Cannibal Corpse’s Evisceration Plague tour stormed through Long Island by the way of the Crazy Donkey on Sunday, April 25th and left a wake of destruction in its path. Bringing along the Black Metal demons 1349, modern Thrashers Skeletonwitch, as well as Diabolic and Lecherous Nocturne this was a show jam packed with neck breaking metal.
A local band kicked off the night and were followed by Nocturne and Diabolic. I can’t comment on them because I was out back interviewing Scott from Skeletonwitch (write-up to follow in another post).
The night however really started kicking when Skeletonwitch took the stage. Based in Thrash and mixing in a little bit of various styles of metal from NWOBHM to Black Metal, these guys know how to command a stage and turn it up. Touring behind their 2009 release, “Breathing The Fire,” the band ripped through 10 tracks in a blistering 30 minute set that left the crowd screaming for more. Vocalist Chance Garnett stalked across the stage like a rabid wolf while seamlessly switched from Black Metal snarls, Thrash chants, and Death Metal growls with such venom he could have spit a hole through the microphone. The band liberally engaged in intense headbanging and the breakneck guitar playing from Chance’s brother Nate and Scott Hedrick as well as a rhythm section featuring bassist Evan Linger and drummer Derrick Nau rounded out their sound with a take-no-prisoners metal assault that pummeled the senses.
Setlist:
Submit To The Suffering
Upon Wings of Black
The Despoiler of Human Life
Repulsive Salvation
Sacrifice For The Slaughtergod
Stand, Fight, Die
Crushed Beyond Dust
Beyond the Permafrost
Blinding Black Rage
Within My Blood

Up next came 1349 of Norway. The band had missed the first few dates of the tour mostly due to visa issues but kicked off their time in the states with a performance filled with a rage that had been contained by the smoke of an Icelandic volcano. Kicking off with “Riders of the Apocalypse” from 2003’s “Liberation” the night delved into the darkest pits of Hell and back. “When I Was Flesh” off of their new release “Demonoir” was premiered to an intense crowd response. Not all attendees were happy with 1349, as I heard detractor yell “I paid $18 to see Cannibal Corpse, get the fuck off the stage!” Aside from that, the band played a tight set which yielded better sound live than on their albums.
Setlist:
Riders of the Apocalypse
Nathicana
When I Was Flesh
I Am Abomination
Maggot Fetus…Teeth Like Thorns
Chasing Dragons
Sculptor of Flesh
Atomic Chapel

Now the moment everyone was waiting for… Cannibal Corpse. Want to see a crowd go from 0 to insane in .02 seconds? Get Cannibal on stage and watch them kick off with “Scalding Hail” off their newest release and namesake of the tour. If you though Cannibal Corpse was brutal in the studio they bring the brutality tenfold when playing live. After a vicious start, the crowd begged for more punishment. With chants for “I Cum Blood” George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher simply responded, “Not tonight. We’ve played that song at every show for the past 10 years or so and we’re giving it a break to make way for other stuff we haven’t played in a while.” Needless to say, they did. Later on, when Corpsegrinder introduced “Pit of Zombies” he reminded us, “This is a song about Zombies and about pits, so I want to see you slamming each other out there or I’m going to come to your house and kill you, kill your mother, your dog and the ants in your yard.” For those that didn’t take the hint in “Pit of Zombies,” they were slammed right through “Make Them Suffer.” “Priests of Sodom” was dedicated to “The sluts in the house, all 7-10 of them” which we were reminded was “a pretty good statistic for a Death Metal show.” If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Corpsegrinder had a second career as a stand-up comedian ::cough cough:: Metalocalypse reference ::cough, cough:: In the end, we all experienced a “Hammer Smashed Face” before being “Stripped, Raped and Strangled.”
Setlist:
Scalding Hail
Unleashing the Bloodthirsty
Savage Butchery
The Wretched Spawn
I Will Kill You
The Cryptic Stench
Pounded Into Dust
Gutted
Evisceration Plague
Disfigured
Death Walking Terror
Scattered Remains, Splattered Brains
Pit of Zombies
Make Them Suffer
Priests of Sodom
Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead
A Skull Full of Maggots
Hammer Smashed Face
Stripped Raped and Strangled

Skeletonwitch Photos:

1349 Photos:

Cannibal Corpse Photos: