Cannibal Corpse – Live in Gothenburg 7/4-23
7/10
With Dark Funeral having finished their set, the headlining act of this Good Friday metal assault crept closer. Having seen Cannibal Corpse on a couple of occasions earlier, I knew what to expect. Then again, even without ever seeing them live before, you would probably have a pretty good idea of what’s to come. With the sold-out venue vibrating with anticipation, the conditions for a memorably death metal gig were excellent.
Kicking off the show with the insanely heavy Scourge of Iron was an interesting choice. It’s a fantastic – and insanely heavy – song but might have been ever more powerful in the middle of the set, contrasting more clearly against the other songs. I think my main issue with Cannibal Corpse live is the same issue I have with their newer studio albums. Most of the songs are roughly the same tempo and tend to blend together in a massive wall of sound. This impression might have been enhanced by the overpowering, way too loud sound from Erik Rutan’s guitar. This hid a lot of nuances from his colleagues’ instrumental work – a more balanced sound would have definitely improved the entire show.
Corpsegrinder really is a fantastic front-man, a true legend, and he was at his best this evening. Not even the beer glass some idiot threw at his head at the beginning of the first song seemed to be able to spoil his good mood, joking with the audience and growling his guts out. All of this while maintaining enough focus to direct unattentive security personnel to the front row during concert goers’ moments of need. Being a truly well-traveled gentleman, he had also made sure to pick up the most necessary phrases from the local language. That is, he had learned how to explain that I Cum Blood is about “shooting blood from your fucking cock” in Swedish.
All in all, a total of eighteen songs from thirteen different albums were played, with the only albums not represented in the setlist being Bloodthirst and Gore Obsessed. Personally, I would have loved more songs from Eaten Back to Life, as A Skull Full of Maggots was the best song of the night. Then again, with such a massive catalogue of albums it’s hard to please everybody.
I really want to emphasize what an impressive live act Cannibal Corpse is. A well-oiled machine, performing every song to brutal perfection night after night, year after year. I can’t imagine anyone leaving one of their shows disappointed and would definitely make sure to get another ticket immediately if they would schedule another gig here next week.
Setlist:
Scourge of Iron
The Time to Kill Is Now
Inhumane Harvest
Code of the Slashers
Fucked With a Knife
The Wretched Spawn
Gutted
Kill or Become
I Cum Blood
Evisceration Plague
Death Walking Terror
Condemnation Contagion
Necrogenic Resurrection
Unleashing the Bloodthirsty
Devoured by Vermin
A Skull Full of Maggots
Stripped, Raped and Strangled
Hammer Smashed Face
Who: Cannibal Corpse
Where: Pustervik, Gothenburg
When: 2023-04-07
Rating: 7/10
