April 10th, 2009
Cannibal Corpse/The Faceless/Neuraxis/Obscura
Croatian Cultural Center
By Marcell Fraser

Easter Weekend: there could be no more appropriate time to witness a death metal show such as this, and the more than solid bill, topped by legendary Cannibal Corpse, brought out Vancouver’s metal faithful in droves.

Starting the night was one of the newer acts on the bill, Obscura. This band plays a style that could be compared to fellow Germans Necrophagist, and they are extremely talented musicians. During their thirty minute set they managed to keep up a constant barrage of death metal which left many satisfied. Look for this band to return to North America with more death metal tour packages in the future.

Neuraxis were second on the bill and it has been a long time coming for this veteran Canadian act. As was the trend in this show, they bring forth a very technical style of metal but also have a fair amount of hooks that allow for some serious head banging. With any luck this band will have an even bigger draw next time they roll through town and hopefully that will not be long, in spite of their track record.

The Faceless have been gathering a lot of attention lately and it is very easy to see why. What could only be described as a labyrinth of riffs was on display. This band also presents a very unusual mixture of typical death metal growls with clean vocals in sections where one might not expect them. This band could easily become one of the leaders of the pack in the realm of technical metal given time, though they may have confused some and garnered the most mixed reaction of the night.

Finally the time came for Cannibal Corpse to hit the stage and show everyone why this band is still so relevant after so many years. Playing just about every fan favorite one could ask for, the band continuously pummeled their audience with a relentless aural assault for just over an hour. Having seen this band several times, it continues to amaze me that their antics, some of which are done on every single tour, never get tiresome. For a band that does not move at all, these guys have serious stage presence. Seeing an entire band head bang in unison is all it took to get the entire audience going.

Unfortunately, this venue is notorious for its sub par sound and on this night that was no exception. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher could be heard commenting on the severe heat in the venue too. Despite the issues everyone seemed to have a good time and only a few hospitalizations ensued. Posted: May 4, 2009