MGM Music Hall became a cauldron of molten metal the day before millions of turkeys were reduced to bare carcasses, with Swedish Viking metal band Amon Amarth leading the charge. You have to admire a band that can get an audience to mime as though they are powering a ship, and I think that’s a unique skill of theirs. The swarthy Northmen looked like they feast daily on piles of smoked herring and gallons of wolf blood to stoke their engines. Put your back into it!

The rest of the bill would be a ridiculously stacked one at a mid-sized club, with heavy hitters Carcass and Obituary showing not only why they are rightly revered in the genre but still capable of putting out relevant music and delivering a primal experience on stage. Pretty impressive when you realize both bands started in 1985; no signs of letting up at all. Cattle Decapitation started the headbanging off with a fierce set of their own and if Bruce Lamont of Led Zeppelin II needs a stand-in on tour, Travis Ryan would be a logical choice.

Amon Amarth:

Carcass:

Obituary:

Cattle Decapitation: