CANNIBAL CORPSE
THE HOUSE OF BLUES, Houston, TX
By Carlos Zaldívar
ARRIVING
I knew that upon landing at George
Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, I had several things to sort out,
including accommodations, transportation, and, of course, buying my ticket for
the exquisite Cannibal Corpse concert that would take place the following day,
October 10th, at the once-famous Caroline St. venue: THE HOUSE OF BLUES, in
downtown Houston, TX.
My dream was coming true…
Just thinking about this adventure
made my skin crawl, but it was offset by the nervousness, panic, and adrenaline
rush of the situations I had to resolve.
And in the blink of an eye, I was at
the House of Blues box office, buying my ticket; and at 6 p.m. sharp, I entered
the venue. The excitement was indescribable, and my dream had come true. True!
FULCI: THE SURPRISE
Fulci T-Shirt
And at exactly 7 p.m., the lights went
out and the emotional tears fell, and to this moment I remain perplexed by the
quality of the opening band: FULCI.
An Italian band, named in honor and
tribute to the tremendous gore film director Lucio Fulci; so, you can imagine
the band's theme.
And FULCI was the amazing surprise I
got, because after more than forty years of attending concerts, I had never
seen a "new band" of such caliber and musical magnitude. A
performance that dominated the stage with Fiore's tremendous voice, and the guitars,
just as I love them, played by Dome and Ando Ferraiuolo. And well, obviously
well accompanied by Klem's bass and Edoardo Nicoloso's drums.
Fulci, founded in 2013, is a band you
can't miss, and today it's a priority to keep up with them and purchase their
discography on vinyl when the time comes.
Highly recommended.
I've heard excellent songs like
"Apocalypse Zombie," "Human Scalp Collection," "Rotten
Apple," "Lonely Hearts," and of course the wonderful
"Tropical Sun," among others.
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| FULCI |
I'm very satisfied with this opening
band, and then "FULL OF HELL" comes along, another good band... up to
that point.
MUNICIPAL WASTE
And Tony Foresta really gets the crowd
going!
I had already enjoyed them when I saw
them at the Domination Festival in Mexico City, back on May 3rd,
2019; and now in Houston, at a smaller, more powerful concert, it was no
exception. Municipal Waste is an exquisite band, where the guitars still retain
that harsh sound of the seventies and eighties, where the technology is
minimalist, and the power of the music is of the highest caliber.
The slam was brutal, and we, fans
simply let ourselves be carried away by the music. The atmosphere at the House
of Rock was dramatic, where there are no barriers of any kind, where music
unites us all.
Municipal Waste gave a lesson in what
true Thrash Metal is, in what it means to be a band that spreads pure,
energetic metal. A band that dominated the stage every second of their
performance, a band that will always be one of the best in the world, for their
uniqueness in displaying transparent, pure, and powerful thrash.
I was able to enjoy songs like
"Garbage Stomp," "Unleashed the Bastards," "Grave
Dive," "You're Cut Off," "Poison the Preacher,"
"Sadistic Magician," and "Wave of Death," among others.
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| MUNICIPAL WASTE |
Municipal Waste, forever and ever.
CANNIBAL CORPSE: THE MAIN COURSE
And well, the gold time arrived:
CANNIBAL CORPSE took the stage.
And then my skin crawled, and those
tears of happiness, some of them… rolled down my cheeks.
A now legendary band, formed in 1988
in the United States, whom I saw in 1991, 1992, and recently in 2022. Now,
again in 2025, with the fortune of seeing them at The House of Blues in
Houston, TX.
And it was precisely at that moment
when George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher took the microphone that I remembered those
concerts I had attended, and the excitement grew.
Similarly, seeing Alex Webster on
stage was like remembering extraordinary moments. Of course, Erik Rutan was
missing.
A performance that filled the venue
nonstop with pure, total, and absolute DEATH METAL, where songs like
"Blood Blind" and "Scourge of Iron" struck a chord with our
hearts and souls from the start.
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| CANNIBAL CORPSE |
The audience at the slam was brutal, the atmosphere was fiery, and we all screamed in unison with the band.
Spectacular songs followed, such as
"Inhumane Harvest," "Death Walking Terror," and
"Disposal of the Body," which made our nervous system implode to the
maximum and made us feel that release of power to the deepest recesses of our
being.
Cannibal Corpse taught us the meaning
of extraordinary "Gore," a sublime "Death," and concepts
like "Necrophilia," "Torture," "Cannibalism," and
"Zombies" in their lyrics.
“The Wretched Spawn,” “Summone for
Sacrifice,” “Pit of Zombies,” and the wonderful “Evisceration Plague” followed,
where we all shook our heads until we lost our sanity.
My Fulci T-shirt was lost in the
crowd, but my white bandana stood out; in fact, there are some photos online
where I'm perfectly positioned.
And the atmosphere grew, and songs
like “Disfigured,” “Condemnation Contagion,” “Chaos Horrific,” “I Cum Blood,”
“Unleashing the Bloodthirsty” arrived, and they closed with a flourish with the
tremendous “Stripped, Raped and Strangled” and “Hammer Smashed Face.”
Damn, what an incredible performance
Cannibal had in Houston! In a venue with top-notch acoustics, quite good and
with an almost private atmosphere, where we enjoyed exquisite metal.
And the lights came up, and nostalgia
invaded me. It certainly won't be the last time I see these bands, but it was
time to go. The atmosphere was filled with rave reviews about Fulci, Municipal,
Cannibal, and, above all, the excellent organization.
The streets surrounding Caroline St.
were filled with metalheads/headbangers, each of us separating ourselves as we
walked toward our destination.
I walked a few blocks, my mind on the
music and my camera panning toward the beautiful city, elegantly dressed for
the night… of metal.
And so, with reminiscence and
listening to "Evisceration Plague" in the background, I end these
humble lines to thank the bands of this recent October 10th, such a
pleasure to my soul, mind, and spirit.
Thrash, Death, and Gore Metal, forever
and ever.
