Cannibal Corpse Kill It at The Skyway

MetalBlade Records and Decibel Magazine brought the original undertakers of the Death Metal music, Cannibal Corpse, and Morbid Angel to The Skyway Theater in Minneapolis. Traveling with the masters of growls, groans, ear bleeding guitars, and chest shattering drums were the Oakland based Necrot and Denver Colorado’s Blood Incantation.

Being that I really have not seen many “Death Metal” shows (Ok, I’ve seen one. I saw Morbid Angel on Black Sabbath’s Cross Purposes tour), I brought along guitarist Brian Owens of the Minneapolis Metal band KRAWG to educate me and be my emotional support friend for the night.

The first act of the night was Denver’s Blood Incantation, who seemed to be trying to set the Guinness Book of World Record’s for the longest intro. Their entrance lasted an eternity, their drummer to following about five minutes behind the rest of the band. As the crowd was growing upset, and even joking with me about how long it was taking, they finally kicked into gear and got some energy going. A small mosh pit formed on the theater floor, but it was clear that the crowd was there to see other bands.

After a quick reset, Necrot took the stage and surged the room with energy. The thundering double kicks of the drums, the crunching of the guitars, and the growls that are Death, kicked the crowd in gear. Honoring Satan between songs, the devil horn were raised as the sweat of banging heads in the front role splattered the stage in excitement.

As they left the stage I walked around to talk with some people about what brought them out to the show.

Peter from Golden Valley explained to me that the music is a release. “It’s a way to let [out] our aggression from working a stressful job, a simple release.”

When I asked about the message of the lyrics I received a “fuck the lyrics and its message, as you can’t understand what they are saying anyway. Feel the power of the music and that’s all you need.”

Peter was right. The music was powerful and if you were not banging your head, you might as well have been dead.

Morbid Angel’s set was blistering. My chest seemed to be taking as much punishment as my ears. Opening with songs “Piles of Arms,” “D.E.A.D.,” and “Garden of Disdain” only fueled the fire of the fans in the mosh pit as they circled, letting the music take over their bodies.

The night ended with Cannibal Corpse taking over the stage, the air, and the bodies. They opened with “Code of the Slashers,” “Only One Will Die” and the new “Red Before Black.” It was clear that everyone in attendance has waited far too long for them to return to Minneapolis.