Written by:	Baz Anderson
Published:	November 22, 2011
Event:	Morbid Angel: Illud Divinum Insanus Europe Autumn 2011 (Website)
Location:	Corporation, Sheffield, United Kingdom
Galleries:	Morbid Angel - Sheffield, England, 21st November 2011 by Baz Anderson (35)

The venue in Sheffield has started putting on shows earlier so that they finish earlier, allowing people to catch the last trains of the night back home. This did also mean, possibly with added confusion of opening times, that when the doors did open - not many people were waiting. American death metal legends Morbid Angel were in town with a great support package, and hardly anyone turned up for half the night.




A shame then for late-comers, as the little-known French band Benighted were about to absolutely demolish everything. Criminally unknown on these shores, these guys put groove into a brutal death-grind concoction with such intensity found nowhere else. The band filled their short set with songs from their last three albums and still kept the drive to deliver a blinding show, even if it pretty much was just to a front row. The band may have found some new fans here tonight, but the lack of any real audience put a slight dampener on the mood of the set. Either way though, these guys are absolutely on top of the scene and gave those present a mightily impressive set.



Necrophobic might have been the main support band, but the story stayed the same for these Swedish guys. Unfortunately for them, they didn't bring with them anywhere near the kind of energy the last band brought. Thus their set was rather static, band and audience, and unfortunately edging on boring at times. The venue was filled with a somewhat enjoyable, but terribly bland mix of death and black metal. Aside from one or two fans the band had, it seemed as though the people watching were only really willing the headliners to come on earlier. Perhaps not the most flattering position for the band, sandwiched between two high-energy blast-fests.



As if by magic the venue was alive as a ready and willing audience waited for the mighty Morbid Angel. Kicking off with the opening songs of their first three albums, Sheffield was about to get a whole lot more... morbid. The audience went crazy; hair, bodies, drinks flying everywhere. This is what the audience had been waiting for, and to open the first half of the set with a bunch of old songs was exactly the kindle required to ignite the audience the way they did. A trio of new songs quietened the audience, although "Existo Vulgoré" particularly didn't sound out of place.



The night was finally alive and this felt like a proper show. Old classics like "Maze Of Torment" and "Lord Of All Fevers & Plague" always sound great live, but after "Chapel Of Ghouls" the show came to an end without any real warning. The band's relatively short headlining set of one hour might have disappointed a few, combined with a couple of glaring omissions from the setlist such as "World Of Shit (The Promised Land)" and "God Of Emptiness". Regardless, Morbid Angel and Trey's amazing guitar skills never fail to deliver, and tonight was no exception. For the majority of the audience this night was all about Morbid Angel, who proved once more that in the live environment, they still are one of death metal's finest.



Setlist: Immortal Rites / Fall From Grace / Rapture / Day Of Suffering / Blasphemy / Maze Of Torment / Existo Vulgoré / Nevermore / I Am Morbid / Angel Of Disease / Lord Of All Fevers & Plague / Sworn To The Black / Chapel Of Ghouls