Cannibal Corpse | S&A, Belfast - Live Review

Cannibal Corpse
Spring & Airbrake, Belfast
Sunday 22nd August 2010

As doors open for this show there is an undeniable air of anticipation, not only for the first Belfast show for Death Metal’s biggest band in many moons (as their inter-festival mini-tour of Ireland coincides with that of another US Death Metal great in the form of Suffocation) but also for Belfast to come out and show how much its Metal scene has grown and matured since the last time Cannibal Corpse rolled through.

Turnout for Belfast shows has been up all year with the Bolt Thrower/Decades Of Aggression double-whammy back in May setting the bar pretty high for tonight to follow. With that weekend in Spring being marred by heavy-handed security staff and tonight’s show having no barrier its a surprise that it all goes off without a hitch, but a pleasant surprise at that.

Another victory for Metal in Belfast but tonight’s real victory is the turnout; to my eye there’s around 350 ravenous Death Metal fans inside by the time Cannibal take the stage, which is an achievement after such a gig heavy August in Belfast and the usual money drain of Summer festivals.

Kilkenny’s Atrax Mantis are first up and their desire to make the most of the opportunity given to them by the Distortion Project tonight is obvious. They play a tight and concise set of not-quite-old-school-but-not-quite-new-school brutality that leaves this reviewer hungry for his next chance to see them again, but what this young band really need to capitalise on this exposure is a new physical release to follow up 2008’s ‘Condemned to Hatred’ EP.

And speaking of new releases did I hear Condemned say that the long (long, long) awaited debut album is just weeks away? If so this is incredible news for fans of the band as the new material such as ‘The Dark Place’ is sounding tighter than ever live along side classics like ‘Leave Me Alone (Or I’ll Kill Again.)’

For those who are seeing Cannibal for the first time tonight (and considering the number of young faces, this is the case for many) the excitement of this proverbial cherry popping in your hometown, in a near enough packed out venue, with no barrier and no bouncers interfering in the pit must be incredible.

And as someone who has seen Cannibal Corpse before, I have to admit I’m jealous of the young whippersnappers. The old hands will agree with me I’m sure; this is not a bad show, its still a quality brutal Death Metal gig but every time seeing these guys on stage after your first will be “just another time.”

To go back to the sexual analogies in every relationship there comes a point where you need to spice it up a bit and after a while watching Corpsegrinder’s constant windmilling and recycling of the same stage banter he’s been using for years (yes I know you were lying about that being the last song, you told me so last Sunday at Bloodstock) just doesn’t make me want to cum (blood) in my pants like it used to.

In fairness the tracks that have been added to this summer festival season’s hour long slot are pretty solid choices (”Skull Full Of Maggots” and “Staring Through The Eyes Of The Dead” being the juiciest) but elsewhere, “Gutted” seems like a pretty uninspired choice especially when the much catchier “Covered With Sores” or “Vomit The Soul” from the same album could’ve replaced it.

Fearing that I’ve come off too critical on George, Alex and co I’ll conclude by saying tonight was still one of the best nights out in Belfast I’ve had this year, but I can’t shake the feeling of wanting a little more excitement out of the old boys - especially when the very next night Suffocation truly blew me away.

- Matthew Moore ::: 04/09/10