Behemoth and Cannibal Corpse – Minneapolis, MN – February 17, 2015

Cannibal Corpse came to Mill City Nights in Minneapolis, Minnesota on February 17, 2015, with their well-anticipated co-headliner, Behemoth. Both have immense audiences, but the Twin Cities has a large Behemoth following, one that has grown since the 1990s, so there is a mix of fans in the crowd that evening. One thing about Cannibal Corpse is that they have kept their sound consistent since their 1990 debut album, “Eaten Back to Life”. It’s something that their fans adore about them, a reason why the venue is packed full of metal fans, eager to see them for what may be the first or twentieth time.

Something great about Cannibal Corpse is the fact that they don’t seem to take themselves that seriously; in that they don’t see themselves as something they’re not. They know that they are a head banging, thrashing, heavy metal band. This becomes evident when a man in the audience yells to them, “Hey, why don’t you play something good?” and they shout back, “All we know how to play is shitty death metal!” Regardless, they have a fanbase that would counter such a statement.

Behemoth has evolved since their start in the early 1990s, unlike Cannibal Corpse. They began as a black metal band in the beginning and became more death metal and got more ruthless in their composition as the years went by. This is evident through their latest album, “The Satanist”, the album released following
Adam “Nergal” Darski’s victory over leukemia.

Each band plays for roughly fifty minutes, spending equal amounts of time on stage. The city of Minneapolis gives equal amounts of cheers and fans to each band, something that makes for a great show. There’s nothing worse than a band that doesn’t have the proper amount of fans at a show because it can be simply agonizing to wait through a set to get to what everyone wants to see.

Cannibal Corpse seems to make better use of the time they have, as they are much more elaborate on stage, using the audience almost as a part of the show. They start slowly with “Scourge of Iron” and speed it up with head whipping, heavy guitar riffs, and yells to the crowd. While Behemoth also plays a great set, it is merely eight songs long and has a far different feel than that of Cannibal Corpse.

Both bands seem to work together nicely on the tour and very much satisfy their audiences. In the end, that is all one can ask for, and it is evident that people would gladly come see them again if they make their way back to the Twin Cities again.