnation. A year later: Nile/Kreator/Vader/Amon Amarth/Goatwhore. If these tours took place today, the internet world would be astounded and glee with excitement. It certainly was, a glorious time to attend shows. Enter 2022, capping off a sensational year of Metal shows, Cannibal Corpse would bring forth an outstanding tour package, consisting of Dark Funeral, Immolation, two established headliners in their own right, as well as Black Anvil opening this Extreme Metal tour. This felt a lot like the early years, with a lineup like this, and brought some nostalgia back.

Traveling to San Diego, my favourite city in San Diego, personally, is nothing less than a joy. Especially so, attending The Observatory North Park for the first time, seeing the sold-out sign by the box office, and a crisp, cold breeze to ignite the excitement for this tremendous show. Friendly staff, with many I’ve seen work at Brick by Brick not too far from here, and a beautiful setup inside, tonight, Thanksgiving Jr. here was the place to be.

Different from the rest of this lineup, Black Anvil’s Black Metal with Progressive elements, to a warming up, eager crowd. “The Bet” opened with a double-bass flurry, as well with a dissonate strumming sequence, that had the audience nodding their heads and absorbing the sheer wall of sound. Compared to the rest of the other bands on this bill, Black Anvil would be considered, and deemed as ‘slower’, but comparing Black Metal to the faster aspects of Death Metal, wouldn’t do complete justice. I felt like the Progressive elements, gasping chords, and overall deceitful atmosphere, made for a grand portion of this stellar lineup. The energy from drummer R.G., was positively out of control to watch. From making faces all across the front row, to exciting blastbeats and enraging tom fills, you couldn’t help but wait and see which dynamic he brought forth next.

With the darkened, low-colour lights shading Black Anvil’s show, the halfway point of “29”, displaying a 4-note pedal downpicked section, with Sos screaming the vocals in agony, while providing lead sections and merciless sadness with the lead section. It’s nifty, and quite fun, to watch numerous members of a band, take over vocal duties. Frontman and bassist Paul Delaney, sought agony and reverence with the fans witnessing their set, taking their role as opening band seriously, and delivering a Progressive Black Metal set that could take the listener on a musical string, moving the masquerade in any position they wanted. With the entire set performed from their barely month-old record, Regenesis, the listener was reminded of the progressive elements from Black Anvil, and how the longer riff sequences, felt like a calming spa. Interchanging riffs, different atmospheric musical concepts, and an extra growl, to coat over it all, Black Anvil made a mark on this audience, properly warmed up, for what’s to come.

1. In Two

2. The Bet

3. 29

4. 8-Bit Terror

5. Grant Us His Love

6. Castrum Doloris

An eventual year for Immolation, to say the least. From their headlining tour earlier this year with Imperial Triumphant and Mortiferum, also with Carcass and Creeping Death during the late summer, it’s been one of the few times I’ve been able to capture Immolation more than twice a year. With the recent Acts of God record to ignite the Death Metal world, as personally their best record since Majesty and Decay, the promising quality and deafening excitement from their latest material, has demonstrated the level of intensity and sinister sound, that Immolation can still perform at presently. The no-nonsense speed and intro to “An Act of God”, set off this engaged San Diego crowd, displaying a furious, yet catchy riff sequence 1:16 into the song, along with the dirty harmonics, Immolation has been known for.

It’s unbelievable that for 34 years since Immolation’s inception, that the band can not only perform at still a supreme level, but continue to progress and level up presently. “Noose of Thorns” opening up with a stunningly memorable 6-note sequence, eventually bringing in Steve Shalaty’s intense, and changing double-bass patterns, to lead the intro to its’ main course. An uplifting build, with guitar extraordinaire and Immolation co-founder Bob Vigna, layering the riff with his stunning dissonant, high note open-chord, one of his various signatures. The rhythm section of Immolation doesn’t get discussed enough, and Alex Bourks’s ferocious, downpicking ability, drove those groovier/pummeling riffs. A profoundly strong record in Acts of God, I’m thankful the band is playing the majority of their set from it. However, the few classic songs that were played, got a rousing reaction from the audience, with “Burial Ground” from the 1991 debut Dawn of Possession, enraged the circle pit to a large degree, carrying out the nostalgia and old-school Death Metal vibes greatly. No matter where Immolation is on the touring lineup, they simply give their best, in grand excellence.

My surprise, and shock of the evening, Immolation performing “Of Martyrs and Men” from one of their most powerful albums, Unholy Cult, and the soft transition from their mid-era to the present. That desolate, accentuating clean intro, still puts me in a deep, musical gaze every time. With this track possessing one of Immolation’s greatest solos, Vigna nailed every note, incorporating the slight Blues influence in the tremolo picked parts. Ross Dolan’s higher bass triplet notes heard loudly within the outro, a reminder of how well-produced that record was, for bass guitar to be prominent in the mix back in 2002, quite uncommon then in Death Metal. I was pleasantly surprised at how long Immolation played for tonight, considering this star-stunned lineup, but extremely grateful the bands getting a proper amount of time to play. The LA show in March for Immolation I felt was their best this year, but their performance tonight was extremely close, and still another outstanding, riveting show, from one of the great titans we have in all of Death Metal. 2022 was a remarkable year for Immolation, and here’s to 2023 being just as good to them.

