Live report CANNIBAL CORPSE, MUNICIPAL WASTE, IMMOLATION & SCHIZOPHRENIA, Grosse Freiheit 36, Hamburg – October 2nd, 2024

Death metal pioneers Cannibal Corpse are touring Europe this fall, and today the kings of splatter metal stop at Hamburg’s Grosse Freiheit 36. With them on the road are three bands that cover a spectrum from thrash metal to death metal. Belgian metal powerhouse Schizophrenia as well as Immolation and Municipal Waste will join Cannibal Corpse for a night of raw metal.

Doors open at 4:30 pm, which is unusually early and since it is a regular working day, some fans might still be at their jobs. However, some fans are already at the legendary venue on Hamburg’s Reeperbahn, although it is a rather small group of metalheads who fill the room when Schizophrenia start their show.

The newcomer has a great chance to introduce their music to metal fans who may not have heard of the band before. Schizophrenia make good use of this opportunity, delivering a short but very energetic set with the music being the main focus. Songs from their debut as well as from their first EP spread a lot of metal passion and with a cover version of Morbid Angel’s “Maze of Torment” the guys also pay tribute to their idols. There might be different ideas if a cover is necessary in such a short set, but for sure it works to get everyone in the room up to temperature.

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After a short break some veterans enter the stage. New York’s Immolation join Cannibal Corpse on this tour and as the band hasn’t toured Europe for the last five years, they are welcomed with a big applause. As more and more fans fill the room, Immolation play in front of an excited crowd that appreciates the live performance of the East Coast death metal pioneers.

Although not exactly being a new album, Immolation use the momentum to present songs from their 2022 release “Acts of God”, which includes the massive “An Act of God” as well as “Noose of Thorns”, which comes later in the set. The four-piece ignite a lot of energy with Ross Dolan being an excellent frontman. Energetic during the songs and humble when he has a few words to say to the fans, this is the perfect mix and the crowd appreciates it. Not to forget the guitar performance of Robert Vigna.

Filigree riffs and blistering solos make the crowd go wild. Dressed in a black shirt, with full bottom and rather mechanical movements Vigna creates a visual contrast to the usual headbanging. Immolation finish their show with a classic from the early days. The fans know what comes next and it is the expected “Into Everlasting Fire”, the opener of the band’s debut album, which acts as a furious closer of a great show. Immolation obviously had a lot of fun tonight and delivered a thrilling death metal experience.

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After listening to a lot of death metal it is Municipal Waste who set the compass towards thrash metal. The guys from Richmond, Virginia start their show with “The Executioner” as a kind of intro, followed by “Breathe Grease”. While there was a lot of headbanging during Immolation’s set, the crowd goes completely wild during Municipal Waste’s show. Crowdsurfing, circle pits and a wall of death are all part of this show, which is the most energetic of the evening. Security works really hard as the crowdsurfers arrive in the pit every minute.

The songs of the night focus on the last two releases plus the 2007 album “The Art of Partying”. Each of these songs is a massive thrash metal feast, and the temperature at Grosse Freiheit rises with each of those blasting thrash metal tracks. Basically, you can’t stand still while Municipal Waste are playing.

Everyone up to the last row is participating in this metal party, including a cartwheeling Tony Foresta during “Restless and Wicked”. The song title could actually be a good heading for an energetic and awesome set. Municipal Waste are among the winners tonight tonight which also pretty obvious during the fan chants during “Born the Party” which is the final song of a wild and furious metal party.

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After this thrash metal blast we navigate back to death metal, as some real veterans are headlining tonight. Cannibal Corpse needs no introduction and the age check at the entrance is nothing new when it comes to shows of the Florida based metal forerunners.

Cannibal Corpse tonight is a four-piece band, because Eric Rutan had to leave the tour a few days ago. It was Hurricane Helene that caused some damage to Rutan’s home and he traveled back to be with his family. We wish Eric all the best and of course family comes first, always.

There’s no doubt that Cannibal Corpse have much more power and possibilities with two guitarists, but that doesn’t affect the intensity of tonight’s set. The moment the first notes of “Blood Blind” fill the room, Cannibal Corpse fans are in a state of euphoria. A show of the Florida death metal legends is all about the music and maybe the splatter lyrics, which leads to a stage set that is extremely puristic.

There is a backdrop – that’s it. For the rest, there are four guys on stage, celebrating extreme metal in the usual Cannibal Corpse way. Playing tightly together, the quartet unleashes raw metal power, with George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher as the visual center of the show. Not only does he have the most extreme growls. It is also his way of headbanging that shows the importance of neck muscles. Wearing a t-shirt that says “Respect the neck” says it all and the frontman is very happy to see a fan in the crowd wearing the same shirt.

As far as the songs are concerned, Cannibal Corpse deliver a well chosen mix of titles going back to “The Bleeding”. Everyone knows that some of the band’s classics can’t be played in Germany, but there are other great songs to make up for it. “Kill or Become”, the new “Chaos Horrific” and the last song of tonight “Stripped, Raped and Strangled” are highlights of the masters of splatter from Florida and part of tonight’s show.

People know what to expect from a Cannibal Corpse show and the band always delivers. Even as a four-piece, the band generates a lot of power and belongs to the true legends of death metal.