(Our friend Ben Manzella made sure not to miss one of the California dates of the ongoing Cancer Culture Over North America Tour, featuring Decapitated, Septicflesh, Kataklysm, and Allegaeon, and he brought us the following report on the show and lots of his photos.)
After going to shows consistently for close to twenty years, I find some venues hold a nostalgic place in my memory. The Observatory in Santa Ana, formerly known as the Galaxy Theater, is one such place. I rarely attend shows there due to the distance from where I live in southern California; but when I heard Decapitated’s tour would be starting there and I knew I’d be out of town for their other date in the area, I knew I had to figure out a way to be there.
As other US/North American fans of Decapitated will be well aware, the band has not been back to this region of the world since an incident that happened 7 years ago. It was pretty well documented and I don’t think it needs to be further mentioned out of respect for the band in moving forward. If anything, it felt sort of celebratory that their tour started at The Observatory because it was also the last venue they played 7 years ago.
So, with a new album released in 2022 and a strong/eclectic lineup featuring Septicflesh, Kataklysm, and Allegaeon, the Cancer Culture Over North America tour started on a high note.
ALLEGAEON
Starting the show on Tuesday night was Allegaeon. I’ve heard of them for a few years now, but this was my first time hearing them live. I’m grateful to say that their live performance only enhanced the talent they displayed on their recordings. I especially enjoyed the energetic showmanship of vocalist, Ezra Haynes. He made my work of documenting the show both easy and difficult. Easy in the sense that he was dynamic and captivating to watch, but difficult in that he rarely stood still for very long.
They recently released a single called “Iridescent” and will be recording a new full-length record soon. If you haven’t heard them before and are looking for a new heavy band to check out, I’d say now is the time to check out Allegaeon.
KATAKLYSM
As time goes on, sometimes you lose track of bands. It isn’t so much that you lose interest, there just isn’t enough time in the day to hear all the music you like or hear about. I’m sure that isn’t new to anyone reading this. With that in mind, it was a welcome reunion for me to see Kataklysm live a few days ago. They were a band I always tried to get my friend group in high school to support, but I had to enjoy them on my own. Many years later, they are just as tight a band as I remembered.
I continue to enjoy the lyric writing of vocalist Maurizio Iacono. As I looked for an outlet for my introspective nature, his words in songs like “Crippled and Broken” were a source of inspiration to challenge myself on how I handle anger in my life. It meant a great deal to me to shout these familiar lyrics again over a decade after they first caught my attention. Their latest release, Goliath, came out in 2023 and was among some of my favorite records put out last year.
SEPTICFLESH
Next was Septicflesh, the band that seemed to bring out quite a lot of the crowd from what I noticed waiting in line. Ironically, the current drummer of Septicflesh was the first drummer to join Decapitated when Vogg decided to put together a new lineup in 2009. Similar to Allegaeon, I had been aware of Septicflesh but had never seen them live before.
I can’t say I connected with their music at all, but they had most of the audience in the palm of their hand for their entire set. The bassist/vocalist Spiros referred to the crowd many times as “my friends”, which may seem out of place to an outsider considering this was mainly a death metal show, but I appreciated how welcoming that sentiment is. Their latest record, Modern Primitive, was released in 2022.
DECAPITATED
One last flashback, I promise. Vogg was the first person to grant me an in-person interview when I began writing about music as a teenager. I had found his personal email and when he came to the US as a touring member of Vader, while also working on starting again with Decapitated, he made time to chat with me, a nervous and starstruck 17-year-old with tape recorder and notepad after a few random emails. It was a privilege to make some new photos of him and the rest of Decapitated as they made their return to California.
Starting the night with the namesake song of their tour and latest record, Cancer Culture, the crowd erupted as smoke plumes shot from the stage floor and singer Rafał began whipping his dreadlocks through the air. The chemistry of their current lineup couldn’t be better. While it was a shorter set than I’d have preferred, the fact it was Tuesday meant an early ending to the night.
The set focused on new songs, but they also included songs from most of their records, including what I think is their best-known song “Spheres of Madness” from the record Nihility. Every fan of Decapitated is in for a great night and needs to make it out to a date on this current tour. If it is coming through your area in the next month, don’t miss out! (see below for the remaining dates)
Here are the remaining dates as of this publication:
4/24/2024 The Masquerade (Hell) – Atlanta, GA
4/25/2024 Hangar 1819 – Greensboro, NC
4/26/2024 The Queen – Wilmington, DE
4/27/2024 The Webster – Hartford, CT
4/28/2024 Warsaw – Brooklyn, NY
4/29/2024 Brighton Music Hall – Boston, MA
5/01/2024 Imperial Bell – Quebec City, QC
5/02/2024 Beanfield Theater – Montreal, QC
5/03/2024 The Phoenix – Toronto, ON
5/04/2024 Preserving Underground – Pittsburgh, PA
5/05/2024 Piere’s Entertainment Center – Fort Wayne, IN
5/06/2024 St. Andrews Hall – Detroit, MI
5/07/2024 Headliners Music Hall – Louisville, KY
5/08/2024 The Forge – Joliet, IL
5/10/2024 Green Room – Minneapolis, MN
5/11/2024 Park Theater – Winnipeg, MB
5/12/2024 Louis (USSU) – Saskatoon, SK
5/13/2024 The Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB
5/14/2024 The Back Alley – Calgary, AB
5/16/2024 Rickshaw Theater – Vancouver, BC
5/17/2024 Hawthorne Theater – Portland, OR
5/18/2024 DNA Lounge – San Francisco, CA
5/19/2024 1720 – Los Angeles, CA