What’s that “noise”? You definitely have heard it somewhere: faint sounds of what sounds like someone having a seizure behind the drum kit, a voice that could belong to a man or a beast, inhumanely fast riffs…

That “noise” can be simply put to words as DEATH METAL; a subgenre of metal, distinguished by growled vocals, heavily distorted electric guitars and a super fast rhythm. It’s a wild and off-the-hook type of music which some love and others don’t understand. 

Why do people love death metal? Well, many metalheads can’t say why. The answer is often as basic as “it’s cool” or “it’s heavy.” It’s the type of music you can go to when your morning coffee doesn’t quite wake you up. It can give you the energy you need. On the other hand, it’s also a calming kind of music. It’s cathartic in a sense that it substitutes the stress and anger you may be experiencing with something else. Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster says that death metal is about “turning something negative to something positive by making it into music instead of doing something violent.” After listening to a good death metal album, I often feel much more relaxed and relieved of negative emotions.

Metal in concert is a whole new dimension. Firstly, there is the sense of belonging. As soon as you go through the venue door, you are surrounded by people who like the same things as you do. “You know the songs, you’re part of the crew,” states Cannibal Corpse frontman George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher. “You’re part of a family, everybody is there for a reason.” Concerts are a social place where you can make friends and have fun together without anyone judging you. It’s also a place where you can physically live the music through moshing and head-banging. 

Let’s move on to a specific show that occurred on the 27th of September at REBEL. The first band to play was Blood Incantation. Their style combines death metal with progressive songwriting and alien-themed lyrics. They only played three songs, but one of them was their 18 minute epic. Even though their set felt short, they played the songs flawlessly.

Up next was Quebec-based death metal legends Gorguts. They mostly focused on their classic debut album “Considered Dead.” The dynamics of the songs still sound fresh today and the band was in top form. For the last song, they played the title track from their avant-garde album “Obscura.” It was very fascinating to see how they do the strange guitar fret tapping part live. Gorguts both satisfied my curiosity and my moshing needs. I also had the pleasure to meet with the band’s frontman, Luc Lemay, who is a very chill guy!

As Mayhem was coming up, the atmosphere in the crowd started to change. The hype was building up immensely. They are one of the most well known bands in the black metal subgenre, which is notable for its use of shrieking vocals, blast beats, and melodic riffage. 

The crowd immediately turned to liquid when the band came on stage. It felt like the audience was a single organism. Every push and pull resulted in everyone moving. The mosh pit grew even bigger and if you were in the front row, you would probably be squeezed like a lemon.

Mayhem’s stage decoration matched their dark music really well. They had skulls, flags, hoods, and a noose. Frontman Attila Csihar has undeniable stage presence which keeps all eyes on him. The band was very fast but the guitars were a bit hard to hear at times.

After that, it was time to see the mighty Cannibal Corpse. Apparently the crowd wasn’t tired at all as chaos erupted again when the band appeared on stage. The set list was quite satisfactory as they played a lot of their signature songs. The new songs sounded massive live. What’s great about Cannibal Corpse is that their songs are strangely catchy as they are brutal. Lots of people were singing along. When the bass solo came in “Hammer Smashed Face,” everyone stood still until we were hit right in the face with the blast beats as the pit got crazier than ever. I also crowd-surfed and the sight I had is something I won’t ever forget. 

During the concert someone in the audience screamed, “Play something heavy,” which pissed off Corpsegrinder. After that, they seemed to play more brutally than ever! Corpsegrinder, a claw machine master who donates the plushies he wins to kids in need, was happy to receive a teddy bear from the audience. He was also nice enough to sign the records of the audience at the end of the show. Absolute legend. 

Death metal may not be for everyone, but it means a lot to me and everyone who was there. It’s energizing and calming at the same time. Stressed about the midterms approaching? Maybe cue up some death metal. It might relax you. 🙂