Given the slightly lackluster performance at Copenhell last year, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Carcass this evening, as they were supporting Kreator in Poolen. Both Nails and Exodus had surprised in a good way however, so fingers were crossed that the streak would continue. After all, this wasn’t just a regular tour, because barring an 11 year gap, this was the 40th anniversary of the English gents.

The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue was played as an intro for the band, after which they went straight into the groovy Unfit For Human Consumption. This show, as it turned out, was far from unfit for human consumption however, as the band was back in full vigour, and with a scalpel sharp set they commenced to dissect the Danish audience for the next 45 minutes.
Bill Steer was in such a good mood that he was literally skipping along whenever he moved instead of walking, and as soon as Jeff Walker discovered that he could walk out in front of the stage, he could hardly be made to walk back on the stage proper again, barring the times he needed to use the microphone of course. James ‘Nippy’ Blackford was more than willing to join Walker on these escapades, and was in general delivering just as engaging a performance as the rest of them. With him properly joining only three years prior, he’s still fairly new to the crew but fits right in with the rest of them.
Drummer Daniel Wilding had to sit this one out, so there was a new face behind the drumkit as well. Waltteri Väyrynen (Opeth, ex-Paradise Lost) joined the band for the tour instead, and did a fine job of it. Not as active in engaging the crowd as the rest of them, but doing a fine job with the music - and amusingly he was joined at one point by someone standing behind him, playing the cowbell. Because we all know there’s always room for more cowbell.

This wasn’t the only amusing incident the band dished up along the way. There was also Walker one-handed tapping his way through a segment of a song, as his other hand was preoccupied pouring a beer down his throat.
There was also a special shout-out to Sam the guitar tech. It was his birthday, so he was called out to join on the stage, where he was presented with cake and song, ended with Walker commenting; “Right, no fuck off back to work with you.” with his special dry humour.
All of this went straight in with the crowd of course, who at this specific point had been given lead on the Happy Birthday tune, but they were highly active through the rest of the show as well, especially with the large and wild moshpit and the many, many crowdsurfers.

That Carcass could lift themselves this much in such a relatively short time, solidifies my belief that Copenhell was a one-off bad day, which in all honesty wasn’t all that bad to begin with, not just up to the band’s otherwise high standard.
This night however, didn’t just live up to, but in every way surpassed those standards, and I’m willing to go out on a fairly safe limb here and proclaim this as the best Carcass show I’ve seen so far. What a perfect way to celebrate one’s 40th anniversary!

Setlist:

The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue
Unfit For Human Consumption
Buried Dreams
Incarnated Solvent Abuse
No Love Lost
Tomorrow Belongs To Nobody
Death Certificate
Dance Of Ixtab (Psychopomp & Circumstance March No. 1 In B)
Genital Grinder
Exhume To Consume
Corporal Jigsore Quandary
Heartwork
Carneous Cacoffiny