Live Review: Cannibal Corpse – European Tour 2023 – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London

They say time makes the heart grow fonder so with Cannibal Corpse finally returning to the UK for the first time since 2018, it was safe to assume these shows were going to be nothing but pure chaos. Support in the form of Dark Funeral, Ingested and Stormruler cemented these events as a celebration of Death Metal! Here’s what went down when the kings of death metal returned to Kentish Town!

Opening proceedings was Stormruler who quickly grabbed the crowd’s attention with ‘Reign Of The Winged Duke’. Their unrelenting blackened sound cast a spell upon the fans who’d gotten down early to check them out and the Forum quickly became a sinister feeling environment. A unique and foreboding sound that was both raw and aggressive seemed a perfect way to open proceedings and helped lighten the mood on a cold night in London.

Slamchester royalty would follow as the unprecedented Ingested ambushed the stage. A much more intense and ruthless set would see the venue split in two with a sea of bodies surfing their way down the Camden sea. Tracks such as ‘Rebirth’ and ‘Impending Dominance’ made the crowd go from ready to party to complexity unhinged. If you were looking for a mosh, Ingested provided the perfect soundtrack to throw down.

If Black Metal is more your thing then Dark Funeral would have blown you away! Their sound of pure evil transformed the venue into the forests of Sweden and you were invited to their cult gathering. Their set seemed to really pick up steam during ‘My Funeral’ while the crowd seemed to really enjoy ‘The Secrets Of The Black Arts’ and ‘Nail Them To The Cross’. This unholy performance was met with a tonne of amazing energy from both fans and the band themselves. This seemed like a real celebration of the band’s historic past and the reaction the band received as they bid farewell was ear-piercing.

An overwhelming feeling of excitement flooded the venue as Cannibal Corpse took the stage, the pit opened and the sounds of ‘Scourge Of Iron’ allowed all hell to break loose. ‘The Time To Kill Is Now’ would only encourage this pandemonium and by the time ‘Inhumane Harvest’ hit, the entire floor was a mosh pit. Hundreds of crowd surfers navigated the roughest seas and Cannibal Corpse delivered a no-nonsense set of brutality.

A fast-paced set went from one extreme to the next with the likes of ‘Code Of The Slashers’ being followed by the insanity of ‘Fucked With A Knife’ and ‘The Wretched Spawn’. The intensity was at an all-time high yet it only seemed to get higher from there. ‘Gutted’ revitalized the pit before Corpsegrinder introduced a song about “Shooting Blood Form Your Cock” as fan favourite ‘I Cum Blood’ completely decimated the London masses.

Cannibal Corpse are not ones for a tonne of stage theatrics as their set goes from song to song to capture the pure terror their music generates, and this was captured beautifully near the end of their set as ‘A Skull Full Of Maggots’ received one of the loudest reactions of the entire night before dropping swiftly into ‘Stripped, Raped and Strangled’ and culminated in an emphatic performance of ‘Hammer Smashed Face’.

Brutality, chaos and carnage is the best way I can describe this show. Despite the sheer levels of aggression on display, both fans and security did an amazing job of ensuring everyone’s safety and Cannibal Corpse proved that they sound better now than they ever have before. Hopefully, the wait for another Corpse show isn’t as long!