Morbid Devastation Tour at Waiting Room in Omaha, Nebraska on October 6th, 2023.
Photos and Review by The Pit Magazine Contributor, Winsel Photography
The Morbid Devastation Tour rammed into Omaha’s Waiting Room with Cavalera, Exhumed, Incite (Phoenix, AZ), and local favorites Green Death (Des Moines, IA) and Beast Eagle (Omaha, NE). There were more bands than a small festival on this night and it was a freaking banger!! It ranged from heavy rock and roll, to groove thrash, to deathgrind, and old school thrash metal. There was something for every kind of metal head for this show.
Cavalera
Headlining the Morbid Devastation Tour was Cavalera featuring brother Iggor and Max Cavalera formerly of Sepultura. This is the foundation for the name of the tour as Cavalera re-released two records, Morbid Visions and Bestial Devastation (get it?). This set is as I was expecting it to be; hard, heavy, and devastating to the face! What made this set particularly awesome is that it was not Cavalera Conspiracy songs on the setlist but rather it was an homage to Sepultura!! Starting with Bestial Deviation, Antichrist, and Necromancer. I mean, if you are going to cover your old band’s music, you may as well come out swinging!
Cavalera kept the agony going with other great Sepultura songs as Morbid Visions, Empire of the Damned, and Troops of Doom. Toward the end of their set, as if the crowd at The Waiting Room wasn’t already at a fevered pitch, they finally threw in Refuse/Resist and for good measure they brought members of Exhumed onto the stage for a cover or Motorhead‘s Iron Fist By the end of the night, I was spent between taking photos, avoiding the mosh pit, and inadvertently getting in the middle of a pit. This set was brutal!
Exhumed
Fifth up on the Morbid Devastation Tour was Exhumed, a deathgrind band all the way from California gored the stage with their set. Led and centered around vocalist Matt Harvey, they dealt out a grind that was heavy AF! They released their first record Gore Metal in 1998 and most recently released To the Dead. The first three songs that I caught and can remember were Drained of Color, Rank and Defiled, and Dysmorphic. Then to put the final touch on their Gore F**king Metal fest they wound their set up with Utter Mutilation of Your Corpse. Gah!! I had no idea what I was getting into, but it was worth it!
Incite
Fourth (yes, I am going backwards), was groove thrash band Incite from Phoenix. I had a chance to meet vocalist Richie Cavalera and talked about the band a little bit. I asked him to describe the band in one word and he said, “Fun! We are just having a fun time up there and we want everyone in the place to have fun with us!” Hey man, it was pretty damned fun! Richie was running and jumping about the stage, a very high energy fella. He even interacted with the crowd, quite close up on a number of occasions. Incite is a band that I would like to see come back to the area again so more fun can be had!
Green Death
Second up on the Morbid Death Tour was Green Death from Des Moines, Iowa. Now, I have been following this death/horror metal band for quite some time, but I have never seen them live! When I told this to the band the were aghast! I hung out with Sol Bales, the Vocal Beast, and we talked a bit more about the band and how they formed in 2012 and released their first record, The Deathening, in 2013. They have been featured in Decible Magazine and have shared the stage with the likes of Trivium, Suicidal Tendencies, Napalm Death, and Black Dahlia Murder. Their most recent release in 2018 was a full length record, Hallowmass.
Beast Eagle
First on stage for the Morbid Devastation Tour was Omaha local heavy rock band Beast Eagle. Brand spanking new to me! They had that new car smell to them, but they played like they have been together for years. I have known vocalist Kate for quite sometime from Omaha’s local music scene from her other band Through the Stone. This set was super heavy and Kate’s voice is heavy metal gold…like butter. I can see this band making a big rock and roll impact on the Omaha music scene and they have quite a few shows under their belt. If you get a chance to see them, get off your ass and go check them out!
Final Thoughts
Staying true to the raw, discordant energy of the early days, the tracks are delivered like punch after punch, authentically reminiscent of the chaotic live-shows of the eighties as Max wails through Morbid Visions and Iggor slams through “Troops Of Doom.” The quartet has captured the graveyard essence of these albums with a fresh wind, demonstrating from start to finish that Morbid Visions and Bestial Devastation will once again wake the dead from their crypt. Accompanying Max and Igor on this run were Igor Amadeus Cavalera (HEALING MAGIC, GO AHEAD AND DIE) fulfilling bass duties and Travis Stone (PIG DESTROYER, DESOLUS) supplied lead guitar work.
Photos by The Pit Magazine photographer, Winsel Photography in Omaha, Nebraska. ©2023.
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