Live Reviews : Cannibal Corpse, Psycroptic, Disentomb & Entrails Eradicated @ Billboard the Venue, Melbourne 05/10/2012

Live photos available in our gallery

Marking a return to Melbourne from a three year absence on the back of their recent studio release, Torture, the anticipation for death metal heavyweights Cannibal Corpse was reaching fever pitch well before the first bands started.
The headliners were well supported by Brisbane based Disentomb and Perth based tech metal maniacs Entrails Eradicated.  Copious amounts of diminished chord sweeping, crazy blasting and gang harmonized low and high pitch screaming made the entire crowd stand up and take notice when Entrails Eradicated played. I didn’t catch all of their track names but have a listen to Impending Annihilation and you will see what the fuss is about.

Psycroptic are now (if they weren’t already) the statesmen of Aussie metal and their rapport with the crowd was testament to this. Their sound was impeccable and the feeling of their set reminded all of the punters there why they are regarded as one of the prevailing forces of extreme / technical metal in Oz. With the ever present metronome like drum work of Dave Haley, the crowd was rewarded with a proficiently executed set of groove and technical prowess. Stand out tracks were Ob (servant), The Colour of Sleep and The Sleepers have Awoken although the entire set was memorable.

Cannibal Corpse took the stage to tumultuous applause. While they were touring on the back of Torture, their live set also covered a broad range of their back catalogue tracks that have made them one of the most recognisable sounds in death metal today. Having such a large back catalogue (12 studio albums), it was always going to be hard to cover all bases but they did a great job of blending old with new. What is often overlooked due to their horror / gore themed imagery is that these guys are amazing musicians. This is especially true for bassist Alex Webster who is regarded as one of the best bass players (for any genre) going around.  He (and the rest of the band) didn’t disappoint with track after track of grinding brutality. Webster’s spider like sprinting on the bass fret board was truly something to behold.

Front man George “Corpse grinder” Fisher built a great rapport with the punters while preparing them for each wave of blast beat heaven. Lead Guitarist, Pat Obrien immersed the crowd in surprisingly clear cut solos (in a live setting). Rhythm guitarist Rob Barrett provided impeccable support. The deep, disharmonic, machine like tapping from both guitarists reminded all punters that these guys were playing this way well before the tapping saturation from today’s bands was just a glint in Metalcore’s collective eye. Drummer, Paul Mazurkiewicz was an exercise in consistency with rolling double kick being tempered and combined with extraordinary blasting skills. While all of their tracks were memorable, the standouts included Demented Aggression, Scourge of Iron, Disfigured, Evisceration Plague, Covered with Sores, The Wretched Spawn, Born in a Casket, Make them Suffer and Hammer Smashed Face.

You know that a live show is going pretty nuts when a wheelchair is lifted in the pit and the occupant takes a dive. Well that is exactly what happened. It is a testament to the energy and respect that Cannibal Corpse bring with their live shows. It was a show that was enjoyed by many and will be forgotten by few. By all accounts, the show (including the band) kicked on to the Madhouse where drinks were enjoyed into the early hours of the following morning.

Photos by Ben Gunzburg