Cannibal Corpse in Los Angeles, California
Death metal legends Cannibal Corpse are without a doubt one of the biggest metal bands of all time. They have released 15 studio albums and have sold over two million albums. In 2021, they released their fifteenth album Violence Unimagined. It is the first album to feature the newest guitarist Erik Rutan who replaced Pat O'Brien After nearly two years of filling in for him on tour. Cannibal Corpse finally announced their first USA tour since the start of the pandemic. One of the stops on the tour was the Belasco in Los Angeles. There were two stops in Southern California, the other being in Santa Ana. SoCal was so ready for these death metal legends that both shows sold out months in advance. Los Angeles was more than ready by the time Cannibal Corpse was ready to hit the stage.
The venue was already packed to the max by the time Cannibal Corpse came on. The lights went out and the sold out audience cheered in excitement as the members came out one by one. The show started with The Time to Kill Is Now. As you can imagine, the floor went absolutely berserk. Mosh pits started, shoving started and it wasn't long before crowd surfers started showing up too. The next song was Scourge of Iron and it has easily become a staple in the band's setlist. It's a real banger and both the chorus and the music hits you with a force similar to that of an elephant stampede. One of the highlights of the show is watching singer George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher head spins the most perfect head spin you'll see from anyone. Perfect circular motion with hair flowing everywhere. Fisher considers himself to the king of head banging and claims that anyone who dares challenge him will lose. At one point, a really generous fan gave Fisher a Target gift card as anyone who knows him, knows that Target is his favorite store. Fisher got emotional due to the fan's kindness. Cannibal Corpse bulldozed through the audience as they ravaged through classics like Fucked With a Knife, The Wretched Spawn and Code of the Slashers. Fisher announced that the next song is a love song for the ladies. The only hint he gave was, as he put it, "is about shooting blood from your cock!". Longtime fans knew what was coming and cheered in excitement. Fisher announced I Cum Blood as the next song and once again, drove the audience completely wild. Nearing the end of the show, Cannibal Corpse brought out the big guns and played Devoured By Vermin followed by A Skull Full of Maggots. Fisher had to make announcement that unfortunately this next song would be the last song. Fans naturally were disappointed. Fisher gave the fans the chance to convince him to play more songs. The crowd cheered as loud as they could and after Fisher considered their pleas and cries for more songs...he said it was still the last song! To end the show, Cannibal Corpse played Stripped, Raped and Strangled. The song ended and Fisher asked the audience, "do you want one more song?" the crowd, of course, cheered super loud. Fisher was more than happy to announce the final song of the night which was none other than their most popular song as well as one of the most popular songs in all of metal, Hammer Smashed Face. The crowd went absolutely nuts with most of the floor becoming one huge mosh pit and crowd surfers were everywhere. The song ended, the band said their goodbyes and left the stage. It was a great night for metal and fans were even happier to be going to shows again.
Photos and review by Misael Ruiz
