Metal and Mayhem at The Eastern in Atlanta, Georgia

Cannibal Corpse at the The Eastern in Atlanta, Georgia. The photo was taken by Nicholas Fox (@yaboinick1827 on Instagram).

The energy is electric. A sea of jackets covered in patches pushes towards the barricade, anticipating what’s coming. A girl in white face paint secures her spot at the front. People crowd towards the front and sides, leaving space in the center. They’re anticipating pure metal. Loud, theatrical, head-banging metal. And they’re about to get it.

The first band that comes on is Blood Incantation. Instantly, they’re whipping their hair through the air. Guitar blasts. The singing is minimal. Instead, the band seems to prefer to focus on skillful instrumentation, bringing the energy up with pounding drums, thrumming bass, and energetic, screaming guitar.

Gorguts takes the stage next. The singer steps out onto the stage and calls to the crowd to cheer. These cheers aren’t just for his band though, something he makes clear. They are also to call out to the other opener, Blood Incantation, and to the headliners, Mayhem and Cannibal Corpse. Once again, vocals seem to be secondary to the instrumentation. The singer riffs on his guitar whenever he isn’t growling into the mic. The bass is constant, reverberating against the walls of the venue. The bassist whips his head back and forth as he plays, a constant wave of motion.

The lights dim. Fog fills the air. Gorguts have left the stage, and something akin to a black mass is about to take place. The musicians for Mayhem shuffle onto the stage. The singer is wearing face paint and an elaborate, tattered robe. He carries a cross made from bones strung together. Banners fly along the stage. The atmosphere is gothic. Almost otherworldly. Fog spews from the stage as the singer’s words pass into the audience. At one point, he, like Hamlet, grabs a skull from somewhere on the stage and sings directly to it. The band changes costumes twice. The projected background changes from a chapel to a baroque era painting, to simply the name of the band. It’s theater. It’s music. It’s metal.

Finally, it’s time for Cannibal Corpse. For a band with such a bloody name, they seem almost reluctant to take themselves seriously. They’re here to have fun, and to help the people watching have fun as well. This is exemplified by the singer’s “Respect the Neck” t-shirt, a reference to a meme about his appearance. They lean into their iconic status for nearly the entire show. The entire band is constantly in motion. The singer whips his hair in circles, a highly practiced motion that is instantly recognizable as part of the band’s signature. The audience takes this energy and runs with it. They’re excited, cheering, throwing up horns at the band. Crowd surfer after crowd surfer is carried through the audience. They’re whooping, recording themselves and the band on their phones as the crowd comes together to carry them toward the front. Everyone’s excited, everyone’s having a blast. It exemplifies why people came to the show in the first place: to see fantastic music and have the most fun they’ve had in months.

Below here you can also watch the slideshow of concert photos from the event taken by Nicholas Fox.