Europe Rigor Mortis Part II
During the summer open air season, you always get to see one or another bigger band in cozy club shows between the festival weekends. After all, a bit of money has to come in during the week too, if bands don’t have booked a full tour. This leads to some illustrious packages and also gives local bands the chance to share the stage with a bigger names and present themselves to a larger audience.
The midsummer weekend was quite a ripsnorter. There was so much going on that you didn't even know where to go first. On the other hand... as a big CARCASS fan, the decision was pretty easy ;)
And so, I entered the :: Eventcenter Bochum ::. on a hot and sunny day. I've never been here before. Is that a new location?
Ah, oh... Wait... Wait a minute... Hah! I've been here once or twice before! More than 30 years ago. Wow, that's crazy. The Bochum event center is the former Tarm Center, a posh disco in the 90s. Back then, I lived practically around the corner from here. Now the building has been renovated and reactivated and an attempt has been made to recreate the old flair. So, the glossy floor and glittery toilets are no longer surprising ;)
BUT: There was also air conditioning here! At 33°C outside it was quite pleasant inside :)
And here CARCASS, WALLS OF JERICHO and PHANTOM CORPORATION were supposed to play in the big “hall” called Pott Perle... hahahaha. Sorry, that's funny, isn't it?
In the end, the place was packed with about 700 people and the world at the merch was still in order. Shirts for 25 Euros (or 15 Euros), LS 35 Euros and zippers 45 Euros. And we talk about the merch of Brit and American bands. So, yeah, normal merch pricing is still possible! (I later heard that shirts at the NIN show were 60 Euros – what a fucking rip-off!)
There were food and drink checks here, but in different price categories with fair drink prices - that was ok too.
One drawback was certainly the security, who were attending a metal concert for the first time (it seems, it was the first metal show in this venue too). The guys had been instructed that mosh pits were not aggressive brawls - what they hadn't been told or shown was that they have to catch crowdsurfers. Luckily there was only one of them, who ended up jumping into the pit himself without hurting anyone.
:: pics :: PHANTOM CORPORATION ::
Now let's get to the music. Super punctual, ultra brutal and with hellish speed we started to warm up (as if it wasn't already hot enough outside...;)) with :: PHANTOM CORPORATION ::.
For frontman Leif Jensen, this is more or less the successor band to his faded death/thrash squad Dew-Scented, even if the two bands overlap a little in terms of formation - the rest of the band normally play with death metallers Weak Aside (who I also like very much), who were actually shelved in 2019 but are now continuing after all.
The PHANTOM CORPORATION debut Fallout was released in June 2023, from which the majority of the songs were taken. The rest were from older EPs or splits.
PHANTOM CORPORATION thrashed through their 35-minute set so quickly that they finished before time and were able to add one more song as an encore. Death Crust the brutal way ;)
The stage was spacious; sound and light were unexpectedly good in this ex-disco. The bass came across much better in the back, while the sound in front of the stage sounded a bit too clinical.
Most people here didn’t know PHANTOM CORPORATION, so the feedback was rather sparse. Maybe it was just too hot and fans not yet “acclimatized” enough for this high-speed-ride. All in all, a very entertaining show. Needed to take a long sleeve with me afterwards :) Yep, that was fun!
Band: Leif Jensen (vox), Arne Berents (git), Philipp Schulte (git), Marc Bräutigam (git, live), Ulf Imwiehe (bass), Mücke ( drums)
Setlist: Liberty In Death, Border Wars, Dead Inside, Vortex Of Torment, Insurgents, Gridlock, Spiritual Arsonists, No Tomorrow, Distress // Alongside Hell
:: Fotos :: WALLS OF JERICHO ::
Yes, I've also seen, :: WALLS OF JERICHO :: live before. Ages ago. At a festival, I think. Oh, it was in 2009, at Vainstream, a festival in my hometown. The good thing is, I can always refresh my live memory with the magazine's archive ;)
It seems to have become quite quiet around the band. The albums are released in an almost 8-years rhythm, the last one, No One Can Save You From Yourself, is from 2016. No idea, how regular the band from Detroit is touring over here in Europe.
The hardcore punks around the lively red-haired front woman Candace suddenly packed the place. Even before the first song, Candace called for mosh pits and the opener, The American Dream, got the crowd going. During this song, Candace started to vent about “her” president and his idiocies.
WALLS OF JERICHO also played very fast through all five of their albums and got the Eventcenter boiling and bubbling, while Candace jumped across the stage or into the audience like a bouncy ball. The woman runs half marathons (in addition to weightlifting), so this is probably just a warm-up for her. But the audience really worked up a sweat ;) This band spreads pure and raw energy! The level reached its peak here.
They started super punctually, and ended super punctually, after exactly 35 minutes. No new song, no preview of a possible new album.
And as soon as the last note had faded away, Candace was already back at the merch and signing devotional items ;)
That was indeed a very intense show! I had completely forgotten how much fun WALLS OF JERICHO are live. The advantage of WALLS OF JERICHO is that they always fall into groovy parts, so that you get to mosh and headbang a lot (aka taking a breath ;)), before getting into fast and aggressive movements again. I wish, the set would have been a bit longer.
Band: Candace Kucsulain (vox), Chris Rawson (git), Mike Hasty (git), Aaron Ruby (bass), Dustin Schoenhofer (drums)
Setlist: The American Dream, A Trigger Full Of Promises, I Know Hollywood And You Ain't It, All Hail The Dead, There's No I in Fuck You, A Little Piece Of Me, No One Can Save You From Yourself, Forever Militant, Why Father, A Day And A Thousand Years, Feeding Frenzy, Reign Supreme, Relentless, Playing Soldier Again, Revival Never Goes Out Of Style
:: Fotos :: CARCASS ::
After that, something cool was needed. In the meantime, the Pott Perle had thinned out noticeably, many fans had obviously only come for Walls Of Jericho.
:: CARCASS :: took a little more time before they came on stage and then made a rather strange impression.
Jeff Walker, now fully gray and short-haired (have seen them last time in 2022), looked like he'd just come from the beach in a white shirt and jeans, while Bill Steer looked like he'd been dragged off a Sunday hippie sofa and denied tea time.
The band had been at Graspop and Copenhell the days before and, to be honest, seemed rather tired and spiritless. CARCASS played a solid but routine show - the spark didn't want to jump over. The tracks from the band's early days brought a bit of life and energy into the crowd (how I love those guitar sound and groove in the songs), but the feedback on the newer stuff was rather meagre.
The setlist was well mixed, there was something from every album. A typical festival setlist, playing it safe and without surprises. Overall, I found the show a bit disappointing, not even my pink fan glasses helped. I've seen them much better before. Too bad.
Nonetheless, it was a nice concert evening in an unusual location
Band: Jeff Walker (vox, bass), Bill Steer (git), Nippy Blackford (James - git), Daniel Wilding (drums)
Setlist: Unfit For Human Consumption, Buried Dreams, Kelly's Meat Emporium, Incarnated Solvent Abuse, No Love Lost, Tomorrow Belongs To Nobody/Death Certificate, Dance Of Ixtab, Black Star/Keep On Rotting In The Free World, Genital Grinder, Pyosisified (Rotten To The Gore), Tools Of The Trade, The Scythe's Remorseless Swing, 316L Grade Surgical Steel, This Mortal Coil, Corporal Jigsore Quandary // Exhume To Consume, Ruptured In Purulence/Heartwork
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