CANNIBAL CORPSE

A QUARTER CENTURY OF TORMENT

The upcoming Decibel Magazine Tour through North America is shaping up to be something quite memorable for metal fans both new and old. While the new fans have plenty to look forward to for the show, the older crowd is in a particularly interesting position of being able to see some of the longest-running death metal and grind acts from when the genres were first conceived. Headliners Cannibal Corpse are particularly excited and honoured to be sharing the stage with U.K. grind gods Napalm Death and New York death metal stalwarts Immolation. My conversation with the genuinely affable bass playing legend Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse revealed his and the group’s enthusiasm over the tour bill.

“It’s going to be a whole lot of fun. I’m sure from talking to Ross (Dolan of Immolation) that we’ve known them for a long time and did a lot of touring with them back in the mid ‘90s… and Napalm Death, the second time we ever went to Europe, we were sharing a bus with them for a short festival tour of Europe for Christmas in 1991, so we’ve known them for oh… 22 years now,” Webster recalls with staggering detail.

Cannibal Corpse has been a flagship band for the death metal underground since their meteoric rise in the late ‘80s for the uninitiated, think breakneck speeds and morbidly down-tuned guitars paired with some of the most powerful guttural vocals death metal has ever known, courtesy of George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher. Alongside Fisher and Webster is Paul Mazurkiewicz on drums and both Rob Barrett and Pat O’Brien on guitars. Known also for their particularly violent and descriptive lyrics and absolutely shocking album artwork, the band has never been a stranger to controversy and attempts of government censorship — it has been a long and illustrious career that has spanned the birth, proliferation and evolution of death metal. It started immediately after the band’s release of Eaten Back to Life (1990) through the band’s career-long label, Metal Blade Records.

“We didn’t do really any touring for the first record, just shows around the northeast. For the second record, we did do some touring and it hasn’t let up since,” Webster says, referring to the band’s incessant touring/writing/recording cycle. Twelve studio albums later, the band is gearing up to release Dead Human Collection: 25 Years of Death Metal. This release will include all 12 of the band’s studio albums in a special packaging, a live DVD of the band performing and other pieces of swag to commemorate the band’s quarter century existence as a death metal institution.

Widely considered to be pioneers and proliferators of modern death metal, Cannibal Corpse have been somewhat emblematic of the death metal genre. Both death metal and the band have never gone away and have stayed consistently creative and hardworking throughout their existence, while still showing the ability to adapt their core sound into something more modern. The recent fixation on death metal sounding like it came from the early ‘80s has birthed some fantastic work from some bands, but Cannibal is not that band. Much like their peers in Napalm Death and Immolation, they have managed to stay relevant and on top of the ever growing tide of bands. This Decibel Magazine tour is serving to be a testament to this fact.

“The camaraderie for this tour is well established. In addition to being great bands, they are great friends.

“I can’t wait.” Webster finishes. Based on the legendary lineup on display here, I’m sure he isn’t alone.

See the Decibel Magazine Tour on Tuesday, May 21 at the Commodore Ballroom (Vancouver) with Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death, Immolation and local regional opener Archspire. Catch ‘em in Calgary the next day on Wednesday, May 22 at the MacEwan Hall Ballroom with Calgary regional opener Beyond Creation. The tour will hit Edmonton on Thursday, May 23.

By Tanner Wolff
Photo: Alex Morgan