Macabre, band from hell
Where are you now, are you doing well?

After another heavy bout of rain, we headed towards the Boško Bursać stage to get a glimpse of Macabre, Chicago’s own murder metal masters.

It was still raining, although in a lesser degree, and since rumours about cancellations due to the conditions had been floating around, we were a bit late, reaching the stage as the band moved into their third song of the set. The song was Dr. Holmes (He Stripped Their Bones) from the Gloom album, and it was as good a place to start as any. I don’t remember seeing Charles ‘Nefarious’ Lescewicz taking such an active part in singing before, but it sounded good. He certainly did seem happier than most times we’ve seen the band in the past, smiling and moving about during the show.
Lance ‘Corporate Death’ Lencioni did his usual bit with giving little anecdotes about the subject of each song, which is always appreciated and an integral part of this particular band’s performance, if you ask me. I wouldn’t have minded if he at some point had turned a bit more attention to the crowd, but they were pressed for time already going in to this show, so I won’t complain. Dennis ‘Dennis the Menace’ Ritchie did have his eye on the crowd though, and twice during the show, between songs of course, he went to the front of the stage to photograph the fans who had shown up despite the wet weather.

Not that there were so many of us. The small ground before the stage was only loosely populated, no doubt because of the weather up to, and including, that had been pouring down on us so far during the day.
Still, even though we were clad in plastic and rubber up to, and above, our ears, there were still those who braved the moshpit when the music kicked into gear – I believe this was what impressed Dennis the Menace enough to come photograph us.
There really was good reason for a moshpit as well – the set was, although much too short, a well-planned mix of the band’s albums, from the debut that’s mentioned above, to the latest album, Grim Scary Tales from 2011, with at least a couple songs from my personal favourite, Dahmer (why hasn’t this album been rereleased yet, so that us who came late to the band can also get our hands on it?).
The execution of the songs was tight and strong as always, and Macabre had even expanded their show, compared to what I’ve seen in the past. For Albert Was Worse Than Any Fish In The Sea, a stagehand entered dressed as an old man, walking with a cane. When reaching the front of the stage, he proceeded to spank himself with said cane, until he fell over, and a girl came in and took over the spanking, ending in her dragging himself off the stage by his feet at the end of the song. Later, when Ed Gein was played, a guy entered wearing a Leatherface looking mask, weaving a big knife at the band and the audience. Fitting, as Leatherface (from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, if you were in doubt) is based on Ed Gein, as is Hannibal Lecter (from Silence Of The Lambs), and a host of other macabre film antagonists.

As much as I enjoyed watching Macabre here at Metaldays though, I can’t help but be happy to know that there is a regular Macabre headlining show waiting for us in the near future – I want more, and I don’t mind it being without the rain.

Setlist:

Zodiac
Nero's Inferno
Dr. Holmes (He Stripped Their Bones)
Albert Was Worse Than Any Fish In The Sea
Scrub A Dub Dub
Ed Gein
The Iceman
The Bloody Benders
Hitchhiker
Mary Bell
Vampire Of Düsseldorf