Editor’s note: I didn’t end up making it down to see Exhumed to Consume II (which will be henceforth referred to as “The Carcass show”), so please enjoy these reviews from Mark and guest reviewer Matt.

Mark’s Review:

The crowd was interesting to say the least. It was an eclectic blend of “MySpace Metal” and guys that might have left their metal past go, and were searching frantically through their wardrobes for a t-shirt that said, “Hey man..I’m still pretty non-conformist!” Many of this latter group donned “Marshall” or “Zildjian” shirts, or they tried to out-metal each other by picking the “most obscure band” t-shirt they had (hence, it’s the most Dying Fetus and Nasum shirts I’ve seen at a concert). I also saw a guy with a leather Testament jacket SIGNED by Chuck Billy and Alex Skolnick (FTW!). But despite some differences, everyone in the crowd was there to see the grindcore masters Carcass return to the stage. It has been over 10 years since they last toured, and I’ve been waiting to see them since 1994. When I heard last summer that they were reuniting for some European shows, I hoped that maybe, just maybe, they might tour the states. When they announced the “Chicago-area” date, there was no way I was going to miss it. Hell, even if I lived in Gurnee I would’ve driven down! (PWNED!) Editor’s note: Touché.

Like any suburban venue, the Pearl Room in Mokena struggles to stand out against the larger, more credible Chicago concert halls. The promoters figured that in order to get fans to come out on a Sunday afternoon, they had to construct a bill that not only featured 5 opening acts, but a “second stage” that featured a wave of atrocious local acts playing rehashed and sloppy thrash metal. That being said, the Pearl Room is a great venue for metal. It has great sound, no seats, plenty of room and hot waitresses… so basically it’s the anti-House of Blues. Plus it’s near my hometown, and if it existed when I was in high school and living with my parents (or until I was 25 and STILL living with my parents), it would have been my Mecca and Valhalla all rolled into one.

After painfully tolerating the unending wave of opening acts, Carcass finally took the stage. Fill-in drummer Daniel Erlandsson started into Inpropagation, and suddenly I wasn’t 31 years old anymore. Despite my leased SUV and iPhone, I was transformed back to that nerdy, high school metalhead that was obsessed with Heartwork and Necroticism. Jeff Walker, Bill Steer and Michael Amott delivered in every way. The solos, the voice, and riff upon riff were all there as they blasted through classics such as Carnal Forge, Pyosified, Corporal Jigsore Quandary and Embodiment. Walker was hilarious in between songs with his dry British stage-banter, and because Steer was unable to sing most of his parts, he carried the load vocally. He sounded awesome, and the extra touches of reverb and delay produced some truly unbelievable screams. To every wankers delight, the guitarists added their own flair by exaggerating the squeals and bends to many of the Heartwork tunes… it was unnecessary, but so damn cool.

Everything about the show was a dream come true, the setlist, the venue and their performance. It was truly a return to power, and for me and many others a return to my youth. So I think this review will be an easy one:

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “Seeing Carcass play or seeing carcasses play?… either way you’re golden!”

Matt’s Review:

I must admit that I was initially a little bit shocked to see a packed house at 5:30pm on a Sunday evening behind the same Denny’s restaurant that I used to chain-smoke cigarettes and drink coffee in 15 years ago – back when I was just an awkward, acne-ridden, hormonally-challenged, moppy-haired, metalhead teenaged kid who pondered little about the future… other than trying to find someone over 21 who would be willing to buy my friends and I beer and (more) cigarettes before the weekend rolled around. Ah, the memories… it’s hard to believe that Carcass originally called it quits around that same time and – long after I lost the acne, the mop, and became a responsible adult (well, somewhat anyways) who still listens to a lot of metal – are just now getting back together for a full-fledged tour with 3/4 of the classic “Necroticism” thru “Heartwork” lineup intact.

We got there early enough to check out the opening bands Psycroptic, Samael, and Black Dahlia Murder – as well as a couple of other ’second stage’ acts in the other room of the venue not even worth mentioning, let alone writing a full sentence about. Although I never really got into Samael, they did sound solid overall. I was pretty blown away by the precisely virtuosic musicianship of both Psycroptic and Black Dahlia, although I could really do without both of their frontmen, which I will explain later…

For an increasingly jaded prick like myself, the anticipation to see a reunited Carcass was much stronger than I’ve felt for any other band in quite a while. Knowing the talent of all the musicians in the band, it was a given that I was going to see a group of finely-polished crafty veterans playing (at worst) respectable versions of their back catalog while I watched in comfortable content. Instead, I was enthusiastically blasted with an energy-filled non-stop onslaught from the first notes of the opening song “Inpropagation,” all the way up until the last notes of the closing epic masterpiece “Heartwork,” each and every song in between – such as Carnal Forge, Corporal Jigsore Quandery, This Mortal Coil, Embodiment, Incarnate Solvent Abuse, and Death Certificate, to name a few – flawlessly played with minimal stops in between. Frontman/bassist Jeff Walker’s voice has not lost an ounce of it’s punch and intensity after all these years. His humorously witty banter during the rare breaks was also a very refreshing change of pace from the meat-headed and cartoonishly predictable “I wanna see some action in that fuckin’ pit” yelping from the B.D.M. and Psycroptic frontmen before, during, and after every single friggin’ song. Fill-in drummer Daniel Erlandsson (Arch Enemy) proved to be more than capable of handling the job and is definitely one of the more solid metal drummers in the business, by far. The real treat for me though – being a guitar player and all – was seeing the flawless guitar virtuoso duo of Bill Steer (who was apparently sicker than a dog that night) and Michael Amott (who is apparently a redhead these days) in the flesh. Symposium of sickness and blood-red hair aside, it was truly an honor to be in their presence and be reminded of why I got a boner the first time I heard “Heartwork” as a teenager (I did say that I was hormonally-challenged, didn’t I?).

All in all, I couldn’t have possibly asked for anything better that night, except for maybe punching ‘that guy’ 10 feet behind us who kept insisting that every album besides “Reek Of Putrefaction” ’sucks balls.’ Ah well, I guess it could have been worse – Crowbar or Mortiis could’ve been the opening acts!

Matt’s Rating:

King says: “Vegans playing metal? What’s next, an evil clown singing about torturing little girls? B-B-Brilliant!”