If you weren’t there to see the headliners tonight, then it must have definitely been for the truly awesome DYING FETUS. The three piece act may not move about on stage a lot, but they delivered an absolutely brilliant live performance tonight as their brutal yet technical death metal was note perfect and the combined dual vocal attack of guitarist John Gallagher and bassist Sean Beasley worked beautifully.

With a new album out, it was great to hear some of the material off it in the form of ‘Your Treachery Will Die With You’ and ‘Shepherd’s Commandment’, both of which were well appreciated by the crowd, who needed no persuasion to pretty much mosh and headbang all the way through their set. Other set highlights included ‘Grotesque Impalement’, ‘Intentional Manslaughter’ and ‘One Shot, One Kill’.

‘Pissing In The Mainstream’ got a great reception, and as the set closed with ‘Praise The Lord (Opium of The Masses)’, the crowd showed them the appreciation they deserved for what was a brutal and intense display of death metal at it’s finest. There is probably only one death metal band that could follow such a performance like that and make the night even better. And fortunately for us, they were next.

CANNIBAL CORPSE, the godfathers of the genre, returned to the UK for the second time this year in their normal headline slot following a main support act for CHILDREN OF BODOM way back in February, where on that night there were plenty of CANNIBAL fans present. And that was no different tonight, as a packed venue waited patiently for them to grace the stage and for the butchery of the venue to commence.

Opening with the title track of their latest album, ‘Evisceration Plague’, shortly followed by ‘The Time To Kill Is Now’, this was going to be a night to remember as CANNIBAL pulled out some classics and usual set inclusions with the likes of ‘I Cum Blood’, ‘Fucked With A Knife’ and ‘Sentenced To Burn’ whilst the newer material like ‘Priests of Sodom’ and ‘Evidence In The Furnace’ were also well received, as the mosh pit never seemed to relent apart from the break between songs.

Corpsegrinder has such a presence on stage that makes him a great frontman and the sheer velocity at which he can whirlwind his hair is impressive to say the least. Put some rotors on him and I bet he could fly! It was also great to hear some really old school material in the form of ‘Vomit the Soul’ and eventual main set closer ‘A Skull Full of Maggots’, before the closing duo in the encore of the legendary ‘Hammer Smashed Face’ and ‘Stripped, Raped And Strangled’ brought things to a close.

As the crowd dispersed and everyone left happy, there was time to reflect on what was a night of top class death metal. CANNIBAL CORPSE and DYING FETUS showed why they are regarded so highly as they both delivered an awesome, brutal and intense set. Roll on August next year, when the mighty CORPSE returns to the UK for BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2010.

Ratings:

Review By Adam Fredericks