The mighty titan triad metal bill of Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, and Swedish metal mathematicians, Meshuggah, rolled into a humid, rainy, stormy Lou last night and rocked the sold-out crowd like a hurricane. The triple-header is at the beginning of a 20-date North American tour.
This was a metal fan’s dream lineup and a great bang for the buck when serving heavy music on a budget. The heavily male audience sported long hair, jeans, and the ubiquitous concert T-shirts—Lamb of God, Metallica, Gojira, Mastodon, Slayer, Sabbath, and many more. The merch line alone was hundreds deep and lined up from the front of the stage out the door. The mood was rowdy, testosterone-filled, and ready to bang their heads.
First on deck was Liverpool’s Carcass, the granddaddy originators of grindcore. Since 1988’s Reek of Putreficiation, this quartet has been revered by other hardcore bands, embraced by fans worldwide, and viewed as one of metal’s more essential bands. Their lyrics are known for graphic anatomical descriptions and dark themes. Their sound features a dual-guitar attack and bashing, good riffing and pounding.
Carcass’ bass player and vocalist, Jeff Walker, stood in the center of the stage, sported a Reek Of Putrefaction black T-Shirt, and wielded his oversized bass over his head and upright like a battle axe or large club. They took the stage to the “Living Dead at The Manchester Morgue” theme, received a warm welcome, and launched into “Unfit for Human Consumption” from the release Surgical Steel.
While their entire set was only seven numbers total (including “No Love Lost” and “Buried Dreams), when each song is as long as ten minutes, that’s a lot of metal compressed into a short set. Drummer Daniel Wilding was a grinning, bashing madman sitting behind a mountain of drums and cymbals, and both guitarists Bill Steer and James ‘Nip’ Blackford commanded their respective sides of the vast stage and shook their long locks to the music while tossing off sparks. Bassist and vocalist Jeff Walker was the focal point; he sported rockstar poses perfect for a quick snap and got the crowd primed.
