On Saturday, 11/24/23 Cattle Decapitation performed at Hangar 1819 in Greensboro, NC. They played this sold out show with death metal monsters Castrator, Sanguisugabogg, and Immolation. It was a perfect mix of different generations of death metal all in one bill.
Castrator
First to take the stage at this massive show, was Castrator based out of New York City. They really kicked off the show just right with their energetic performance. Castrator is a death metal band that focuses on themes revolving around feminism. It is nice to hear a modern band that upholds the old school death metal sound. Vocalist Clarissa Bandini really knows how to lead a room, her vocals were incredible! Joining these very talented women on stage was Kurtis Layne on guitar. He really killed it, especially since Bandini mentioned there was only a brief amount of time for Kurtis to learn the material. Songs that they played included “Tormented By Atrocities,” “Befoul My Existence,” “Tyrants Verdict,” and others! Overall, this band was fun to experience, they were a wonderful fit to this bill and prepared everyone appropriately for the rest of the night.
Sanguisugabogg
Sanguisugabogg is a relatively new death metal band based out of Columbus, Ohio. They are well known for their internet presence which includes memes of their name (people have a hard time pronouncing it) and their nearly indecipherable logo. I have been dying to see these guys perform for quite a while to see if they would live up to the hype, and I was NOT disappointed. Their performance was just as bonkers as I expected it to be and more. Not only did the band entice extreme amounts of energy from the crowd, but they themselves had a ton of energy! People were going crazy in the pit and were crowd surfing the whole set. At one point, vocalist Devin Swank held up a football and introduced a game for the people in the pit. The game was that he was going to throw the football into the crowd and whoever had the ball at the end of the song would be gifted a free piece of merch. The game was endearingly called, “Murderball.” They played fan favorites such as, “Face Ripped Off,” “Dead As Shit,” and “Necrosexual Deviant.” I was almost sad to see their set end, it was a blast for sure!
Immolation
Immolation is a death metal band that was founded in 1986 in Yonkers, New York. They have the perfect old school death metal sound down, as they are a big band from the first generations of death metal. This band brought a whole new energy to the stage. While the music was energetic and fast, the crowd took some time to warm up and move. Immolation played songs such as “All That Awaits Us,” “Dawn of Possession,” “An Act of God,” and many more. They finished off their set with “Epiphany” and the crowd got a circle pit going. It was nice to be able to see this band perform live!
Cattle Decapitation
Cattle Decapitation is a “cruelty free” progressive death/ grindcore band that formed in 1996. Based out of San Diego, California, they are well known for their themes protesting the exploitation of animals, environmental abuse caused by humankind, and overall are an anti-human band. Cattle Decapitation is truly a unique band, everything they have put out I have adored. They recently put out an album titled, Terrasite which sparked the name of the Terrasitic Infection tour. Cattle Decapitation recently played in Charlotte, NC back in May, so I was shocked and ecstatic to see they were back in NC for this headlining tour! They opened up the stage and took it by storm. The crowd was wild for them. They played a great balance of songs from recent albums, including songs from Monolith of Inhumanity, which is a personal favorite album of mine. The set list included songs such as “We Eat Our Young,” “Dead Set on Suicide,” “Bring Back the Plague,” “Solastalgia,” and many more. They ended their explosive set with “Kingdom of Tyrants.” Everything sounded absolutely incredible, but some of the most notable parts of their sets were when vocalist Travis Ryan would spit in the air, catch it, and snort the snot, and the MONSTROUS 808s that you could feel through your whole body and soul. I absolutely would recommend seeing Cattle Decapitation to anyone, as it is an incredible experience. If they are coming to a city near you, please don’t miss out on seeing them!
