SUFFOCATION, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, BEHEMOTH, CATTLE DECAPITATION, DEVIL INSIDE

As mentioned by lead singer of SUFFOCATION, Frank Mullin, when SUFFOCATION comes to Michigan they usually play Harpos in Detroit. Last time they played the I-Rock in Detroit. This time they opted to play a lesser-known venue, Alvin’s. Alvin’s is much smaller than Harpos and not as easy on the eye as both I-Rock and Harpos (at least on the inside). Add a sound system with no balls, and it fairly easy to say that Suffo should stick with Harpos.

Gripes aside, the night’s bill was very solid. Besides DEVIL INSIDE, who I missed play, every band put on a great performance. CATTLE DECAPITATION was the first act I caught. CD’s appearance was very different than Suffo and especially BEHEMOTH. Half the group has short hair. Being self-confessed Vegans, it seems more likely for them to be at a student protest than playing a death metal show. Although their beliefs and appearance are out of the death metal fold, CD put on a bowel exploding performance. Their abstinence of meat morals actually gives them a terrific or “terrifying” source for death metal topics. Add body- bashing rhythms and you have yourself some excellent death metal/gore grind. They could be considered the Vegan answer to grind legends, CARCASS. Anyone who has ever suffered from a digestive system illness could really relate to this band. CD’s set included set stomach cramping classics as “Polyps” and “Colon Blo.” They played songs from every album and sounded tight and unrelenting.

BEHEMOTH was the only band to use props. A large canvas depicting art -work from the new album, “Demigod” was placed behind each guitarist on opposite ends of the stage. BEHEMOTH took the stage clad in black spikes, black boots, and corpse paint. Lead singer, Nergal looked especially menacing with his morbid face paint and large iron cross necklace. Behemoth only got a thirty-minute set, but didn’t let the lack of time affect their performance. The poles vehemently blazed through material from the death metal years. “Christians to the Lions,” “Demigod,” and “Conquer All” (recently shown on MTV2’s the HeadBanger’s Ball) were some of the best songs of their set. Nergal and his cohorts banged their heads like a retard on the small bus. Inferno bashed the skins at a hideously fast pace. They ended their set with what has become a classic live song from “Satanica,” “Chant for Eschaton 2000.” I would have liked to hear some of the older material, but like their guitarist told me (I think this is a new member, I can’t find any info to confirm that), they just didn’t have the time.

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER brought some diversity to the bill. The Hardcore and Emo kids ate up their performance. The SUFFOCATION and BEHEMOTH fans didn’t like the band or the fans. I guess it’s the appearance of the band and their fans (short hair and clothing deemed un-metal) that the hardcore death metal and black metal crowd didn’t like. TBDM put on a killer show, though. Lead man, Trevor Strnad masterfully commanded the crowd. Eschbach, Kempainen, and Lock brought an extraordinary amount of energy to their playing. New drum recruit, Gibson’s speed on the drum kit erased all memories of the past drummer. Any fan lucky enough to have seen them on one of the many tours they’ve embarked upon in the last three years could probably tell you what songs they played from their Metal Blade debut, “Unhallowed.” “Contagion,” “Hymn for the Wretched,” “Closed Casket Requiem,” were some of those tunes. Also, they included three new songs, which are consistent with the “Unhallowed” material (although I would eventually find “Miasma” to be an inferior effort). If they could only get some cooler fans, the evening would have gone much smoother.

I was lounging in the back of the building when SUFFOCATION, started their set. I was singing along to the Serial Killer friendly, “Thrones of Blood,” thinking how kick ass it was for the sound man to play Suffo during the intermission. My friend asked me if they were playing, so I looked around the corner to see them on the stage jamming. This is where I noticed that the sound system just wasn’t suited for a band as heavy as SUFFOCATION. Even though I was in the back of the concert hall, when they hit the stage I should have felt the bass and drums right down to my colon. This was not the case, so I had to get closer for a better look. The crowed was a bit lethargic tonight, too. Pits broke out sporadically, which is not healthy for a Suffo show. The whole damn place should have been a pit. The division of fans helped create some aggression in the pits, though.

The sound and fans could have been better, but SUFFOCATION,’s performance was ultra-tight and ultra-brutal. New members, Guy Marchais (guitar) and Derek Boyer (bass) looked like they have always been playing in the band. Also, it was nice to see orginal drummer, Mike Smith bang away at the drum kit for the second time in less than a year (I caught their act with MORBID ANGEL and SATYRICON last spring.) Suffo rolled through their set like laid off mailman, maltreating every member of the crowd with their audio violence. The New Yorkers played a set list that included the best of the new and the old. “Pierced from Within,” “Tomes of Acrimony,” and “Infecting the Crypts,” and “Torn into Enthrallment” were some of the highlights of their set.

The venue’s sound system was not equipped to handle such death metal juggernauts as SUFFOCATION and BEHEMOTH. TBDM may be better suited on a new wave of hardcore bill, especially their followers. These negatives hindered the show, but the sound was clear, the bands all played to perfection, and the lack of crowd energy made it easy to get the excellent photos you see in this article (see gallery).