Macabre, the murder metallers from Chicago, Illinois, was definitely one of the bands I was really looking forward to seeing at this year’s Brutal Assault festival, and judging from the size of the crowd, I was not the only one.

Macabre was finally out touring, supporting their upcoming 25th anniversary album release Grim Scary Tales (out in 2011), and with them they had brought a little appetizer in the form of the four track LP Human Monsters, from which they played two songs at the concert, but more on that later.
As I’ve mentioned, I was really excited about this show already beforehand, and my expectations were only raised when Macabre performed the cool stunt of playing their own intro music live on stage! After this we were quickly over in Zodiak, and the killing spree could begin…
Corporate Death (vocals/guitar) once again proved to be an excellent frontman, and he did a great job at creating an atmosphere for each and every song with his informative and interesting presentations (among other situations, he spoke of a trip with his mother to the trial of a known serial killer).
And now back to the two new tracks! I must shamefully admit that I did not enjoy them nearly enough at the time. No, no, don’t get me wrong, I did like them, but after acquiring Human Monsters and listening to it repeatedly at home later on, I now wish I had known the songs at the time of the concert, to fully appreciate the masterpieces that they are. Yes, the four tracks of the LP are great, one and all, and the two chosen for the show, Countess Bathory (I suspect this to be a cover, but I’m not sure [ed. note: yes, it's a Venom cover]) and The Bloody Benders are, well I wanted to say highlights, but actually all four of them are. Still, it needs to be said that The Bloody Benders, in all its gory country rock glory, may just be the best song this band has ever written. Now it is said.

After this detour I would like to return to the show, and more specifically its viewers, the audience.
Honestly, I can’t imagine how people could stay as calm as they did for the grand party that Macabre delivered. There was only a small excuse for a moshpit in the middle and apart from that, nothing was really going on. In my mind, the band deserved so much more than that! This was one quality act, delivered by a band like no other with an incredible presence, and went straight to the top 5 for this festival, with a clear chance of ending up on the top of the year scale as well. If given the chance, don’t miss out on this band!

Setlist:

Zodiak
McMassacre
The Wüstenfeld Man Eater
The Trial
Nightstalker
The Bloody Benders
You’re Dying To Be With Me
Mary Bell
Hitchhiker
Vampire Of Düsseldorf
Ed Gein
Countess Bathory (Venom cover)