CANNIBAL CORPSE / NAPALM DEATH / MACABRE / KATAKLYSM
11/13/2004 at House of Blues, Chicago
by Dr. Abner Mality
This had to be the heaviest show of the year, combining four
(originally 5) of the most lethal bands on the scene for a bargain price. So was
there any question that the Good Doctor would be there?
I attended the show with the beauteous and highly opinionated Mistress
Hydra in tow. Having broken her into the delights of rabid thrash with
a visit to last year's Slayer tour, this year I wanted to kick things
up a notch and see if she could withstand a withering onslaught of pure
raging death. Never one to back down from a challenge, Hydra gladly
accepted my invitation and looked especially forward to seeing Goatwhore
in action. Alas, she was to be disappointed on that score.
After enduring a quest for parking in downtown Chicago that would have
caused Gandalf the Wizard to cry out in surrender, I arrived at Hydra's
downtown abode. From there, we gorged on some excellent Vietnamese food
and hopped on the infamous Red Line train to the House of Blues. It was
my first time on the "L" and the experience proved to be surreal, to
say the least, as one of the shabbily dressed patrons suddenly decided to
tear down all of the promotional ads festooning our rail car. We were
also amused at the ad that showed a black guy talking on a cell phone
and saying "I'm glad I took my syphilis test and passed!" Only in the big
city!
We got to the HOB after a brisk walk in the November air and found
Kataklysm already in action. Goddamit, we missed almost the whole set by
the French Canadian madmen. Curiously enough, we came in on a drum solo,
which is a pretty rare sight at a death metal concert. They pounded out
a killer "Shadows and Dust" as well as "Ambassador of Pain" from the
new "Serenity in Fire" opus, both of which went over really well and
which made me regret not getting there a half hour or so earlier.
After Kataklysm's set, we got some bad news from a fellow banger:
Goatwhore was off the tour and not playing. This was pretty disappointing,
especially for Hydra, who was all jacked up to see the evil furry
prostitutes in action. "They're probably in prison," she guessed. Don't know
about that, but it was yet more hard luck for a band that seems to
endure an unholy amount of it.
That brought up hometown favorites Macabre, whom I have seen many
times. In fact, I've seen them enough for their set to be really predictable
to me. The usual favorites like "Albert Was the Worst Fish in the Sea",
"The Hitchhiker" and "The NIghtstalker" were trotted out, along with
the usual narration from Corporate Death. This time the guy in the Albert
Fish mask got his ass spanked by some punk rock chick, for at least a
little variety. I have to say this was the best sound I've ever heard in
connection with a Macabre concert, a lot better than anything they ever
got at Milwaukee Metalfest. I was glad to see the band include the
excellent "Fritz Haarmann Die Metzger" in the set as well as putting
"Zodiac" back in the list. Predictable or not, Macabre are sure unique and
Hydra got a kick out of their ghoulish but catchy ditties.
Napalm Death was next. What a fucking massacre this was! I can honestly
say this was the most energetic, the most brutal, the most raw and
definitely the most REAL show I saw in 2004. It's hard to describe if you
weren't there, but it's almost like a painful cleansing getting
bombarded by Napalm's precision grindcore. You feel sore as hell but refreshed
after the scouring. No stage effects, no long speeches to the crowd,
minimal stage lights...just you and the band.
I think it is truer than ever to say Napalm is more of a punk band than
a metal one. They just have that aura about them. Back in the day, the
Pistols, Black Flag and Dead Kennedys hit the rock world like a 100
megaton bomb. In 2004, something stronger is needed and that something is
Napalm Death. Barney Greenway, sporting his new shorter hairdo, was
totally in command of the crowd with his barks, growls and squeals, while
Mitch Harris and Shane Embury were the picture of furious concentration
as they hammered out riff after grinding riff. And what more can you
say about drummer Danny Herrera other than the guy cannot be human. I
just have total respect for the physical ability of this man...a cyborg
would have trouble keeping up with him.
Individual songs mean little during the frenzy of a Napalm set but some
of the highlights were "Suffer the Children", "Scum", "Enemy of the
Music Business" and the final barrage of "Siege of Power". During this
last number, they were joined on stage by a cowboy-hatted Kevin Sharp, the
former singer of Brutal Truth, who now resides in Chicago. They also
thrilled the crowd by playing some cool covers featured on their latest
album, "Leaders Not Followers Part 2". They ripped through Cryptic
Slaughter, Agnostic Front and finally, "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" by the
Kennedys.
It was just an awesome display of grindcore from the masters. Even
Mistress Hydra, laidback groove queen of the rave dancefloor, was knocked
senseless by Napalm and yelled her appreciation. "I think I'm gonna turn
to the dark side, Doc," she told me. Now THAT is something you like to
hear!!!
Cannibal Corpse was in a tough position following Napalm's great set,
but they sure came through with a gore-soaked onslaught of their own.
One thing's for sure, House of Blues doesn't scrimp when it comes to a
sound system..the Cannibals came across loud and clear. That's cool,
because they always run the risk of sounding like mud. But each guitar solo
and each torturous bend of the strings was a crystalline burst of
agony.
I just want to take this time to say that George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher
is the GREATEST HEADBANGING MACHINE ON EARTH! My God!! What does this
guy have in his neck and spine? He whipped his head in circles with so
much force and speed that his face distorted from the G-Forces. It was
an almost Matrix-like effect watching George's weirdly frozen features
spin like a fan blade. The pain this guy must feel the next morning has
to be indescribable and I shudder to think what shape his neck will be
in in a few years. A freak of nature, to be sure...
Corpse played a very furious and precise set with little wasted time,
going through such heart-warming ditties like "They Deserve to Die",
"Rotten Bodies Bursting" and an awesome "Cryptic Stench". They often
played at light speeds, but slowed down for some super catchy breakdowns
that sounded really sick and got the maniacs in the pit frothing at the
mouth. Hydra really dug Cannibal,too, proving she's got nerves of steel,
but she was rather put out when Fisher dedicated "Fucked With a Knife"
to all the women in the audience. For the final track, Fisher warned
us: "Guys, look after your women on the way home tonight or they might
get STRIPPED...RAPED...and STRANGLED!"
"It's nice to know he's thinking of me," chirped up Hydra, but she
banged her head as hard as anyone (except Fisher) during the song.
Unfortunately, that was CC's last tune, as the curtain descended with alarming
rapidity. However, it's easy to understand why Cannibal can't play a
two hour set...they would simply disintegrate if they had to thrash for
that long.
It was a damn cool show and heavier than a John Deere combine. We had
goofy grins on our faces as we staggered back to the train station and
then to the House of Hydra. While we stopped to get a late night snack,
a panhandler wearing a shirt that said "Jesus is my Homeboy" tried to
get a few bucks out of us. "If Jesus is your homeboy, he can buy you
some fries," Hydra told him. What a character!
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