CONCERT REVIEW: Cannibal Corpse - Municipal Waste - Immolation - Schizophrenia Live at Victoria Warehouse

Despite an ungodly early 5:30 doors Belgium Death/Trash collective Schizophrenia are met with a packed room as the Manchester crowd swarm Victoria Warehouse for a night of promised chaos. The thrashy death onslaught that Schizophrenia produce is a pummeling start to the evening for sure, perfect for ridding the lingering aches of a long work week with plenty of fist pumping and head banging.

American death metal outfit Immolation are up next and being themselves veterans of the scene the group know exactly what they are doing, which is delivering a clean 40 minutes of straight up no-nonsense death metal spanning across the band’s extensive back catalogue. The newer material sounds great in this large setting with tracks such as ‘Noose of Thorns’ from the 2022 release Acts of God featuring some wonderful melodic guitar lines that add greatly to the brutal soundscape. Choosing to kick it old school with the unrelenting “Into Everlasting Fire” from their 1999 album Dawn of Possession as their send-off Immolation know how to leave their mark on an audience.

Municipal Waste are up next and in contrast to the group’s last visit to the city as part of their 2023 headline tour when they played to a sold-out 500-cap crowd at Rebellion the band are now facing a crowd of up to 5 or 6 times more than that in the huge space of Victoria Warehouse. But the band’s particular crossover thrash concoction is party music through and through and regardless of venue size Manchester is here to party. Hopefully, those in the front rows remembered their morning stretches as the steady wave of crowd surfers aims to really put them and security through their paces from the word go.

As expected the circle pits are large and the head banging is constant as the band speed through a blistering 18-song set, a healthy dose of course coming from 2007s The Art of Partying, the staples of which get a massive pop from the crowd The sound of an entire crowd shouting back the refrain of “Born To Party” at top volume will always be a blast.

It’s with growing anticipation that the buzzing crowd awaits Corpsegrinder and Co. to take to a stage awash in blood-red lighting. The band have been around enough at this point to where you can assume that what you’re getting with a Cannibal Corpse show will be a masterclass in brutality. For the next hour and change the death metal legends proceed to exhibit exactly why they have attained such status, with blistering picks from some of their more recent releases “Blood Blind,” “Scourge of Iron,” and “Inhumane Harvest” to kick start the onslaught. It’s not long before pits are churning to the chaotic “Pounded into Dust” and necks straining along to the hypnotic marching rhythm of songs like “Death Walking Terror.”

The rest of the set is a journey through the band’s blood-splattered back catalogue with each song being met with an equal level of energy from the crowd. Finally as is tradition at this point Cannibal Corpse sends the crowd off with the pounding sounds of “Hammer Smashed Face” the iconic bass run eliciting a massive cheer from the crowd.