Carcass Exhumed to Consume Tour, with Suffocation, 1349 and Aborted
Seattle, El Corazon, Sept 21, 2008

Unfortunately openers Rotten Sound were forced to drop off the tour early, so first up on this evening would be Belgium's Aborted, making their 2nd visit to Seattle this year after Summer Slaughter, in support of excellent latest opus Strychnine 213.  As before, Aborted's set was notable for it's tremendous energy, the bands commanding state-of-the-art European deathscapes perfectly matched with vocalist Svencho's gore-soaked tales of carnage. The band stormed through their abbreviated set in fine fashion, an excellent way to kick things off.

Next, it was "Hail Satan" time, as Norwegian black metal act 1349 hit the stage like a blast from hell, their sound an unholy cross between traditional black metal and the deathlier Swedish tones of Dismember or Grave. Corpsepainted and nail-encusted, vocalist Ravn and company exhorted the crowd to a semi-evil frenzy, as they crashed through a set highlighted by a smoking "I Am Abomination", all the while bathed in minimal crimson illumination. As drummer Frost (of Satyricon infamy) is unable to tour the US, drum duties for were apparently handelled by Carcass' drum tech, an admirable evening of work on his part. In all, I found 1349 solid if not awe-inspiring.

However the unstinting brutality of NYC death metal legends Suffocation certainly was awesome, as the band got down to the business of scalding earholes in the proverbial New York minute. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but the band's live offering is even more punishing than on record, which is truly saying something. Blasting through a set heavy with tunes from their latest set-titled release, guitarists Terrence Hobbs and Guy Marchais and stuttered and wailed as frontman Frank Mullen roared at the crowd with unmatched intensity. Memorable cuts included staggering versions of "Entrails of You", "Abomination Reborn", and "Bind Torture Kill"

After an extended set change to arm the stage with a additional battery of smoke and lights, the mighty Carcass finally took the stage to a scorching version of "Impropagation", with 'Buried Dreams" and the incredible "Corporal Jigsore Quandary" following soon thereafter. The bands playing was crisp and tight as they ran through a primarily late catalog selection of classic medical-grade scrapings, while bassist/frontman Jeff Walker alternately laughed with and at the near capacity crowd between cuts. It truly gave me chills when Walker announced something like "This may be the last show we ever play in North America, so enjoy it". The lone early career track was "Genital Grinder", of coursed accompanied by the requisite diseased visuals, while later tracks such as "No Love Lost" and "Keep on Rotting..." delivered loads of epic crunch.

Arch Enemy's Daniel Erlandsson provided the evenings bludgeoning, putting in a brilliant effort in place of founding drummer Ken Owen, but the pinnacle for me, was the live interplay between Michael Amott's always impressive axe-work, and the bluesier tones of Bill Steer, who banished any thought that he could "no longer play that stuff" with his soul-searing soloing in the amazing  "Heartwork". What more is there to say? Carcass and company came to play, and left us with an evening of tremendous music. I'm glad I was there.

CARCASS SET LIST

Impropagation

Buried Dreams

Corporal Jigsore Quandary

Carnal Forge

Incarnate Solvent Abuse

No Love Lost

Edge of Darkness

This Mortal Coil

Embodiment

Reek of Putrifaction

Keep On Rotting in the Free World

Genital Grinder

Rotten to The Gore

Death Certificate

Exhume to Consume

Ruptured (Intro)

Heartwork

Carneous (Outro)