Review by Andrew Bansal, photos by Karina Diane
February 7th 2015, The Observatory, Santa Ana CA: Extreme metal giants Cannibal Corpse began a North American co-headline tour with Polish blackened death metal mainstays and Metal Blade label mates Behemoth in late January 2015, along with Swedish death metal band Aeon, also on Metal Blade, and their fellow countrymen Tribulation as opening acts. A little over a week into the tour, the caravan arrived at the Observatory in Santa Ana to play a show that was already sold out far in advance. The line of ticket holders awaiting the doors to be opened was wrapping around the entire parking lot adjoining the venue, and the number of people desperately trying to find or purchase tickets by hook or by crook was also higher than normal. Cannibal Corpse has always packed this place to the rafters every time they’ve played here, and now with a tremendously popular co-headliner and a strong support cast, they enjoyed an even warmer and more intense Orange County welcome.
Doors opened at 7:15, the venue got filled rapidly and the show began promptly at 7:30 with an epic, ritualistic performance by Tribulation. The band toured these parts with Watain two years ago and not only appeased their longtime followers but also gained a lot of new fans, and all of them seemed to have returned to support them here, as was evident from the response they received. Those unfamiliar with them were observant and appreciative of the band, and with its dynamic music and atmosphere, Tribulation’s set was creating a vibe that augured well for the rest of the show and was on par with that of any of the other three bands.
Set List:
01. The Children of the Night
02. Beyond the Horror
03. The Vampyre
04. Rånda
05. Ultra Silvam
06. When the Sky Is Black With Devils
Tribulation’s Swedish comrades Aeon took the stage next and brought forth a decidedly more straightforward style of death metal through faster songs, which this crowd seemed to be more in tune with as mosh pits started ensuing on almost every song of theirs and the electricity in the atmosphere was rising by the minute. There were even chants of ‘Aeon! Aeon!’ through the set and the band clearly had their fans in attendance here. They turned out to be the perfect appetizer for what was to follow, and even though I’d personally put Tribulation higher than Aeon purely from a musical standpoint, Aeon had the better crowd at least on this occasion.
Set List:
01. Satanic Victory
02. Living Sin
03. Forgiveness Denied
04. Kill Them All
05. Blessed by the Priest
06. God Gives Head In Heaven
07. Forever Nailed
The moment the giant logo for the next band unraveled as the stage backdrop, the air inside the Observatory got quickly occupied by a sense of surprise, because it was clear that Cannibal Corpse was in fact going to play second to last. With no disrespect to Behemoth, I, among quite a few others in attendance, found it highly bizarre for a band like Cannibal Corpse to be playing before Behemoth, even though it must be mentioned that it’s a co-headlining bill with both bands rotating slots every night. For a good number of years now, Cannibal Corpse have been the headline act on full US tours and energy drink-sponsored mainstream festival tours aside, I just couldn’t have imagined them opening for anybody, simply because they don’t need to. But here we were, witnessing them doing just that, and it felt strange. But once that feeling was overcome through the first few moments into their set, it was all systems go and the good-hearted violence of the typical Cannibal Corpse show was observed in several areas of this large crowd. The band members were at the peak of their powers and delivered the goods for their eager and exuberant fans here. If Corpsegrinder’s rubber-neck windmills don’t induce head-banging in you, nothing ever will. With the three-pronged onslaught of ‘The Wretched Spawn’, ‘Hammer Smashed Face’ and ‘Devoured By Vermin’, the ending to their set was absolutely monstrous, and left the audience wanting a lot more. This was most certainly Cannibal Corpse’s show and it’s still a little hard to believe that they didn’t close it, but the fact that the crowd was able to reciprocate with higher energy levels as a result of them playing earlier in the evening might have been a blessing in disguise.
Set List:
01. Scourge of Iron
02. Demented Aggression
03. Evisceration Plague
04. Stripped, Raped and Strangled
05. Make Them Suffer
06. I Cum Blood
07. A Skull Full of Maggots
08. Sadistic Embodiment
09. Kill or Become
10. Icepick Lobotomy
11. The Wretched Spawn
12. Hammer Smashed Face
13. Devoured by Vermin
And lastly, Behemoth took the stage for their ritual and got an undeniably great response from the audience for each and every tune they played. Their entrance on stage was huge, the start of the set and its initial portion was strong, and I was already convinced that this was a better Behemoth performance than the Metal Alliance Tour LA date in 2014. But steadily through the rest of the set, the impact level kept diminishing and they weren’t able to sustain the intensity they started out with. But that’s only my opinion and even though I’m clearly not able to understand or appreciate this Behemoth hype, this sold-out Observatory crowd was definitely all for it, and it can be safely said that Behemoth is guaranteed a sold-out show every time they come to Los Angeles or Orange County.
Overall, the ordering of the bands on this tour package is highly debatable and leaves attendees divided, but in terms of entertainment value for the extreme metal fan, it is well worth the ticket price and will continue to sell out venues across the continent during the next four weeks.
Check out full video footage of the show on Arturo Gallegos’ YouTube channel here.
Set List:
01. Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer
02. Conquer All
03. Ben Sahar
04. Decade of Therion
05. Messe Noire
06. In the Absence ov Light
07. Ov Fire and the Void
08. At the Left Hand ov God
09. Slaves Shall Serve
10. Chant For Ezkaton 2000 e.v.
11. O Father O Satan O Sun!
Remaining Tour Dates:
2/13/2015 Union Hall – Edmonton, AB
2/14/2015 MacEwan Hall – Calgary, AB
2/16/2015 The Garric – Winnipeg, MB
2/17/2015 Mill City Nights – Minneapolis, MN
2/18/2015 Orpheum Theater – Madison, WI
2/20/2015 House Of Blues -Chicago, IL
2/21/2015 Egyptian Room – Indianapolis, IN
2/22/2015 House Of Blues – Cleveland, OH
2/23/2015 St. Andrews Hall – Detroit, MI
2/24/2015 The Phoenix – Toronto, ON
2/25/2015 Metropolis – Montreal, QC
2/27/2015 House of Blues – Boston, MA
2/28/2015 Webster Hall – New York, NY
3/01/2015 Theater Of The Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA
3/02/2015 The Fillmore – Silver Spring, MD
3/03/2015 The Fillmore – Charlotte, NC
3/05/2015 Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
3/06/2015 Janus Landing – Tampa, FL
3/07/2015 Revolution – Ft. Lauderdale, FL