Nick Hughes
Opinion Editor
Death metal is an acquired taste, even for metal heads, but there is one death metal band that most metal fans and even some nonmetal fans know. Cannibal Corpse is a band that started in the late 80s and continues to be a pioneer in the death metal genre. Cannibal Corpse was joined by death metal band, Hate Eternal, hardcore group, Harm’s Way and a local death metal band called Goat Skull Rebellion on November 5, 2018, at the Chameleon Club in Lancaster.
The concert started as most concerts do with a local band. Goat Skull rebellion is one of Lancaster’s premier death metal bands and was a great addition to this lineup for the Cannibal Corpse tour. They played songs from their albums, Drown in the Shadows and their self-titled album. The best performance from Goat Skull Rebellion was “The Darkness in I.” It was a classic death metal sounding song that really made the entire second floor of the Chameleon shake.
Harm’s Way was on next and after some technical difficulties with the drummer, the set was pretty good. It was not amazing, but genre differences left the Chameleon club attendees semi-confused. Harm’s Way is a hardcore beatdown band and their inclusion in this tour felt odd to say the least. The music was fantastic, but it felt like it should have been a different show.
Hate Eternal emerged after Harm’s Way and blew up. They got the mosh pit going, and the music was brutal, fast and intense. It was an outstanding performance from an outstanding band. They played tracks from throughout their storied death metal careers. This three-piece interacted with the crowd and got a lot of good vibes. The whole premise of evil was still there, however, hence the name, Hate Eternal. The set was about an hour long but felt like only a few minutes. The brutality that Hate Eternal brought was fantastic. The vibrations were so intense some of the people on the second story stage could be heard, “This building is going to collapse.” After the Cannibal Corpse set it is amazing that it did not.
Cannibal Corpse came out and the crowd went completely insane. This was a first-time show at the Chameleon for Cannibal Corpse and Lancaster showed that they loved them. The first song was, “Code of the Slashers” and the pit was incredibly intense at this point. The entire building felt like it would collapse at any point. This would not have been a bad ending since many fans were so excited to see Cannibal Corpse.
George Corpse grinder Fisher, the lead singer of the group was talking to the crowd and the crowd made him laugh, which led to this memorable quote, “Stop making me laugh, I’m supposed to be f%^&ing evil.” It was all in good fun, however, and the set was fantastic. The songs that they played are off-color, to say the least, but rest assured the best ones were played.
Cannibal Corpse is one of the biggest death metal acts to ever land in Lancaster and a lot of Lancaster fans were ecstatic that they were there. The venue was packed for the entire night. It was a little hard to move because of this, but no one really cared. The whole point of death metal is letting out aggression and anger. Cannibal Corpse are masters of making the crowd go insane and seeing them was truly a privilege.
