Macabre, the lovely murder metal trio from Illinois, was touring in celebration of their 40th anniversary as a band, and in this instance that means a lot, because they have actually played together for all that time, no intermittent break up’s or line-up changes. Quite impressive in the climate of this day, but honestly, who else could you imagine in this outfit, really?

“It’s great to be back in Denmark!”
- Lance ‘Corporate Death’ Lencioni (vocals/guitar)

Having Macabre play Hotel Cecil on their one date in Denmark was a good choice. Apart from being a good venue for shows of this size, there is something compelling and fitting in being led down a dark stair to a hot, damp basement that just sits right with the atmosphere of the whole thing. Drama was added by having the stage curtains drawn right up to the moment where the band was in place and ready to go. The curtains opened, and we got a tirade of ‘zodiac’ being said over and over by Corporate Death and Charles ‘Nefarious’ Lescewicz until they launched into the song of the same name. Corporate Death, Nefarious, and Dennis ‘The Menace’ Ritchie were soon joined on stage by a fourth man, none other than the Zodiac Killer himself, complete with a burlap sack over his head with the zodiac killer sign on and a Glock (or similar) in hand, pretending to shoot the audience.
This man would return in many a song, representing the various problematic persons the songs dealt with, like Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, and Albert Fish. A personal favourite was Jeffrey Dahmer who was on stage during Scrub A Dub Dub, wiping himself off and swiping his towel at the nearest audience. They were of course all in various, fitting outfits, often having some kind of prop on them, and often sporting rubber masks of the actual killers faces.

The parade of serial killers and mass murderers wasn’t the only thing Macabre had going for them, of course. No, the band had other things up their sleeves as well. While Macabre have never belonged to the most active of bands on stage, each and every song was initiated by Corporate Death’s deeply dramatic monologue about what the song was about and where it pulled its inspiration from. Not that they aren’t active at all, Nefarious got a good groove on, Corporate Death is very intense in his mimicry, and poor Dennis the Menace nearly got a heat stroke as he was pounding away in the back. At several times he left the stage between songs for something to drink, and at one point their merch guy stood beside him, fanning him with a towel - let’s hope it wasn’t the Dahmer towel, right?!
It was hot as the Devil’s backyard for the audience as well, but that didn’t stop them from enjoying the show, that’s for sure! So many songs got a good sing-along going, which if we are to be honest, is something Macabre excel at writing, good sing-along songs. The Vampire Of Düsseldorf is a fan favourite and a perfect example of this.
Especially the front of the crowd got really into it, headbanging like wild beasts. There was a mosh, an attempted crowdsurf (though not enough people volunteered for the carrying positions, so the surfer didn’t come too far), and even a guy who climbed up on the admittedly not very high stage and headbanged away up there before jumping back to the throng on the floor.

“We thank you for coming out on a Sunday, it’s great!”
- Corporate Death (vocals/guitar)

After the show was over, Corporate Death and Dennis the Menace hung out to sign, chat, and have photos taken with the lingering fans, and apart from being sweaty and panting - which, to be honest, we all were - they seemed genuinely glad to be here, and were happy to reminisce about prior shows and encounters.
A show that lasted just about an hour may seem a little short for a headlining anniversary show, and I wouldn’t have said no to more, but given the shortness of several of the band’s songs, they did manage to pack 17 tracks in there. There was a vocal crowd request for The Brain at one point, but the band had to confess that they simply couldn’t remember how to play it off hand like this, so the request couldn’t be met. The same reason was given for them completely skipping the Grim Scary Tales album, which holds many of my personal favourites. Next time, hopefully.
I was truly fulfilled by the show, and left the dark basement not only alive, but smiling and humming to the tunes of the night. Happy 40th, guys, and here’s to many more years to come!

Setlist:

Zodiac
Temple Of Bones
The Wheels Of The Bug
Serial Killer
Joe Ball Was His Name
Night Stalker
The Unabomber
Slaughter House
Ed Gein
Warte, Warte
The Iceman
Scrub A Dub Dub
Richard Speck Grew Big Breasts
McMassacre
Albert Was Worse Than Any Fish In The Sea
Vampire Of Düsseldorf
Hitchhiker