After more than 20 years, one of most important names in the death metal genre, as well as commercially successful, Cannibal Corpse have come back to Zagreb, Croatia to give us the lesson in death metal as they love to say before the show which was, in our case overly delayed. They did not came alone, Krisiun; Brazilian trio with 10 albums and 25 years of activity are more than a worthy support band along with a technical death metal band Hideous Divinity from Italy. 
 

Location of the assault was Vintage Industrial Bar, already becoming the place for alternative events, including the metal scene. With tickets sold over 650 you would think that maybe the event would be replaced with a bigger venue but that’s one a few flaws that we saw last night. 

The concert started right on time, almost without delay, in 8 pm, the Italian Hideous Divinity had started their gig with Sinister and Demented of their new album Cobra Verde. The guys were tight as fuck, really professionally played backed with a really good sound on stage. The club was pretty much half-full during their performance although most of us were saving our necks and backs for the next two bands. Very well played, true to the subgenre they are playing, technical and brutal. Although it’s quite difficult to reproduce this kind of music live, they pretty much nailed it. But, it was quite too short; only 30 minutes long.

After a brief sound check in 8:50 pm the Brazilian trio had hit the stage with the well-known machinegun style drumming, insane tremolos and solos. The guys had a tremendously awesome contact with the audience, especially from Alex Camargo. Their sound was possibly the best in the evening, the instruments and vocals had sonically filled the room in perfect balance. The solos were great, sharp and loud; every damn note was heard. Personably, as a fan of the old material from Krisiun, I was not quite happy with the set list which had more relied on the new albums. But to my surprise, songs like Ways of Barbarism and The Will to Potency sounded just awesome; filled with break-downs and slower sections really captured the groove and catchiness during the performance. One more time I have to commend the guys with the communication with the audience and humbleness with words like: ''We know that you came to see Cannibal Corpse, but we really appreciate coming to see us as well.'' That coming from a band that could been a headliner on any tour says so much. Fucking respect guys.

  

About 10:00 pm had come the time for the main course, Cannibal Corpse arrived before us with sheer confidence and as the song Evisceration Plague begun total chaos assumed in the first four rows: mosh pits, crowd surfing, neck-breaking, back-breaking. Your usual night with Cannibal Corpse. Communication with the audience was not that frequent as it was with Krisiun as the guys were attcking us song after with a setlist that was pretty much best off with the few new ongs of the last album Skeletal Domain. Although George had his casual moments and often humorous as well.

Let’s get one thing straight, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher is a fucking animal, everything you have seen on their videos and concerts: constant head banging, growling and screaming without any sign of strain or fatigue, we had seen it live. As well giving the girl in the first row a bottle of water and a towel. A great gesture George.

But the thing is, George was the only thing pretty much active on stage, everything else was in the shadow of him.  Maybe that was a not a surprise, considering everyone in the band are in their late forties and slowing down in that age is expected. The band also have some minor difficulties with the drums, as well some errors during the songs and some of the older songs seemed slower for some reason. I will not bullshit you, had Krisiun played the same duration as Cannibal Corpse they would have steal their show. But again, Cannibal Corpse have given us a killer set list, good performance and a big fucking inferiority complex in head banging by Corpsegrinder. 

Setlist: 
1.    Evisceration Plague
2.    The Time to Kill Is Now
3.    Scourge of Iron
4.    Death Walking Terror
5.    Stripped, Raped and Strangled
6.    The Wretched Spawn
7.    Pit of Zombies
8.    Kill or Become
9.    Sadistic Embodiment
10.  Icepick Lobotomy
11.  Covered With Sores
12.  Born in a Casket
13.  I Cum Blood
14.  Unleashing the Bloodthirsty
15.  Make Them Suffer
16.  Hammer Smashed Face
17.  Devoured by Vermin