Live Review: Cannibal Corpse, Psycroptic, Disentomb, Entrails Eradicated

Four death metal bands on one bill can be a tad draining for an audience. Both Perth destroyers Entrails Eradicated and Brisbane's Disentomb acquitted themselves well and will be better off for playing with one of the field's biggest acts. The former's technical prowess and undeniably crushing fare went over the better with the already rowdy and well-lubricated crowd, partially thanks to vigorous headbanging and groove-loaded songs. Their appeal waned due to being somewhat one-paced, but was longer-lasting than that of their Queensland cousins, who packed enthusiasm but few memorable tunes.

Having visited Sydney less than two months earlier supporting Nasum, Psycroptic cleverly shuffled their setlist around to avoid any semblance of staleness. Tasmania's tech-death masters were tighter than a duck's arse, seeming nigh on unstoppable right now. Their latest material is more measured, but no less potent and this was readily apparent live. Fusing new cuts with earlier fanvourites, the quartet made it all look frighteningly easy. A headlining tour, please?

Cannibal Corpse don't win too many new converts nowadays. Instead, they sustain themselves due to an incredibly loyal core of fans that come out to every tour, buy a shirt and proceed to go berserk for 80 minutes. They haven't altered their perspective much since 1990 (although have become far more proficient, both musicianship and songwriting-wise), but remain a box office hit.

Attendees rarely glimpsed frontman George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher's face; the man-mountain with a neck so thick tree trunks would be proud to call it their own having his mug covered in a mass of sweaty, tangled hair. That's when he wasn't windmill headbanging in typically hazardous fashion. His concrete larynx was assisted by lethally tight, energetic players, particularly bassist Alex Webster. Opening with a barrage from new disc Torture and covering expected bases (Hammer Smashed Face, Stripped, Raped And Strangled, Covered With Sores et al) the fan-satisfying display referenced each of their 12 studio albums, vicious The Time To Kill Is Now and Make Them Suffer both standouts. This ensured a gore-obsessed family friendly favourite for everyone. Fisher's closing reminder to “keep supporting fucking death metal” was a no-brainer, because as long as the US brutalisers keep returning in such form, grizzled diehards will continue to do just that.