Decapitated - As Part of Summer Slaughter, House of Blues, Chicago 8/9/10

Decapitated make a triumphant return to the U.S. after their well published tragic tour bus crash in 2007 that left their singer Covan in a coma and fatal death of original drummer Weitold Kieltyka. Against all odds, this band has returned better than ever in my opinion. Maybe with the belief that their fallen comrads would have wanted them to continue on, they came back this night truly on fire!

I have seen Decapitated many times over the years and this was their best showing yet. They stormed the stage with everyone new except founding guitarist, Vogg who is the chief songwriter for the band, for a ferocious headliner set. The band still sounds relatively the same since they were playing material from their past albums but the fire, precision and intensity in this new lineup was undeniable. They played many of the songs I know and love such as Day 69, Three Dimensional Defect, Post Organic and Spheres of Madness (which was also me and my wife's last song of the night for our wedding!)

New singer Rafal Piotrowski was incredibly pumped, had a great death metal voice, did a fantastic job with the band's material and working the crowd into a frenzied mosh pit. New drummer, Kerim "Krimh" Lechner and Austrian bassist, Filip "Heinrich" Halucha, handled the material incredibly well creating a tight, focused, staccato heavy backdrop for guitarist Vogg to work his guitar magic. Decapitated overcame such a tragic loss and showed us why they are one of the best death metal on the planet. With this strong of a lineup, I look forward to hearing new material from this phenomenal band.

Of the plethera of bands on this bill, my favorite one's other than Decapitated were the mighty Cephalic Carnage playing material from their upcoming insane new album, hometown favorites Veil of Maya, The Red Chord who were technical, heavy as hell and yet memorable, and the The Faceless. The other bands were good but not very memorable since I didn't know their material very well. Overall it was an exciting night of death metal, welcome back Decapitated!

Bill Jotzat