It isn’t often you get to see an established, globally-renowned band play a tiny venue. Florida’s Obituary, one of the pioneers of American death metal, posted a quick U.S. summer tour schedule that had them stopping at Chicago’s Beat Kitchen on July 30th. The show sold out immediately, a sure sign it would be wall to wall craziness.
The lights cut out and the opening of Redneck Stomp began – the band’s staple instrumental prelude that lets the crowd know it’s go time. Soon it was bodies everywhere, stage diving, crowd surfing, moshing. It’s like they brought the humidity of the swamps with them into Beat Kitchen’s small concert room – just a few songs in and the crowd was drenched in sweat. We heard a heavy mix of older and newer tracks, including classics like Chopped in Half, Circle of the Tyrants (Celtic Frost), War, A Lesson in Vengeance, The Wrong Time, and Slowly We Rot.
A key factor setting Obituary apart is that their sound is heavily groove-oriented. Whereas many of their contemporaries in death metal have a more frenzied, chaotic approach, Obituary remain solidly tethered to rhythm. Consequently, their songs are quite catchy. Guitarists Trevor Peres and Ken Andrews provide thick riffs that sound like they were dredged out of the mire, riding atop Donald Tardy’s clockwork drumming and Terry Butler’s bass. Vocalist John Tardy’s distinguished, raspy delivery is perfectly suited to death metal and yet the lyrics are clearly enunciated and understandable.
It’s no wonder, then, that the band have been on countless headlining tours, large festivals, and played with a who’s who of metal acts like Exodus, Carcass, Sepultura, Kreator, Megadeth, Napalm Death, and others.
