Cannibal Corpse/Dark Funeral - 11/22/22 - Los Angeles, California
Death metal legends Cannibal Corpse announced a huge tour featuring Swedish black metal legends Dark Funeral, Immolation and Black Anvil. Many of the stops on the tour were sold out so you knew metalheads all over the USA were super excited for this tour. The Los Angeles stop for this tour was the Wiltern. SoCal fans were so ecstatic for this show that it sold out ahead of time. Even before doors opened, a line of fans had formed outside as they were even more excited to check out the show.
Dark Funeral released their seventh studio album We Are the Apocalypse on March 18, 2022. It had been a few years since Dark Funeral toured the USA, so this tour was overdue and a great reason for Dark Funeral to spread Satan and blasphemy to their American fans. The lights went out and the already packed venue cheered with excitement as the band members came out one by one. They started their show with Unchain My Soul, a song from their previous album Where Shadows Forever Reign. In true black metal fashion, the members all wore traditional black and white face paint along with armor. Fans naturally started to mosh to the black metal legends. The power of Satan was strong as Dark Funeral played through classics like Hail Murder, Open the Gates, The Secrets of the Black Arts and Nail Them to the Cross. Of course, no black metal show would be complete without singer Heljarmadr yelling out "Hail Satan!" to the audience and having the audience say it right back. Their set sadly came to an end with Where Shadows Forever Reign, the title track from their previous album of the same name. The fans continued to cheer as the band left the stage. Just one more band left to go that would surely bring the roof down.
If you listen to metal at all, then you are most definitely familiar with Cannibal Corpse. They have been releasing albums since 1990's Eaten Back to Life. Since then, they have sold over two million albums worldwide making them one of the biggest death metal bands of all time. Since they first emerged in the metal scene, they have been the subject of controversy and having their album covers banned in some countries. In 2021, they released their fifteenth album, Violence Unhinged. The lights went out once again and the sold out/packed venue went berserk as the members of Cannibal Corpse came out and started their show with Scourge of Iron, one of their best songs and one of their most popular songs too. To no surprise, the floor came alive with a huge mosh pit. One of the highlights of a Cannibal Corpse show is seeing singer George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher doing his world-famous head spinning which is one of the greatest sights in metal. He loves challenging anyone in the crowd to keep up with him but guarantees that person will lose. The music of Cannibal Corpse is fast and heavy. No matter where you're at in the building, you have no choice but to bang your head and raise your horns. There's never a calm or quiet moment during a Cannibal Corpse show and it was further proven as they bulldozed through classics like Fucked with a Knife, I Cum Blood, The Wretched Spawn and Evisceration Plague. When it came to the end of the show, Fisher mentioned that it was the last song for the night and to cheer if they wanted more. The crowd cheered as long as they could. Fisher mentioned on how after hearing their cries and their pleas...it was still the last song! And then he proceeded to call himself a heartbreaker. The final song of the night was Stripped, Raped and Strangled. Once that ended, Fisher announced the actual song of the night. To no one's surprise, it was their most popular song which is also one of the most well-known songs in metal, Hammer Smashed Face. The entire floor came alive with the biggest mosh pit of the night and bodies went everywhere as crowd surfers seemed never-ending. The show came to an end, Cannibal Corpse said their goodbyes and left the stage. Fans everywhere could be seen with smiles, covered in sweat and drunk. Even a Tuesday night wouldn't stop metalheads from letting loose and having a good time.
Photos and review by Misael Ruiz
Cannibal Corpse
Dark Funeral