1. An Act of God

2. The Age of No Light

3. Swarm of Terror

4. Noose of Thorns

5. When the Jackals Come

6. Overtures of the Wicked

7. Burial Ground

8. Shed the Light

9. Of Martyrs and Men

10. When Halos Burn

11. Let the Darkness In

With this being my 3rd time watching Dark Funeral, it was important. Because the band doesn’t tour quite as much to the states, yes, but on a objective side, to see if they were a quality live band, for myself. Seeing them with Enslaved way back in 2007, suffering from a subpar sound that night, not to mention performing after Enslaved, certainly not easy to do, and being slightly underwhelmed at the Devastation of the Nation 2018 show. Was it just performing alongside other amazing bands in compare, and/or rough sound nights in a row? This was the night to find out.

And right away, it turned out to be poor timing and coincidence from the previous shows. Dark Funeral’s grimfrost atmosphere, eclipsing riffs, and pounding, elite drumming, paved for a stunning performance. The maddening, blistering blasting intro to “Hail Murder”, with that variating 4-note tremolo picked riff by its side, showed Dark Funeral to be one of the more blistering Black Metal bands in tempo. Not to mention, Janne Jaloma on drums for them, possessing jaw-dropping single stroke techniques, 300+ BPM with total ease, and an engulfing command of Dark Funeral’s groundbreaking speed.

The whirling soundwaves of destruction continued forth, with a haunting clean-picked arpeggio opening “When I’m Gone”. The darkened presence from vocalist Heljarmadr, resonated all across The Observatory North Park halls. A showman, and also nailing those piercing screams, there was a level of anger to his harsh vocals tonight, and it guided Dark Funeral’s set quite nicely. Janne Jaloma’s tremendous drumming intro to “Let the Devil In”, along with Dark Funeral founder and creator Lord Ahriman’s, melancholic riffing hypnosis, coloured and highlighted of the best songs, in Dark Funeral’s 50-miinute set. This was the first time for me, that I truly enjoyed watching Dark Funeral live from start to finish. A roaring, elated crowd, gave all the support and praise for them, and it brought forth a stunning Black Metal performance. Sometimes, they’ll be coincidences of seeing for yourself performances you wish could be better. Tonight, Dark Funeral captivated San Diego, in a way I truly wasn’t expecting.

1. Unchain My Soul

2. Hail Murder

3. Leviathan

4. My Funeral

5. The Secrets of the Black Arts

6. Open the Gates

7. When I’m Gone

8. Nail Them to the Cross

9. Let the Devil In

10. Where Shadows Forever Reign

The chants for Cannibal Corpse echoed harshly, and with grand fiber, automatic excitement, and happiness. For the newbies catching them for the first time, or to the veteran seeing the group perform several times, you know what you’re getting witnessing a Cannibal Corpse performance: absolute solid musicianship, and mosh pits for weeks.

The rapid-fire intro “The Time to Kill is Now”, simply doesn’t tire the soul. A 2-minute track of Death Metal madness, the pit immediately circled across the floor, creating a wave of bodies soaring in every spot. Dedicating “Fucked with a Knife”, to all the women in the audience by Corpsegrinder, in which this sold-out venue leading the charge with a rousing scream from the many women in this venue, a blast from the past of Cannibal Corpse’s earlier work. Thrashy-Death Metal, with that signature hammer-on riff played at intense speed, but tuned down to A#, creating such a dooming dynamic, to the high-paced notes.

The setlist (more on that later), contained from 13 of their 15 studio albums, bringing forth a collection of quality material, spanning 30+ years of Cannibal Corpse’s career. One of the most important guitarists and songwriters in all of Death Metal, Erik Rutan’s live presence brings a new dimension to the band, with the glorious, enriching melodic lead guitar approach, translating to an uplifting musical journey. He’s fit unbelievably well with Cannibal Corpse, and has only made the band that much better. Alex Webster’s bass felt predominately strong in “Unleashing the Bloodthirsty”, with the pedal notes and chords beefy, crunchy, and riff-strong. Writing the majority of their songs, his attention to booming, distorted groove, paves the way for the massive amount of headbanging, one does listen to Cannibal Corpse. It felt like a chorus hearing “Stripped, Raped, and Strangled”, as countless in the crowd, sung the track beyond the top of their lungs alongside Corpsegrinder, being one of the band’s classic songs. The participation and kinetic energy felt during this, and the sequence to “Hammered Smashed Face”, made for a astonishing sight in the audience, with no part of the venue feeling safe to stand still and watch. Cannibal Corpse’s energy, live presence, and overall ability, makes for an unforgettable live act.

As memorable, varied, and powerful Cannibal Corpse performs to, I did have a gripe tonight. Asides “The Time to Kill is Now” and “Scourge of Iron” changing places, this was the exact same set I saw the band play in March of this year. The set itself, is excellent, but to basically keep every song the same 8 months later, and not insert/take out a track for this part of the tour, was disappointing. I just hope that the set can be varied up even slightly, if there is more than one tour to see. Fans love excitement, and different changes, I assure you no one’s going to leave. But overall, Cannibal Corpse still put forth a fantastic 90-minute set, leaving this sold-out San Diego venue, a parting Thanksgiving gift to enjoy the food coma, awaiting.

1. Scourge of Iron

2. The Time to Kill Is Now

3. Inhumane Harvest

4. Code of the Slashers

5. Fucked with a Kn

6. The Wretched Spawn

7. Gutted

8. Kill or Become

9. I Cum Blood

10. Evisceration Plague

11. Death Walking Terror

12. Condemnation Contagion