With Jack Owen recently joining Six Feet Under, the band now boasts as many classic Cannibal Corpse alumni as Cannibal Corpse itself. The reunion of Chris Barnes and Owen, two of the principal architects of some of death metal's most influential records, is enough to make this Temple Stage appearance something of an event. Despite the crushing afternoon heat, the pit is packed with devoted maniacs ready to indulge in the simple pleasures of old-school American death metal.
Not surprisingly, material from the band's debut Haunted receives the strongest response, although the closing Cannibal Corpse numbers transform the pit into a veritable slaughterhouse. Barnes' unmistakable growls and shrieks remain every bit as nauseating as they were thirty years ago, while Owen's riffs retain that peculiar blend of groove and savagery that helped define the Florida sound. On record, parts of the Six Feet Under catalogue can occasionally feel formulaic, but live, those reservations disappear under a wall of distortion and flying bodies.
This is hardly sophisticated music, and sophistication was never the point. Six Feet Under, and classic American death metal as a whole, deals in primal instincts, ugly riffs and obscene amounts of low end. Under the crushing heat, the Temple Stage appeared to release the unmistakable bouquet of Florida swamps and decomposing corpses. Mercifully for the degenerates packed into the pit, they have almost certainly encountered worse odors in their bedrooms.
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TesseracT @ Main Stage 2 (Photos, setlist)
Point Mort @ Warzone (Photo)
Queensrÿche @ Main Stage 1 (Photos, review, setlist)
Stoned Jesus @ Valley Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Bloodywood @ Main Stage 2 (Photos, setlist)
Accept @ Main Stage 1 (Photos, review, setlist)
Sepultura @ Main Stage 2 (Photos, review, setlist)
Helloween @ Main Stage 1 (Photos, review, setlist)
Opeth @ Main Stage 2 (Photos, review, setlist)
Iron Maiden @ Main Stage 1 (Photos, review, setlist)
DAY FOUR
Scour @ Temple Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Eyehategod @ Valley Stage (Photos, review)
Six Feet Under @ Altar Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Corrosion Of Conformity @ Valley Stage (Photos, review)
Possessed @ Altar Stage (Photos, setlist)
Agnostic Front @ Warzone - (Photos, setlist)
Acid Bath @Valley Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Marduk @ Altar Stage (Photos, setlist)
Napalm Death @ Altar Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Down @ Valley Stage (Photos, review, setlist)