Cannibal Corpse -- Kansas City, MO -- November 22nd, 2009

A great night! The place was pretty well packed, and people went really crazy for most of the bands. Great crowd, great bands, great experience.

Except for the warm-up band. They're local (I think?) and called Seasons After. They're pretty much the generic hard rock/"metal" bands you hear on the radio. Mudvayne, Stone Sour, etc. It was the generic formula you get from those songs and the singer was horrendous. People were yelling for them to get off the stage by the end of the first song. 2/10

Erik Rutan is the MAN. Third time seeing Hate Eternal and they were fantastic as always. Only a three-piece this time, no second guitarist. But it really didn't matter. Erik was definitely the best guitar player there tonight. Crowd was pretty meh for them. Unbelievable. Oh well, I think Hate Eternal and Mr. Rutan speak for themselves. 9/10

Bringer Of Storms
Behold Judas
I, Monarch
Catacombs (YES, DON'T EVER STOP PLAYING IT, ERIK!)
Fury Within
To Know Our Enemies/The Obscure Terror (I don't remember which!)
The King Of All Kings

I think I am older than every member of Born of Osiris. Seriously, I doubt any of them are above 21. It was funny. I knew I wasn't going to like them, but they were a lot less bad than I thought they'd be. If they got rid of all the deathcore garbage and breakdowns, their twin guitar work could actually produce something listenable! Other than that, it was pretty much 50% breakdowns. Sometimes they'd add keyboards on top, but it really didn't do much. They have potential, but they need to get away from deathcore. Still, probably the best (or least worst) deathcore band I've seen. Miles ahead of Winds of Plague and Whitechapel. 5/10

Unearth. It was my third time seeing them, so I knew what to expect. And to make matters worse, I was smack dab right in front of their douchey guitarist. I knew I was going to get beer spit on me, have him thrust his crotch in my face and whatnot. But you know what I did? I decided to headbang and play along with Unearth for the sake of maybe he wouldn't do stuff to me. And you know what?

It was great.

I know, but they were SO much better than the two times I saw them before. In fact, the guitarist was one of the best parts! He faked out giving me a pick a couple times before he finally gave me one. I got another one and gave it to this kid behind me who was going nuts. Unearth was actually...*gulp*...good. I had a great time. I dunno if I'd pay money to see them headline just yet, but they might be getting there. 7.5/10

Unearth opens for good bands. I saw them open for Slayer, then Testament, and now the mighty Cannibal Corpse. Third time this year for me seeing them, and they are one of the funnest live metal bands ever. "Death Walking Terror" remains the heaviest song ever live and "Hammer Smashed Face" is just fantastic to hear. I headbanged so hard that I had to stop, lest I wanted to vomit on the security guards.

I wasn't on the same side as Alex Webster, but after a few songs, people started chanting his name. He laughed. In fact, Paul Mazurkiewicz got a chant too! And I finally did it: I yelled out "FUCK THE ALLIANCE!" and Corpsegrinder laughed and said "Of course!" No Skull Full of Maggots, but it was still fantastic. 9.5/10

Evisceration Plague
The Time To Kill Is Now
Death Walking Terror
I Cum Blood
Fucked With A Knife
Pit Of Zombies
The Wretched Spawn
Make Them Suffer
Vomit The Soul
Priests Of Sodom
Unleashing The Bloodthirsty
Hammer Smashed Face
Stripped Raped and Strangled

I actually inteded to see most of Hatebreed, at least until they played the Slayer cover, but I was dead. Headbanged harder than ever, except for the last time I saw Skeletonwitch. Great show. Lots of good surprises, and all the bands really delivered.