Live report HATEBREED, CARCASS & ASH RETURN, Gruenspan, Hamburg – June 18th, 2025

I saw Carcass a few times on my musical calendar during the last few years, but I haven’t seen a Hatebreed live show in a long time. At this juncture, when both musical ensembles are performing a series of collaborative concerts, the timing could not be more opportune to experience this sonic onslaught in its totality.

It is the middle of June and the warm season has arrived in Hamburg when the two groups stopped at the Hansestadt, putting on a show at Gruenspan. An opener was added to the evening’s line-up at the last minute. Hailing from Walsrode, Germany, Ash Return was announced just a few days prior to the concert, and the five-piece band is supposed to get everybody into the right mood. It is 19:00 sharp when the guys take the stage with a song from their debut album. ‘One’ is the title of a hard-hitting hardcore track combining roaring shouts and plenty of groove. It is a warm summer’s night in Hamburg, and some fans are still enjoying the laid-back vibe outdoors, but the powerful hardcore of Ash Return is drawing more and more people into the room.

Most of the songs are taken from their debut album, which is their only release to date. However, a second album is in the making, and a new song, “Shine On”, gives fans an idea of what to expect. Like some of the other tunes, it is a blend of hardcore spiced up with metal-related moments, especially in the guitar leads and solos. The combination works quite well tonight, and Ash Return did a good job warming up the crowd, which was already somewhat guaranteed due to the temperature.

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Carcass are currently on tour and, as mentioned, they have teamed up with Hatebreed for some shows, who are also currently touring Europe. The final concert of this package is the Hamburg show, where the UK-based metal pioneers will kick off their 60-minute set with a bang, starting with “Unfit Human Consumption”. Although they have included a song from the “Surgical Steel” album at the top of the setlist, the show is very much a retrospective one with a focus on the band’s early albums. ‘Buried Dreams’ takes everyone right back to the ’90s, and some of the older fans certainly felt a few years younger again while headbanging to this and many other classic songs from the past.

Carcass shows don’t require much talking. Jeff Walker delivers a few short speeches, but it is mainly the music that speaks for itself. Without much of a break, the four-piece power through a 13-song setlist, including two songs from the blasting debut album: “Genital Grinder” and “Pyosisified (Rotten to the Gore)”. While the focus is on older Carcass repertoire, the band also includes “Dance of Ixtab (Psychopomp & Circumstance March No. 1 in B)” from their latest release, “Torn Arteries”. Regardless of whether they’re playing timeless classics or new songs, Carcass deliver a powerful and merciless death metal show with a very dense sound. It’s 60 minutes of roaring thunder that fills the room, and the temperature increases dramatically even before the iconic ‘Heartwork’ heralds the end of the set.

I have previously seen Carcass at festivals or on larger stages supporting bands such as Arch Enemy, but experiencing the band in a club setting is a whole other ball game in terms of intensity and aggressiveness. Carcass have set the bar high, and now it is up to Hatebreed to raise it further.

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This challenge isn’t the easiest for Hatebreed, not only because of Carcass’s impressive performance, but also due to some health issues. While on the recent tour, longtime guitarist Wayne Lozinak was diagnosed with a benign meningioma and had to return to the US. Matt Bachand (Shadow Fall) is now filling in on guitar, while Carl Schwartz (First Blood) is taking over on bass. This rearranged line-up enters the stage at 21:30, quickly turning the venue into a madhouse. After the usual ‘Balls to the Wall’ intro, they play ‘I Will Be Heard’ – and these five guys certainly make themselves heard. What we get offered during the coming 60 minutes is a thunderous blend of metal and hardcore. Like Carcass, Hatebreed have created a setlist featuring many older songs, with the opener being one of five tracks from the 2002 breakthrough album “Perseverance”. Despite the recent challenges, Jamey Jasta and his bandmates are in high spirits, and their infectious energy is contagious. The first crowdsurfers are in the air, and the first circle pits start to rotate. Yet we go even further back in time, with the setlist placing a special emphasis on the debut album. “Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire” is another main contributor to an explosive show. Massive riffs, Jasta’s raspy shouts, and a massively powerful rhythm section are the elements that give songs like ‘This Is Now’ their energy, reminding us to live in the moment.

There’s no doubt that songs like ‘As Diehard as They Come’ lead to another circle pit, before ‘Destroy Everything’ marks the end of a 60-minute hardcore/metal spectacle.

Not only because of, but also considering the circumstances, a great set was delivered by Hatebreed. Regardless of age, everyone had fun tonight, and I guess the fans who saw Hatebreed live for the first time (of which there weren’t many) were fascinated by the sheer power the band generates on stage. Although Carcass and Hatebreed are based in slightly different genres, it was the unleashed energy that connected actually all three bands.