CANNIBAL CORPSE Gig Review
Support Acts: Triptykon, Enslaved, Job For A Cowboy

London Forum, 10th March 2012

Review by Yiannis (John) Stefanis

There is something quite reassuring in knowing that, even during times of escalating economic austerity such as these, a venue of the size of the London Forum can still reach its full capacity on a Saturday night. Cannibal Corpse may deserve the second lease of popularity that they are currently enjoying due to the sheer hard work that they have been putting in these last few years, however, there are also other forces in action tonight to make tonight’s show an absolute “must”! Apart from the fact that Thomas Gabriel “Warrior” Fischer’s Triptykon will be gracing the stage of the north London venue, further support is provided by Norwegian heavyweights Enslaved and from the Arizona Deathcore quintet Job for a Cowboy – all in all, a very decent billing indeed.

Having conducted interviews with members from both Enslaved and Cannibal Corpse, and knowing that this was to be a very demanding night for my old legs, I opted for a coffee break. As a result, I only really managed to get inside the venue at the time when the last few riffs of their closing composition, which I believe was “Constitutional Masturbation” were performed, so I cannot say anything other than that their sound was fairly appalling but also that a certain ‘healthy’ number of people did put their hands together for them when they decided to leave the stage shortly thereafter.

The road crew of what is called the ‘Destroyers Of The Faith’ were very professional in clearing the stage fast, however, when Enslaved made their grand entrance twenty or so minutes later the sound was as bad and as loud as that ‘enjoyed’ by Job For A Cowbody. From the time when the first few notes of “Ethica Odini” were performed, the Norwegians seemed to be in pretty high spirits, with frontman Grutle Kjellson (vocals) pulling faces and engaging with the audience at the same time when Arve Isdal was testing his balancing skills between different monitors and Ivar Bjornson was filling the right of the stage with his head-banging moves. Songs like the follow up “Fusion Of Sense And Earth” would have really benefited from the band’s usual video wall, but tonight the Bergen quintet would have to rely on their own skills to attract people’s attention, something that they achieved with unnerving ease. Gruntle demanded people’s participation during “Ground” and rewarded the audience for its reaction by dedicating to them the follow-up “Giants” – a song during which Ivar Bjornson showed his unique performing skills by performing the riff with his right hand while, at the same time, treating himself to a cold beer with the other. There wasn’t a single person in the audience who was not surprised by the band’s decision to perform a cover version of Led Zeppelin’s classic “Immigrant Song” and everyone participated in the ‘ancient art’ of head banging during the closing opus “Isa” – a definite crowd pleaser! Had Enslaved enjoyed the same sound quality as the headliners did tonight, there would be quite a few people, myself included, who would have perhaps felt that their performance was the best of the evening, but the only thing that they hopefully managed to achieve was to convince more people that they are worth supporting in the future.

Thomas Gabriel “Warrior” Fischer’s cult status as the ex-leader of the gender defining outfit Celtic Frost has probably ensured that Triptykon would enjoy a better reception by the Cannibal Corpse crowd in relation to their predecessors but there were also a few additional factors which ensured that their short appearance would be one to remember. By the time the Zurich quartet decided to make their way onto the stage, the sound quality has ‘miraculously’ reached pretty high standards and the venue’s lightning system was used to its full capacity. If, on top of that, you begin your set with an atmospheric/sinister cover of the all-time classic “Circle Of The Tyrants” you are pretty much guaranteed total success. Sporting his trademark corpse paint and cap and dressed from head to toe in black, Tomas Gabriel was a commanding figure on stage and in constant communication with fellow guitarist V. Santura while the duet Vanja Slajh (bass)/Norman Lonhard (drums) provided the guitar duet with plenty of support in terms of galloping drums and solid bass lines. “Goetia”, the first Triptykon composition of the night, was greeted with a massive roar by the crowd with a few punters crowd surfing and when Cannibal Corpse ‘s frontman George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher was invited on stage to sing along to the mighty tunes of another Celtic Frost classic, namely “Dethroned Emperor”, the crowd went absolutely bonkers! Triptykon decided to close their set exactly as they started it, in a dark and atmospheric manner, and there was no better song to do that than the nineteen minute opus “The Prolonging” - a song which proved what a diverse and exciting group of musicians these guys really are!

The purpose of this tour is to help celebrate and promote the upcoming release of Cannibal Corpse’s twelfth studio album “Torture”, however the task of opening up the band’s set was granted to “Evisceration Plague” –a song which was adorned by the first of many sensational guitar solos, courtesy of Mr. Patrick O’Brien. Having been fired up by his short performance with Triptykon, George was his normal quite energetic self, wind-milling like mad to the tunes of “The Time To Kill Is Now” while Alex Webster’s unique bass skills were displayed during a very successful rendition of “Disfigured”. The band introduced their new album through impressive performances of “Demented Aggression” and ”Scourge Of Iron”, while the crowd seems to have been fairly amused by George’s graphic introductions for “I Cum Blood” and “Fucked With A Knife” – songs that will always cause strong and negative reactions from a certain portion of the world-wide Metal community. Paul Mazurkiewicz is an amazing drummer and there are no better compositions to prove that than old-school belters such as “Covered With Sores” and “Born In A Casket”, whereas the guitar work in “The Wretched Spawn” and “I Will Kill You” is simply outstanding! The crowd’s original reaction to the introduction of “Priests Of Sodom” was deemed unacceptable by George and the moment he accused the crowd of being ‘lame’ the temperature inside the venue suddenly rose to dangerous levels and the momentum achieved was maintained throughout both “Unleashing The Bloodthirsty” and “Make Them Suffer”. The all-time classic and personal favourite of mine “Hammer Smashed Face” may have been introduced as the last song of the night, but the crowd’s reaction was such that the finished the proceedings with another killer rendition of yet another classic, namely “Stripped, Raped And Strangled” after which they made their bows and wished us all goodnight.

It is amazing to realise that, even though it is a good twenty five years since Cannibal Corpse were first formed back in Buffalo/New York, there is yet no sign of them getting tired and wanting, as a result, to slow things down – not in the slightest. Today they may have performed their set in front of a ‘home crowd’ of sorts as the great relationship that they have created and maintained with their UK fans is one that is both long and well-tried, however George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher & Co proved that they are not simply a cult act but one that is capable of further musical evolution and of competing to the highest level. Having said that, much credit needs to be given to both Enslaved and Triptykon for ensuring that tonight’s show was both varied and musically stimulating, leaving us with the hope that we will continue to be spoiled by festivals of similar variety and quality by the promoting team responsible in the foreseeable future!

Enslaved Set List:

“Ethica Odini”
“Fusion Of Sense And Earth”
“Ground”
“Giants”
“Immigrant Song” (Led Zeppelin cover)
“Isa”

Triptykon Set List:

“Circle Of The Tyrants” (Celtic Frost cover)
“Goetia”
“Dethroned Emperor” (Celtic Frost cover)
“The Prolonging”

Cannibal Corpse Set List:

“Evisceration Plague”
“The Time To Kill Is Now”
“Disfigured”
“Demented Aggression”
“Scourge Of Iron”
“I Cum Blood”
“Fucked With A Knife”
“Covered With Sores”
“Born In A Casket”
“The Wretched Spawn”
“I Will Kill You”
“Priests Of Sodom”
“Unleashing The Bloodthirsty”
“Make Them Suffer”
“Hammer Smashed Face”
“Stripped, Raped And Strangled”

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