EXTREME METAL MADNESS : MESHUGGAH IN LAS VEGAS WITH CANNIBAL CORPSE AND CARCASS AT THE VIRGIN THEATER

Words and photos: Jo Anna Jackson/ Stardogphotos
Apr 21
2 min read

Vegas had a face blasting night of metal with MESHUGGAH ,on tour with guests Cannibal Corpse and Carcass on their current North American tour. The Virgin Theater was packed with fans, headbanging and surfing the night away to the pounding sound of extreme metal.

CARCASS kicked off the show with "Unfit For Human Consumption" and their short but powerful set, Heavy on the Heartwork, was a great start to the night. Carcass is fun and fierce and always give s a great show and a punch. Vocalist and bassist Jeff Walker sports a new short haircut, and with OG guitarist Bill Steer, as well as Daniel Wilding on drums and James Blackford on guitar, the band gave the crowd a pummeling. More on Carcass HERE.

Death metal legends CANNIBAL CORPSE came out bloodied and bold with "Scourge of Iron", and hair was flying as Corpsegrinder George FIsher began a headbanging explosion as fans on the barricade chanted 'respect the neck'. Bodies began to fly over the barricade, and the band blasted the crowd with their wall of brutal sound.

CC released their most recent album Chaos Horrific 2023, and the set featured "Blood Blind" and "Summoned for Sacrifice", and rounded out the show with a punishing "Hammer Smashed Face". Check out the last record and more HERE.

Meshuggah took the stage amid dark red light strobe blasts to the crowd, a chaotic assault of sound and light as they began with “Broken Cog” from their most recent Immutable. The crowd really began to move for "Violent Sleep of Reason, when insane lazer and strobes blasted the crowd in an almost blinding show of light, and the sea of bodies began to flow over the crowd.

Meshuggah's powerful polyrhythmic sound send a wall of sound into the theater, and with the light show created an almost unbearable sensory level. Vocalist Jens Kidman belted from center stage, surrounded by backlight, creating a white bearded wizardish figure dominating the stage.

The set ran a lengthy hour and a half, heavy on 2022's Immutable and early obZen, rounding to the frantic "Future Breed Machine", and the a powerful encore finale with "Breed" and "Demiurge".