Meshuggah, Cannibal Corpse, Carcass
- Bleeding Priest
- Apr 10
- 3 min read
April 8, 2025
SF Masonic Auditorium
San Francisco, CA
Being that I’ve lived in SF my entire “adult” life it’s a pretty rare occurrence that I go to a venue for the first time. Which is why I was pretty darn excited about seeing Cannibal Corpse and Carcass together at The Masonic.
Another first for me was being that close to Grace Cathedral. It’s absolutely breathtaking. I felt like I was in Europe. Next on my list of things to do in SF is to actually go inside. Funny how living here I just never think of doing things like that. All the bands buses were parked right next to the Cathedral. I’m sure they were stoked to have that as a view as opposed to an Arby’s in anytown USA.
The SF Masonic Auditorium venue is absolutely gorgeous and the staff were the friendliest and most accommodating folks I’ve seen in a long time. They really took care of Dave and I and I can’t say thanks enough to them and Cip.
Now the show. Carcass were up first and that was one of the best half hours of live Metal I’ve ever witnessed. The sound was crystallized. I could hear everything right down to the ride cymbal. That’s pretty rare in a venue that size, especially with a Death Metal band playing at the tempos Carcass does. Cymbals are usually the first thing to go when mixing a band at that volume. Even with studio recordings that’s the case. It’s an unfortunate trend in modern day Metal releases to have the ride completely buried in the mix. Take a listen to current Metal and tell me where the ride cymbal is? You won’t hear it…in most recordings. Actually Jason Suecoff is the one that pointed that out to me.
Anyways, back to the show. Carcass only had 35 minutes to dissect the audience with and that’s exactly what they did. Since the release of Surgical Steel I’ve seen them maybe 15 times and they basically play the same set every time. If there’s anything to complain about it’s that they never play any crazy deep cuts like Empathological Necroticism or Carneous Cacoffiny/Lavaging Expectorate of Lysergide Composition. BUT playing the hits worked in their favor tonight since they had such limited time. AYE! Hearing two songs from Necroticism in a short amount of time means you’ll get no complaints from me. It was a perfect set of Death Metal played at a virtuoso level. The production and lighting were spot on as well. Very tasteful and pleasing to the eye. In total I’ve seen Carcass around 20 times and this performance is definitely in the top 3.
Up next was Cannibal Corpse. The most consistent Death Metal band in the history of the genre live and on wax. There’s no such thing as a bad Cannibal Corpse album or show. Unlike Carcass, Cannibal Corpse does throw the occasional curve ball in their setlist. Given that they weren’t the headliner and were relegated to 50 minutes they pretty much stuck to the standards but that’s ok because unlike a lot of bands who when they play the hits a person like myself may head for a beer or maybe take a dump, Cannibal Corpse’s hits are actually songs I want to hear. They slayed as always.
Their sound was great as well. Definitely darker and murkier than Carcass’s but that’s the sound that fits CC’s brand of bludgeoning Death Metal. One thing I noticed is how much slower of a band they’ve become over the years. That’s not a dis in any way. They groove better than most. Back in the day seeing these guys live was basically hearing the “Cannibal blast” from start to finish. They’ve matured very well.
Lastly we had Meshugghah. Seeing these guys live is a complete sensory overload. An enema of the senses if you will. I could only take an hour of it. Their live performance is like a seizure set to dissonance and a syncopated beat. Don’t get me wrong, it’s heavy and impressive as all hell but my old ass can only take so much. The light show was pretty incredible and it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen lasers (at least I believe they were lasers) at a show and the presentation was quite spectacular. I remember the first time seeing them at The Pound and all they had were a couple of strobe lights. They’ve certainly come a long way.
–Bleeding Priest
