Back in August, American Death Metal legends Cannibal Corpse announced a brutal tour package that would include direct support from Cattle Decapitation, and from Sweden, Soreption. Kicking off the tour in Jacksonville, FL on October 8th, it smashes its way across the US before ending up back in Florida on November 7th, in Orlando at Venue 578. Only a few days into the run of shows, the bill stopped on Long Island, New York to play at The Emporium in Patchogue on Wednesday October 14th. A normally quiet town, it was about to be turned upside down as fans arrived for the first of three New York dates on the tour. Local bands Witchtripper and Iscariot rounded out the bill that saw Metal fans of all kinds, and even members of the legendary Suffocation in attendance.
Local Death Metal act, Iscariot, started the show strong as Vocalist Josh Pasciucco, Guitarists Chris Mistretta and Justin Goldat, along with Brendan Bratkowsky on drums, and Dan Thabet on bass took full advantage of the opportunity before them and put on a killer show. This band has been climbing the local ranks, emerging as one of the frontrunners. They will begin work on their new EP very soon. Watch for them. Another local, Bay Shore’s own Witchtripper, provided the Doom Metal for the night, adding slow, heavy riffs from their EP Tardus Mortem, to the mix. These bands showcased what local Metal is all about and they represented.
The first of the nationally billed acts, Soreption brought their brand of Technical Death Metal to The Emporium. Originating in Sundsvall, Sweden, Soreption began their ascent in 2005, and in 2007 released the EP, Illuminate the Excessive (2007). Two full length records followed, Deterioration of Minds (2010) and Engineering the Void (2014). Coming right off the Devastation on the Nation tour with Origin and Krisiun, Soreption was ready to play the New York area for the second time in less than two weeks.
Vocalist Fredrik Söderberg strode into the light and proved imposing before being joined by Guitarist Anton Svedin, Bassist Mikael Almgren, and Drummer Tony Westermark. The band proceeded to impress the huge crowd gathered with brutally fast Technical Death Metal as they played cuts like “Reveal the Unseen,” “Breaking the Great Narcissist,” and “March of the Tyrants.” With that, each member proved their technical prowess, coming together to deliver complexity and precision as one. There is no doubt Soreption got things churning and set the stage for the brutality to come with Cattle Decapitation and Cannibal Corpse. This is an import band to watch.
Next up was Southern Californian’s Cattle Decapitation. A labelmate to Cannibal Corpse on the mighty Metal Blade Records, prior to the tour, Vocalist Travis Ryan expressed how the band has wanted to tour with them since the day they started. Now with the dream coming true, excitement was high and just moments before their set, Ryan was nowhere to be seen. The rest of the band, Guitarist Josh Elmore, Bassist Derek Engemann, and Drummer Dave McGraw watched as the crowd circled and paced in anticipation, waiting for the chance to unleash. As they began the set, Ryan appeared, horns up. Pleased by what he saw, he growled his greeting. They opened the set with “Manufactured Extinct” and “The Prophets of Loss” from 2015’s The Anthropocene Extinction. From the onset, the pit began to churn and swallow those that were too close. The record received strong reactions, and Ryan doused himself with water before asking the gathering how the fuck they were doing, and finding out if they were ready for Cannibal Corpse. “Your Disposal” from 2012’s Monolith of Inhumanity continued the chaos.
Moving on, Ryan broadcast his water across the people closest to the stage before telling them how honored Cattle Decapitation was to be on tour with Cannibal Corpse. He went on, and praised Soreption for kicking ass. “We got a new album, it’s over there with everyone else’s shit,” he declared while pointing towards the merchandise area. “This is a song off the new one.” The band swept into “Clandestine Ways (Krokodil Rot)” in brutal fashion, with blistering double bass by McGraw and fast, heavy guitar work from Elmore and Engemann. Ryan delivered powerful vocals throughout the set, every so often covering himself in water. The band then moved between Monolith of Inhumanity and The Anthropocene Extinction, starting with “A Living, Breathing Piece of Defecating Meat” before blasting through “Circo Inhumanitas,” “Mammals in Babylon,” “Forced Gender Reassignment,” “Pacific Grim,” and “Kingdom of Tyrants.” Cattle Decapitation crushed the room with a set filled with tracks from their latest release mixed with their previous record. According to those who witnessed the show, The Anthropocene Extinction proved itself worthy of the catalog.
Following a brief intermission for the crowd to cool down and rest up for Cannibal Corpse, the sound of feedback and cheers rose in the darkness. When the light returned, Cannibal Corpse slammed into “Scourge of Iron” from their 2012 release Torture and followed it with “Demented Aggression” from the same album. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher stood over the crowd windmilling. Guitarists Rob Barrett and Patrick O’Brien, along with Bassist Alex Webster, slammed their heads in unison with all in attendance. “Evisceration Plague” from the album of the same name started with Drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz leading the crowd with his bass drum as they chanted “Hey” again and again. Fists pumped and heads banged as Corpsegrinder, barely recognizable as human, emitted guttural sounds through his hair. “Stripped, Raped and Strangled” from The Bleeding received a huge reaction upon its introduction, and rolled over the crowd like a thick, black sea. Fisher introduced “Disposal of the Body” and said it was a song about their favorite subject, dead bodies and how to dispose of them. The crowd, sweaty and not yet satiated, took a breath before “Sentenced to Burn” began, also off of 1998’s Gallery of Suicide.
The pit grew larger and more violent as Cannibal Corpse continued to brutalize all in attendance with “Kill or Become,” a heavy and deliberate bone bruiser, “Sadistic Embodiment,” and “Icepick Lobotomy,” from 2014’s A Skeletal Domain, “The Wretched Spawn,” from 2004’s The Wretched Spawn, and “Dormant Bodies Bursting” from 2002’s Gore Obsessed. Corpsegrinder described “I Cum Blood,” from 1992’s Tomb of the Mutilated, as a love song; a beautiful story about shooting blood from your cock. The band wove slower heavy songs and insanely fast Death Metal songs together into a musical journey of depravity and horror. The chaos continued with “Unleashing the Bloodthirsty” from 1999’s Bloodthirst, a song about the dead rising to feed on the living, “Make Them Suffer” from 2006’s Kill, “A Skull Full of Maggots” from 1990’s Eaten Back to Life, “Hammer Smashed Face” from Tomb of the Mutilated and “Devoured by Vermin” from 1996’s Vile.
The Emporium was surely checking the foundation after this one. Soreption, Cattle Decapitation, and Cannibal Corpse, with the help of a couple of great local bands, delivered non-stop, face-bashing Metal to the Long Island masses. Furthermore, Cannibal Corpse represented their extensive catalog, offering something for everyone, delivered in a fashion uniquely Cannibal Corpse.
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