I sincerely believe that Carcass was as much of a pull as the headliner, Amon Amarth, this evening. Vega had filled up by now, and the anticipation could be cut with a scalpel.

“We’re only here to entertain you tonight.”
- Jeff Walker (vocals/bass)

On the stage, we could see a similar setup to that of Hell who had played earlier on, with the large Surgical Steel backdrop, and stage banners to either side. The latter ones were actually projector screens for a later video display that would accompany each song, but for now they were only displaying the test screen of Carcass TV (it said on the top).
When the lights went down, spread cheers filled the room as the intro music began rolling out of the speakers, and the band soon enough took the stage and fired up for Buried Dreams, the opener of 1993’s hit album Heartwork. There were some new faces to me, as since last both Michael Amott and Daniel Erlandsson had left the band to concentrate on Arch Enemy, and so the band before us now were the two originals Jeff Walker and Bill Steer and the new kids on the block were Ben Ash (guitar) and Daniel Wilding (drums). Wilding played on the Surgical Steel album, and both of them knew well how to handle material both old and new. Above that, Ash proved to be quite an accomplished performer as well, and led the crowd into rhythmic shouting and arm-waving during Incarnated Solvent Abuse.

Ash’s accomplishments were well needed for the band it would turn out, as the rest of the guys weren’t planning on doing anything special. Wilding was beating the skins wildly, but apart from that he was rather anonymous, Steer grooved to his own tune but didn’t make any attempt at connecting with the audience either except for the one time he took over part of the vocal duties during Genital Grinder (a song which saw a disturbingly large amount of sick cocks on the video screens), and Walker just seemed tired. Not in his voice or playing, just his general demeanour.
He may have been inspired by Ash though, as he led the crowd in clapping hands along with yet another Heartwork song, This Mortal Coil, and towards the end he had warmed up enough to even crack a joke once in a while.
Overall though, the band was mostly standing around, delivering tight and aggressive tunes for sure, but not really delving too deep into the whole performance bit, except for Ash that is.

“It’s always a great pleasure to be in Denmark. This next one we’d like to dedicate to your king – King Diamond.”
- Walker (vocals/bass)

The dry humour that came crawling along towards the end of the gig did not fall on deaf ears, but what really hooked the audience was the music – I can’t begin to tell you how many I heard just around me announcing their love for the band. And fairs fair, the songs got a near flawless delivery!
Still, the crowd didn’t get very physical. There were of course the times one band member or the other got something started, but it died out quickly as they moved on to other things – it would go all the way to the finale before a proper mosh broke out, before that people were standing with their mobiles out instead...
Thinking back, I’ve never seen a wild crowd at a Carcass show, I wonder why that is..?

“I’m feeling very proud of myself because not once did I make a joke about Volbeat... Shit.”
- Walker (vocals/bass)

Especially given the lift it got at the end with the rocker tune Heartwork and the slightly more energised Walker, I can only say that Carcass delivered an ok show for us. I know I’m rubbing a lot of Copenhagen the wrong way here, but I expected more from these gentlemen, and I did so because I know and have seen that they can do so much better. I enjoyed my time with them, but Carcass delivered the least engaging show of the evening in my book.

Setlist:

Buried Dreams
Incarnated Solvent Abuse
Unfit For Human Consumption
This Mortal Coil
Cadaver Pouch Conveyor System
Genital Grinder / Exhume To Consume
Corporal Jigsore Quandary
Captive Bolt Pistol
Ruptured In Purulence / Heartwork