I had about five death metal shows under my belt prior to this and it was challenging to get used to loud music, weirdos, hot metal chicks, and not to mention a big city like Chicago. Just about nine months before I saw Cannibal for the first time on the "Complete Control Tour" (Obituary, Agnostic Front, & Malevolent Creation were also on the bill) in which they only played material from the first two albums. Now they were touring for 'Tomb of the Mutilated.'
Epidemic opened. This band was new to Metal Blade Records and my guess is Cannibal needed an opener so why not pick fellow label mates? They were anything but acceptable to the crowd. It sounded cheap and tinny along the lines of unused Exodus rehearsal tapes mixed with Believer (they were an early band on Roadrunner Records that never went anywhere). The highlight of their set was the vocalist asking the crowd, "You suck Satan? What the hell does that mean?" Apparently, the tid-bits in between song breaks from the crowd were "YOU SUCK" and "SATAN."
I remember listening to "Shadows In The Deep" over and over until I could memorize each song. Such a brilliant album deserved live attention and Unleashed's set proved to complement this point. Opening with 'The Final Silence', crushing into 'The Immortals', then breaking into the album title track made the night inquisitively fulfilling. Unleashed were in their element blowing Epidemic away like a Kawasaki Ninja racing a moped. These Swedes had the look, sound, and desire to win the crowd over. You could tell they dug Chicago (one of the guitarists was wearing an 'Alley' t-shirt -- a nearby hip metal store). On a side note, being a rookie to concerts leaves room for mistakes and I'll never forget buying a short sleeve Unleashed "Thor Hammer" shirt but became too lazy to wear or carry it around. As any clumsy fool would do, I decided to leave it in the booth where our jackets were stored hoping to pick it up after the show ended. Turns out the shirt was gone along with my Morbid Angel 'Altars of Madness' & Slayer buttons. The folks sitting behind the booth knew I was looking for this shirt and clarified "No one was here" hence my gut feeling was they took it. Lesson learned!
Onto Cannibal Corpse, one can only laugh when hearing song titles thrown out (in fine Cookie Monster style) such as "Edible Autopsy", "Entrails Ripped From A Virgin's Cunt", "I Cum Blood", & "Addicted To Vaginal Skin." But, quite the opposite when you're young, energetic, and curious to hear & watch brutal death metal. For me, this was the next greatest thing to skipping school. Since Unleashed took the crown for this show, I'll give an honorable mention that Cannibal had their classic lineup still in tact before Chris Barnes, Bob Rusay, and Jack Owen jumped ship.
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