Titans Of Metal: Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, and Meshuggah Conquer Las Vegas
The heaviest tour of the year made its way to The Theater at the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas, with the Swedish titans of extreme metal in Meshuggah headlining, joined by Cannibal Corpse and Carcass. Each band are iconic legacies in their own respective sub genre of extreme heavy metal, and fans of each soon began to pack into the Las Vegas casino theater for a night of extreme music.
Carcass was first to kick things off and without much of an introduction, they immediately launched into their first song “Unfit for Human Consumption.” Formed in Liverpool, England in 1985, Carcass paved the wave for subgenre of grindcore, gaining popularity for their grotesque album covers and abrasive music. However, they soon shifted their sound in the 90’s, and began experimenting with more melodic and technical focused death metal. Vocalist and bassist Jeff Walker, alongside lead guitarist Bill Stear are the only founding members left in the band, and with their long history onstage, they're still playing together with the same high level of ferocity they’ve shown for the last 40 years.
Afterwards, it was Cannibal Corpse that took to the stage. Perhaps the most well known death metal band to come out of Florida. Formed in 1988, Cannibal Corpse was at the forefront of the early death metal scene. Notorious for their highly controversial album artwork, violent and gore-heavy lyrics, and fast aggressive songs.
Vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher has a very dominating and menacing presence onstage, aggressively headbanging and whipping his long hair around, all while delivering the deepest guttural vocals that resonate throughout the entire arena. Their set included songs spanning their long career such as “Scourge of Iron,” “Evisceration Plague,” and ending with the classic “Hammer Smashed Face.”
Closing out the evening, Meshuggah made their way onto to a dark and fog filled stage. The crowd cheered as each member took their positions onstage, and tension built in anticipation for what was to come. They launched into the first song “Broken Cog,” from their latest album Immutable, as waves of lights and lasers filled the arena.
Meshuggah doesn’t do much in terms of stage presence, in fact, none of them really move from their spots for the duration of the show. However, they still display a powerful and dominating aura onstage. They seem to hide in the shadows of the lights flashing around them, fully locked into their instruments as they masterfully play some of the heaviest and technically challenging music ever. It really is a spectacle in itself to just watch and fully take in the musical expertise on display as a riveting choreographed laser show fills the arena.
Towards the end of their set, the band members walked offstage and immediately the crowd began to chant for an encore. A few minutes later, they walked back to their positions onstage. Vocalist Jens Kidman quickly thanked the crowd for coming out, and took a brief pause. He looked out into the crowd and asked, “You ready?” Before there was a chance to responded, they launched into their encore set, performing their last songs for the night “Bleed” and “Demiuge.”
As the last of the music was finished, and the theater lights came back on, the crowd slowly began to make their exit. After a night of punishing guitar riffs, mosh pits, and mesmerizing lazers, nobody was leaving disappointed. These bands had given it their all onstage and shown that they are more than just legacy bands. They still reign at the top of their own musical genre, and show no signs of slowing down.