Cannibal Corpse, 1349, Skeletonwitch and Lecherous Nocturne Concert Review

The death metal bill of the Spring detonated in West Hollywood on May 6th, and just about all of the Los Angeles area metalheads came out for this one! The monstrous Cannibal Corpse Evisceration Plague Tour roared into the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip with a great roster of support acts in 1349, Skeletonwitch, and Lecherous Nocturne.

The HOB was already packed when I arrived just in time to catch the second half of the opening act, Lecherous Nocturne, a death metal quintet from South Carolina. Although I only have a passing familiarity with Lecherous Nocturne, I enjoyed their set, as did the rest of the HOB crowd. Mostly presenting a series of all out blasts, Lecherous Nocturne were able to suitably get the crowd revved up for the upcoming major acts on the bill. Good stuff.

Skeletonwitch

Breathing the Fire, the recent full-length from Ohio’s Skeletonwitch, is a critically acclaimed example of a rough hybrid of thrash and death metal (the album cover art also lends itself very well to t-shirt merchandise, by the way). Needless to say, if performed well, the thrash/death metal hybrid subgenre goes over very well in a live setting. And that’s exactly what occurred as Skeletonwitch just demolished the HOB with an enthusiastic, high energy set.

Coming out with absolutely furious headbanging, Skeletonwitch proceeded through a 40-minute set featuring such monstrous tracks as “Crushed Beyond Dust” and “Beyond the Permafrost.” Skeletonwitch concluded to a huge roar of approval, and I find myself motivated to give Breathing the Fire some serious time in my stereo.

It’s no secret that Revelations of the Black Flame, 1349’s album from 2009, was a major disappointment. As a result, 1349 ended their relationship with Candlelight Records on a sour note, and have now jumped to Prosthetic Records for the release of their latest full-length, Demonoir. Curiosity is building around the release of Demonoir, and 1349 can also use great performances on this tour to reestablish themselves. Further adding to the aura of the band’s appearance on this tour is the fact that drummer extraordinaire Frost has finally managed to obtain a work visa for the United States.

1349 did not disappoint with a great performance heavy on both extreme speed and atmosphere. Frost lived up to his mystique with a machine like performance complemented by ghoulish corpse paint. A combination of smoke, a darkened stage, and an illuminated red band logo added to the atmosphere as 1349 ripped through classics such as “Riders of the Apocalypse” as well as a new track from Demonoir. By the time the band reached “Sculptor of Flesh,” it was pretty obvious that 1349 are back in a big way.

Although Evisceration Plague has been out for quite a while, Cannibal Corpse had yet to give the album a full-fledged tour in support. In addition, Cannibal Corpse had not appeared in Los Angeles as the main headliner for quite some time now, so this was not a tour to miss. Just about every other metalhead in L.A. thought so, as well, as the jam-packed HOB went absolutely ballistic as Cannibal Corpse hit the stage for a full 90-minute set.

Firing one classic after another, Cannibal Corpse reached into their large catalog to perform such gems as “Make Them Suffer,” “Gutted,” and “A Skull Full of Maggots,” as well as new songs such as “Priests of Sodom” and “Evisceration Plague” from their latest album.

By the time the one two punch of a finale arrived in the form of “Hammer Smashed Face,” and “Stripped, Raped, and Strangled,” the crowd was thoroughly whipped into a frenzy. During Cannibal Corpse’s set, virtually the entire HOB floor space was turned into a whirling dervish of a mosh pit replete with windmilling hair and flying bodies. Cannibal Corpse were absolutely brutal, and this concert was about the craziest show that I’ve seen at the HOB in quite awhile.

Overall

Needless to say, the Evisceration Plague Tour is a highlight concert for the year thus far, and is not to be missed. Cannibal Corpse can certainly deliver the goods, and all three of the support bands were immensely good in concert, as well. Fantastic!